Research Infrastructure

An attractive environment has been created for top research with the targeted expansion of the research infrastructure. The established central facilities are at the disposal of all scientists of NeuroCure, acting as service providers with scientific expertise and access to giant equipment. Options are also open to external users upon enquiry.
The bundling of resources in central facilities permits the high availability of technical innovations and the professionalization of services.

Central Facilities:
NeuroCure Clinical Research Center – NCRC (clinical research centre)
Animal Outcome Unit (experimental medical research unit for longterm, behavioral and outcome analyses)
Berlin Neuroimaging Center - BNIC (Interdisciplinary Center for Modern Imaging)
Small Animal Imaging Center (SAIC)

NeuroCure Clinical Research Center (NCRC):

At the NeuroCure Clinical Research Center (NCRC), the clinical research center of the Cluster of Excellence, findings from fundamental research is tested out on patients and some extent also on healthy subjects. To achieve this, findings gained from laboratory tests are checked in the framework of so-called investigator-initiated trials, IITs. By participating in a study, patients thereby gain especially early access to promising substances - far in advance of their approval. In this way, new therapies and new diagnostic procedures are investigated at the NCRC. Furthermore, however, studies are also carried out in cooperation with industry. 

The clinical research center creates the structural conditions for translating findings from fundamental research into new treatment concepts. In clinical studies, new therapies are checked and optimized and developed together with the fundamental research.

Animal Outcome Unit:

Until now, the analysis of therapeutic effects in pre-clinical studies was primarily based upon observations of morphological changes. The results gained from these, however, could frequently not be confirmed in clinical studies. Especially in the field of neurosciences, there therefore exists the need to supplement experimental results with behavioral studies and long-term observations. The Animal Outcome Unit Facility, as a central research facility with scientific expertise and know-how offers services and technical support, including e.g. in the development of new solutions and concepts for cognitive phenotyping, the automation of behavioral studies with genetically altered model organisms and the screening of neurological diseases.

Berlin Center for Advanced Neuroimaging (BCAN):

Together with partners at the Charité, the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and the Technische Universität Berlin, NeuroCure is taking part in the setting-up of a clinically oriented imaging facility. With the clustering of different magnetic resonance tomographers, it is intended to drive forward the researching of molecular, cellular, structural and functional brain pathologies.

Small Animal Imaging Center (SAIC):

Medical imaging is a key technology for diagnosis and therapy of neurological diseases. The SAIC offers both research groups and companies the opportunity to check imaging procedures and tracers for their suitability. Equipped with several small animal scanners such as e.g. SPECT/CT, PET and MRT the SAIC makes a decisive contribution to developing innovative technologies and products for medical imaging.