Major achievement for inflammation research in Northern Germany: The Cluster of Excellence PMI secures renewed funding.
The Cluster of Excellence PMI will receive funding for another seven years, enabling it to continue its successful research into chronic inflammatory diseases.
- The Cluster of Excellence in the North of Germany focused on inflammation research is receiving funding for the fourth time in a row.
- The vision for the new funding phase is to bring precision medicine for chronic inflammatory diseases into clinical application.
The joint application by Kiel University and the University of Lübeck (UzL) for continued funding of the Schleswig-Holstein-based Cluster of Excellence “Precision Medicine in Chronic Inflammation” (PMI) has been successful: The Joint Science Conference of the Federal and State Governments, together with the German Research Foundation (DFG) and the German Council of Science and Humanities, announced today that the PMI Cluster will continue to receive funding in the upcoming funding period as part of Germany’s Excellence Strategy. This marks the fourth consecutive time the inflammation-focused Cluster has prevailed in this highly competitive funding program — an exceptionally rare achievement. The requested funding amounts to nearly 70 million euros for the period from January 2026 through the end of 2032.
Aim: To bring the latest findings into clinical application for the benefit of those affected
“Being awarded funding for the fourth time confirms the scientific excellence of our members as well as the success of our interdisciplinary collaboration across disciplines and institutions. I am absolutely delighted that we can continue this important work and further advance precision medicine for chronic inflammatory diseases,” says Professor Stefan Schreiber, spokesperson of the Cluster of Excellence PMI. In the upcoming funding period, which begins in January 2026, PMI will focus on translating research findings into clinical application.
Scientific visions for the new funding phase
Prof. Philip Rosenstiel
Director of the Institute of Clinical Molecular Biology (IKMB) of the UKSH and the CAU
“We will work together to understand which molecular switches are flipped in immune cells that lead to chronic inflammation. Based on this knowledge, we aim to develop new high-resolution diagnostics and innovative treatment approaches.”
© Tebke Böschen, PMI
Prof. Petra Bacher
Institute of Immunology, Kiel University and UKSH
“Inflammatory T cells activated by disease-relevant antigens play a key role in the pathophysiology of chronic inflammatory diseases (CIDs). Our vision is to identify these disease-relevant antigens, as well as the mechanisms and functions of pathogenic T cells in CIDs. Based on this understanding, we aim to develop new, targeted immunotherapies for patients with CID.”
© S. Klahn/Cluster of Excellence PMI
Prof. Stefan Schreiber
Spokesperson of the Cluster of Excellence PMI
Director of the Department of Internal Medicine I, UKSH, Campus Kiel, and Director of the Institute of Clinical Molecular Biology (IKMB) of the UKSH and Kiel University
“We are now opening a new chapter in which we aim to make intestinal inflammations like Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis as manageable as diabetes. We plan to achieve this through new diagnostics and personalized therapies that enable better disease control and the restoration of health.”
© J. Haacks, Kiel University
You can find more scientific visions and the original press release here.