Helmholtz Munich

The Applied Vascular Research Group aims to truly explore mechanisms of arterial and venous vascular disease by integrating molecular research, large animal models, first-in-man studies and multicenter clinical trials. One core research focus is to tackle restenosis, the Achilles heel of peripheral vascular interventions, by identifying patients at risk and developing improved treatment options. As peripheral arterial disease contributes to significant morbidity and mortality and is still severely understudied, there is an urgent need to improve both routine patient care as well as our knowledge on the mechanisms and outcomes of the disease.

Mechanisms of Restenosis

We are seeking to explore the pathomechanisms of restenosis in response to antiproliferative drug eluting technologies by using multi-modal imaging methods and next-generation sequencing.

Intra-vascular utrasound image of a blood vessel with plaque.

Atheroslerotic Disease Progression

In this project, we study the mechanisms of artherosclerotic disease progression by performing histomorphological and proteomic analysis of human vascular samples collected during an atherectomy.

Movat-Pentachrome-Färbung einer Atherektomieprobe

Histological image of a human vascular sample collected from an atherectomy (stained with Movat Pentachrom).

Calcification of the Vasculature

We want to explore the pathogenesis of medial arterial calcification using histological, genetic and proteomic investigations in order to develop specific therapeutic approaches.