University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz

Team Leader

Team Staff

About UMC-Mainz

The University Medical Center Mainz (UMC-Mainz) engages approx. 8,500 employees, making it one of the largest employing entitie of the state of Rhineland-Palatinate. It encompasses more than 60 clinics, institutes and departments, and houses two central health care centres, a pharmacy, and a transfusion centre. The hospital more than 1,600 beds and treats around 62,000 patients every year. Approximately 240,000 additional patients are treated every year on an outpatient basis. All of the clinics and institutes work together on an interdisciplinary basis to ensure that patients receive the highest quality care and that the students and researchers are augmenting scientific and educational development. The Center for Cardiology 1 at UMC-Mainz conducts high impact research on environmental exposures and adverse health effects, both at the clinical and preclinical level.

The exposures and cardiovascular research will be performed in the Laboratory of Molecular Cardiology, Department of Cardiology 1, University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz Germany. Importantly, we have successfully applied for an exposure system for noise and/or particulate matter (TSE Systems, Bad Homburg, Germany). The TSE exposure chamber is equipped with a nebulizer for commercial particle delivery, a soot generator DNP digital 3000 for nanoparticle generation (Palas) and loud speakers for studies on the effects of combined noise and PM exposures. The in-house methodologies are further enriched by access to 3D-light-sheet microscopy, echocardiography, intra-vital microscopy, IVIS whole body fluorescence/chemiluminescence imager, PET-CT and MRT for advanced imaging.

The neurobiological research will be performed at the Institute of Anatomy in the laboratories for Neuroanatomy and Cell/Neurobiology. Expertise on behavioral mouse studies (social interaction, cognition and memory, anxiety, stress tests) for characterization of depressive, hyperactive or autistic phenotypes (autism spectrum disorders). Multiphoton microscopy for live imaging of neuronal cellular regions.

Team Leader

Team Staff

About Institute of Neuropathology

The Institute of Neuropathology at the University Medical Center in Mainz (Head: Prof. Clemens Sommer) covers the entire spectrum of neuropathological diagnostics, offering comprehensive expertise in the analysis of diseases affecting the nervous system. Our diagnostic approaches utilize a broad range of techniques, including light and electron microscopy, enzyme histochemistry, immunohistochemistry, and molecular medical procedures. These advanced methods allow us to precisely characterize pathological changes in neural tissues and contribute to accurate diagnoses. In our teaching activities, we cover pathology courses, lectures on pathology I, pathology II and Q5. In addition, students can get to know our field during the elective week “Clinical Neuropathology”.

Beyond diagnostics, our institute is dedicated to cutting-edge research aimed at unraveling the morphological changes and molecular mechanisms underlying various neuropathological diseases. Our studies focus on conditions such as cerebral ischemia, and cancer. By identifying disease-specific molecular patterns, we aim to provide improved diagnostic tools and therapeutic strategies.

As part of our research activities, we actively contribute to the MARKOPOLO project, which investigates the impact of environmental factors, particularly noise and particulate matter, on cerebral and cardiovascular damage. Within this initiative, we participate in several work packages, focusing on spatial biological analyses and DNA methylation analyses. Our goal is to understand how environmental stressors influence neural health at the epigenetic level, potentially leading to long-term health consequences.