Bonn, December 21st, 2011. Yesterday the Berlin Senate approved the signing of a joint federal and state agreement to grant funding to the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) and the German Center for Cardiovascular Research (DZHK). “DZNE is pleased about the Senate’s decision. We are looking forward to the establishment of a new center in Berlin as well as its inclusion in the DZNE association,” Prof. Pierluigi Nicotera, the scientific director and chairman of the board of DZNE, says.
Berlin’s selection for the establishment of a new site was preceded by a decision process led by international researchers. In the end, Berlin won out against other cities as the best location for a new DZNE site. With this decision by the Berlin Senate, DZNE now has key political and financial support for the launching of its new research center in Berlin.
DZNE’s Berlin-based researchers will investigate various neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease, frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD), vascular cognitive disorders, and Huntington’s disease.
“Research in the area of synaptic function and plasticity led by Prof. Schmitz, which has already received broad international recognition, will help us to better understand the underlying mechanisms leading to neurodegenerative diseases. Furthermore, research concerning vascular and other risk factors that can give rise to brain damage will further strengthen clinical research at DZNE,” Prof. Pierluigi Nicotera says. “We are extraordinarily pleased that Berlin will now be one of the select group of cities with a DZNE center,” says Prof. Dietmar Schmitz of Charité University Hospital in Berlin, who is the official speaker for the new center.
The German federal government and the state of Berlin will jointly fund the Berlin center, bearing costs at a 9-to-1 ratio. The amount of funding granted annually will vary, reaching up to 3.5 million euros in the end phase of the center’s establishment. At the new Berlin site, DZNE will collaborate with a number of different nearby universities and research institutions, including the Free University of Berlin, the Humboldt University of Berlin, Charité University Hospital, the Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience, the Leibniz Institute for Molecular Pharmacology, and the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine.