BREATH performs research in the field of lung diseases, with the aim of optimizing the care structure for patients, including gaining new knowledge, developing and expanding current therapeutic measures, stemming and reducing mortality in this field and generally improving the quality of life of patients with lung diseases.

Among the main translational research foci of BREATH is clinical research, particularly in the fields of lung transplantation and stem cell therapy.

The Department of Respiratory Medicine at Hannover Medical School is involved in the research fields of infectious diseases, allergic diseases, pulmonary hypertension and the lung transplantation program. Basic research on infectious diseases is concerned with inflammatory cells in the pulmonary area and proteolytic enzymes in connection with infection. In cooperation with the Fraunhofer Institute for Toxicology and Experimental Medicine (ITEM), the scientists carry out research on the pathophysiology of allergic diseases. For this, the pollen exposure room at Fraunhofer ITEM, equipped to the most modern standards, is used for selective provocation of probands. The main areas of research focus of Fraunhofer ITEM lie in the fields of asthma and allergy and COPD. The Leibniz University addresses the important subject of health services research.

• Hannover Medical School
• Fraunhofer ITEM
• Leibniz Universität Hannover
• CAPNETZ