As German Research Center for Environmental Health, HelmholtzZentrum München (HMGU) seeks to further the development of prevention and therapy strategies for diabetes mellitus – with a special focus on personalized medicine. The Helmholtz Diabetes Center understands diabetes to be a complex, systemic disease in which both genetic and environmental factors – in particular lifestyle – interact. Here basic research and clinical research are intertwined in close interdisciplinary cooperation with the Munich universities.


Institutes and associated groups

• Institute of Diabetes and Cancer: Prof. Dr. Stephan Herzig
• Institute of Experimental Genetics: Prof. Dr. Martin Hrabě de Angelis, Prof. Dr. Johannes Beckers, Dr. Raffaele Teperino
• Institute of Diabetes Research: Prof. Dr. Anette-Gabriele Ziegler, Prof. Dr. Peter Achenbach
• Institute of Translational Stem Cell Research: Prof. Dr. Henrik Semb
• Institute of Diabetes and Obesity: PD Dr. Timo Müller, Prof. Dr. Paul Pfluger
• Institute of Diabetes and Regeneration Research: Prof. Dr. Heiko Lickert, Dr. Ingo Burtscher
• Institute of Diabetes und Endokrinology: Prof. Dr. Nina-Henriette Uhlenhaut
• Institute of Diabetes und Organoid Technology: Prof. Dr. Matthias Hebrock
• Institute of Typ1-Diabetes Immunologie: Prof. Dr. Carolin Daniel
• Institute of Epidemiology: Prof. Dr. Annette Peters, Dr. Christian Gieger, Dr. Harald Grallert, Prof. Dr. Karl-Heinz Ladwig, PD Dr. Barbara Thorand, Dr. Rui Wang-Sattler
• Institute of Computational Biology: Prof. Dr. Dr. Fabian Theis, Dr. Michael Menden (DZD-Core Unit Computational Biology)
• Clinical Cooperation Group Nutrigenomics und Typ-2-Diabetes mellitus, TUM: Prof. Dr. Hans Hauner
• Clinical Cooperation Group Prediction and Subclassification of Typ-2-Diabetes mellitus, LMU: Prof. Dr. Jochen Seissler
• Research Unit Analytical BioGeoChemistry: Prof. Dr. Dr. Philippe Schmitt-Kopplin

Contribution to the DZD research program

• Establishment and characterization of relevant mouse models
• Development of a vaccine strategy for type 1 diabetics
• Identification of early predictive metabolic markers, personalized type 2 diabetes risk prognosis
• Differentiation of embryonic stem cells into insulin-secreting cells
• Drug development
• Computational Biology
• Participation in the clinical studies of the DZD
• KORA-Cohort