Contests / awards

“Granted with five prestigious ERC Starting Grants highlights the exceptional talent and dedication of our early-career scientists. At Helmholtz Munich we are proud to cultivate such a dynamic and high-performing environment where innovative ideas naturally flourish. I am convinced, this is fundamental for driving groundbreaking discoveries,” says Prof. Matthias Tschöp, CEO at Helmholtz Munich.

Here are the details of the award-winning projects:

Phage Therapy Against Antibiotic Resistance
Amidst the growing problem of antibiotic resistance, PHAGE-PRO offers a novel approach to combating bacterial infections using phage therapy. Traditional phage therapy faces challenges like slow phage identification and limited effectiveness. Prof. Carolin Wendling aims to overcome these obstacles by using prophages (viral DNA integrated into bacterial genomes) in probiotics to enhance their in vivo efficacy. Her method provides two key advantages: rapid phage identification through advanced machine learning and sustained efficacy due to the long-lasting nature of prophages. By combining the bacteria-killing power of phages with the competitive exclusion effect of probiotics, PHAGE-PRO presents a promising solution to antibiotic resistance.

Key Regulators of Cell Type-Specific Epigenomes
Cells share the same genetic code but utilize it differently based on their type and context. Epigenetic changes, such as post-translational histone modifications (PTHMs), regulate DNA interactions. As cells differentiate, PTHMs are reorganized to support their new functions. While scientists know which proteins add (writers) and remove (erasers) PTHMs, how these proteins target specific genome regions remains unclear. Dr. Peter Zeller’s project, scEpiTarget, aims to develop innovative single-cell methods to pinpoint the key factors that direct cell-type-specific PTHM placement. Understanding these factors is crucial for grasping epigenetic pathways, which are vital from early development through aging, and for developing targeted therapies for diseases.

Early Drivers of Progressive Pulmonary Fibrosis
Progressive pulmonary fibrosis is a life-threatening disease with a high mortality rate and low quality of life. Our current understanding of the mechanisms underlying the disease is limited to advanced stages, when interventions are less effective because of the irreversible lung scarring. With the project OMEGA, Dr. Isis Fernandez will explore the early mechanisms driving pulmonary fibrosis to better understand its etiology and develop timely therapies that could stop the disease in its tracks. OMEGA focuses on circulating monocytes, which are linked to disease progression from the insipient state to end-stage disease, and by using interstitial lung abnormalities, the earliest detectable signs, to discover targets for early treatment of pulmonary fibrosis. With access to cutting-edge technology and unique patient cohorts, OMEGA will investigate how monocytes acquire pathogenic traits, offering new strategies to prevent the progression of this deadly disease.

Mitochondrial Defense Against Cell Death
Mitochondria are the central hubs of cellular metabolism, dynamically communicating with other cell compartments to ensure proper function. Recent research has revealed how mitochondria interact with the plasma membrane to transport Coenzyme Q, a redox-active lipid crucial for preventing ferroptosis, an iron-mediated form of cell death. With the project Mito-FerroQuest, Dr. Soni Deshwal aims to explore and uncover the mitochondrial strategies that prevent ferroptosis, paving the way for potential therapeutic targets in diseases involving impaired mitochondrial function, such as neurodegenerative disorders and Leigh syndrome.

Geometric-Topological Machine Learning for Data Analysis
As high-dimensional data from technologies like massively parallel sequencing becomes increasingly complex, traditional machine learning methods struggle with analysis due to their high resource demands. With his project HOLES, Dr. Bastian Rieck aims to address this by introducing innovative techniques that leverage higher-order geometrical and topological aspects of data. By developing new methods for data representation, regularization, and computation, HOLES will integrate geometry's detailed local insights with topology's robust global structures. This novel approach promises to enhance the analysis of complex data and tackle modern data challenges effectively.
Note: This project was successfully selected for funding by the ERC. Since then, researcher Bastian Rieck has accepted a Full Professorship position at the University of Fribourg in Switzerland, which was a non-associated country to Horizon Europe at the time of the grant application. As a result, Bastian Rieck has applied for alternative funding under Switzerland's transitional measures for the Horizon package.

Learn more about ERC Starting Grants: https://erc.europa.eu/apply-grant/starting-grant