The University of Munich (LMU) hosts the second largest medical faculty and university hospital in Germany. The Medizinische Klinik IV includes the Departments of Nephrology and Rheumatology/Clinical Immunology with each extensive clinical and experimental research activities in the field of autoimmune diseases. These include single group activities but also as a partner in numerous local, national and international research networks. The local PI, Hans-Joachim Anders, is a board-certified nephrologist and rheumatologist and a Director of the Department of Nephrology and the attached Kidney Research Institute. The Department provides in- and out-patient services at two large hospitals, runs one of the largest transplantation programs in Germany.

The Kidney Research Institute hosts more than 40 researchers on 500m2 size equipped with substantial national and international funding. The Kidney Research Institute`s research focus are the immune mechanisms of kidney injury and regeneration. It is the Institute`s mission to apply methods of translational science to bring on novel therapies for patients with acute kidney injury or chronic kidney disease. Driven more by conceptual approaches the experimental strategy is not limited to single diseases or targets, hence, the Institute attracts postdoc kidney researchers from all over the world.

Main tasks attributed in the project

Partner LMU is participating in WPs 04 and 05.

Main personnel involved in the project

Dr. Hans-Joachim Anders, the local PI at LMU, received his medical training at the Universities of Goettingen, Wuerzburg, and Munich and is a board-certified nephrologist and rheumatologist. He was trained as a physician scientist in the area of molecular nephrology with a distinct focus on innate and adaptive immunity in kidney disease. From the clinical part he directs the Department of Nephrology and personally runs the second largest lupus clinic in Bavaria. From the experimental part he directs the Kidney Research Institute and guides an own group of 20 researchers devoted to kidney immunology. He was and is an active participant in several EU networks (MAIN, INNOCHEM, REDDSTAR, NEPHSTROM). His group made several original discoveries and initiated subsequent broad research efforts in the kidney community, e.g. on chemokines/CCRs, Toll-like receptors, and inflammasomes.