Selected Successes

In March 2011, Prof. Dr. Dietmar Schmitz, coordinator of the NeuroCure Excellence Cluster, became the first scientist to receive the title of Einstein Professor.

The aim of the funding program of the Einstein Foundation is to provide financial assistance to Berlin universities in appointment and retaining negotiations for internationally recognized scientists. Berlin is thereby to be sustainably strengthened and expanded as a research site.

Prof. Dr. Roger Traub has been a "Visiting Fellow“ in the framework of the Einstein Foundation Berlin since December 2010.

He is Professor for Physiology, Pharmacology and Neurology at the State University New York and works as a research member at the IBM Watson Research Center. 

As a Visiting Fellow, Roger Traub visits the Excellence Cluster several times a year. For NeuroCure, this means additional international networking and the creation of new synergies through exchange with the top researchers. 

The aim of the funding program "Einstein Visiting Fellow“ of the Einstein Foundation is to bind leading foreign scientists to the Berlin research landscape over the longer term and to thus further strengthen the international profile of the universities and research facilities for the future. 

Each year, a maximum 150,000 € is made available as funding. The scientists themselves can use this funding flexibly for their research.

In May 2011 Dr. Sarah Hoffmann got awarded with the Young Investigator Award at the European Stroke Conference.

This award honors the achievements of junior scientists in stroke research and is granted annually. Dr. Hoffmann got awarded for a prognostic model for the prediction of post-stroke pneumonia.

Sarah Hoffmann works since August 2009 as a research assistant in the research group of Professor Andreas Meisel at the NeuroCure Clinical Research Center (NCRC). In the frame of stroke research she is in charge of various clinical and epidemiological studies such as Predict, Arimis and the Neukölln Stroke Study (NESS).

In 2010 Dr. James Poulet was awarded the "ERC Starting Investigators Grant" of the European Research Council. The funding measure is endowed with a volume of 1.5 million Euros and is among the most highly endowed funding measures in the life sciences. 

Dr. Poulet is investigating various brain states and their significance for sensory perception and their effects on behavior. The term brain state refers to the basic activity of the brain, which varies depending on how awake and attentive a person is. Dr. Poulet is working on the assumption that the various brain states are essential for the normal processing of signals in the brain. From the findings in fundamental research it is intended to derive new perspectives for the treatment of neurological diseases such as stroke and epilepsy.

The initiative "Future Nutrition (Zukunft Ernährung)”, sponsored by Orthomol pharmazeutische Vertriebs-GmbH, encourages interdisciplinary exchange on subjects relevant to nutrition and health. It gives awards in different fields for special commitment in the areas of health-promoting nutrition, ideas for everyday life, projects and products. Prof. Agnes Flöel received the award "Future Nutrition 2010“ in the category of science.

Prof. Dr. Christian Rosenmund was awarded the "ERC Advanced Investigators Grant" of the European Research Council in 2009. With a funding volume of 2.5 million Euros, the Advanced Investigator Grant is one of the most highly endowed funding measures in the life sciences. 

Prof. Rosenmund is looking into signal transmission between nerve cells in the brain. He is investigating the role of the most important messenger substance, glutamate. This is released by most brain cells, in order to transfer signals from one nerve cell to others. Before release, glutamate is stored in little bubbles, the so-called vesicles. These possess special transporters that pump the glutamate out of the cell interior into the vesicles and that control the releasing of glutamate in a way that is not yet known. Accurate research into these control mechanisms is intended to help us to improve our understanding of the brain and to develop new starting points for the treatment of neurological diseases.

The NeuroCure Cluster of Excellence received an award in 2009 in the framework of the initiative "365 Places in The Land Of Ideas“. The initiative is under the auspices of the Federal President and is by the Federal Government and the Federation of German Industry (BDI) and leading companies supported. Prizes are awarded for special achievements and concepts from the areas of science, business, art and culture.

Prof. Dr. Michael Brecht from the Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience and the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin was in 2008 awarded the "ERC Advanced Investigators Grant" of the European Research Council. With a funding volume of 2.5 million Euros, the Advanced Investigator Grant is one of the most highly endowed funding measures in the life sciences. 

Prof. Brecht is looking into the question of how the brain can respond to sensory stimuli with the greatest precision although neuronal processes in our brains react very differently to the same stimulus on all levels – synapses, neurons, local networks and even whole neural systems. 

Michael Brecht wants to use highly developed new technologies to research these fundamental questions of brain function and thereby gain a more precise understanding of the connection between neuronal activity and sensation or movement. 

Around two million neurons (nerve cells) are contained in a rat's somatosensory cortex - the region of the brain that processes tactile perceptions. As previous results from Michael Brecht have already shown, despite this enormous number the activity of a single neuron can produce a sensation or control the movement of the whiskers. The language of the neurons - the connection between neuronal activity and sensation or movement - can be investigated more closely using this example.