Hochschule Bonn-Rhein-Sieg and Bundeswehr Central Hospital Koblenz cooperate

Hochschule Bonn-Rhein-Sieg (H-BRS) and the Bundeswehr Central Hospital Koblenz work together in bioscientific research and teaching. Initial joint projects have produced important findings in the field of rare but serious infections. Further joint projects are being planned.

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Professor Jörn Oliver Sass researches rare diseases. Photo: H-BRS

Hochschule Bonn-Rhein-Sieg and the Bundeswehr Central Hospital in Koblenz are involved in application-oriented research. The two neighbouring scientific institutions have now concluded a cooperation agreement that puts collaboration in bioscientific research on a formal footing.

As part of an initial cooperation project, an H-BRS student from the Applied Biology degree programme was able to participate in the findings of the group led by medical parasitologist and infection biologist Professor Patrick Scheid at the Bundeswehr Central Hospital for her Bachelor's thesis last year, for example. There, the student was introduced to the basics of working with so-called "free-living amoebae".

From better understanding to the development of treatment approaches

Back at the H-BRS in Rheinbach, she researched the metabolism of certain amoebae in Professor Jörn Oliver Sass's team. The joint research has contributed to a better understanding of molecular processes in amoebae - including those that can cause disease. This collaborative project was carried out on a harmless amoeba which, as the closest relative, is an ideal model organism for the so-called "brain-eating amoeba". This single-celled organism is found in warm fresh water, but also in the water of inadequately maintained swimming pools. It can reach the brain via the nose and cause primary amoebic meningoencephalitis (PAM), which is usually fatal.

"A better understanding of rarely occurring diseases is often of crucial importance for the development of treatment approaches," says H-BRS Professor Sass.

Naegleria Tropho und Zyste_Arbeitsgruppe Scheid

Under the microscope: certain species of "free-living amoebae" can cause life-threatening diseases. Photo: Medical Parasitology/ Bundeswehr Central Hospital Koblenz

In a follow-up project, H-BRS and the Bundeswehr Central Hospital now want to jointly investigate the interactions of viruses and amoebae using biochemical and molecular biological methods.

"This cooperation agreement is intended to facilitate future collaboration, provide a framework for it and help to expand and strengthen the scientific profile of the institutions involved," says Professor Patrick Scheid. "This cooperation will make it possible to expand the portfolio of the Bundeswehr Central Hospital in the future to include biochemical testing options for extended clinical-infectiological diagnostics, for projects in the field of university research and for hygiene and environmental medicine."

The collaboration between the partners already goes beyond research. For example, the Bundeswehr biologist recently held a one-week block course "International Course on Medical Parasitology" in the "Biomedical Sciences" Master's degree programme at H-BRS. Professor Sass, for his part, has already completed several reserve assignments at the Bundeswehr Central Hospital in order to promote exchange between different areas of the two institutions, which opens up additional opportunities for collaboration and learning for researchers and students.