The PhD program Molecular Medicine offers talented and highly motivated students challenging interrelated research topics derived from one of the following areas: cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, inflammation, and cancer.
The overall aim of the program is to educate the next generation of scientists that will bridge basic biomedical research with preclinical (”translational”) and clinical science.
The analysis of molecular elements involved in the functions of cells, tissues, organs or whole organisms is a cornerstone towards better understanding of human health and disease. Organ development, homeostasis and health are controlled by a large variety of intra-, inter- and extracellular signals that have to be integrated to maintain coordinated cell-specific functions within a multi-cellular organism. Impairment of these signals leads to perturbed coordination and to malfunction. Accordingly, diseases can be viewed as defects in such molecular signaling elements, and this holds true not only for rare monogenetic diseases, but also for widespread diseases such as atherosclerosis, cancer, chronic inflammatory and neurodegenerative diseases. Therefore, a thorough understanding of molecular physiology is a prerequisite for the perception of pathological alterations and clears the way for targeted therapy as the basis for functional restoration. In accordance with this principle, pharmacotherapeutic agents exert their actions by interfering with one or more molecular signaling elements, such as hormone receptors or associated signaling cascades.
