TRA Life and Health

The TRA Life and Health provides a space for deepening our understanding of life across theoretical boundaries - studying everything from the tiniest molecules to the interaction of different organisms within ecosystems. Researchers from the fields of medicine, life sciences, pharmacy, nutrition research, mathematics and computer science are together studying - amongst others - organoids to better understand specific diseases or deploying artificial intelligence as a tool for neuroscience.

Research

More about our research profile, topics and TRA projects.

Research

About us

Find out more about our objectives, members and TRA organization.

About us

Offers

Find out more about research support and events organized by the TRA Life and Health.

Offers

Technologies

Find an overview on infrastructure, facilities und technologies used in the TRA Life and Health's research area

Technologies

News from the TRA

Notifications

Core2Edge: How tumor cells conquer the brain

Glioblastoma is an aggressive brain tumor that infiltrates deep into the surrounding brain tissue. Even after surgery, tumor cells remain in the brain and the tumor recurs. Researchers at the University Hospital Bonn (UKB) and the University of Bonn have now developed Core2Edge, a model based entirely on human tissue that captures these hard-to-access infiltration zones at the tumor margin. The model enables investigation of the invasive front and direct assessment of new drug candidates in human tissue - without the need for animal testing. The study of the Brain Tumor Translational Research Group has now been published in Nature Protocols.

AI Model Improves Injury Prediction in Women's Elite Football

An international team of researchers led by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal) and the University of Bonn—with participation from the Barça Innovation Hub (BIHUB), FC Barcelona’s medical department, and the company Made of Genes—has developed a computer-based approach that improves injury prediction in elite women’s football. The study, published in “npj Digital Medicine,” combines artificial intelligence, survival analysis, statistical calibration, and decision theory to transform risk prediction into a useful tool for clinical and sports practice.

Asthma: New Mechanism of Action Curbs Inflammatory Response

A team from the University of Bonn and the Research Center Borstel, Leibniz Lung Center (FZB) has discovered a previously unknown mechanism of action for a synthetic peptide that mitigates excessive inflammatory responses in allergic asthma. This mechanism specifically inhibits a key inflammatory switch in the immune system and opens up new avenues for treating chronic inflammatory diseases. The findings have now been published in the journal Advanced Science.

Precision Therapy for Autoimmune Disease on the Horizon

Interferon alpha is an inflammatory mediator that can cause Sjögren’s syndrome, an autoimmune disease. This is revealed in a recent study carried out by the University Hospital Bonn together with the University of Bonn, the University of Edinburgh and Newcastle University. Their findings, which have been published in the journal “Lancet Rheumatology,” could make it easier in the medium term to develop drugs to fight this chronic condition.

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Highlights and Announcements

Get Involved in the TRA

As a member of the TRA, you can access funding opportunities, take part in events and build new networks.

Become a member!

TRA members benefit from regular sponsorship offers and opportunities for networking beyond the boundaries of the specialist field. We look forward to meeting you!

Membership application

Who are our members and what are their research topics?

Our members are professors and group leaders of the University of Bonn and cooperating Bonn institutions from medicine, life sciences, pharmacy, nutrition research, mathematics, computer science and other fields.

Find members

Meet our Researchers

Inter- and transdisciplinary research actively pursued at the University of Bonn and is promoted across faculty boundaries. The faces of TRA Life and Health are our Hertz Chair, our Argelander professors and the numerous committed scientists, such as the members of our steering committee.

Prof. Dr. Tatjana Tchumatchenko

Neuroscientist Tatjana Tchumatchenko is the new co-speaker for TRA Life and Health.

Doctoral Student

Theresa Eulgem

As an early-stage scientist, I highly value the opportunity to contribute to the advancement of innovative research emerging from transdisciplinary collaborations.

Prof. Dr. Dirk Baumjohann

Within TRA Life and Health, Dirk Baumjohann combines basic immunological research with clinical translational issues.

Argelander Professorship for Organoids and Chemical Biology

Jun.-Prof. Dr. Elena Reckzeh

Elena Reckzeh combines chemical biology with organoid research to further develop the area of 'Construction' in TRA Life and Health's research profile.

Jun-Prof. Dr. Marie-Christine Simon

Marie-Christine Simon complements the transdisciplinary research of the microbiome-gut-brain axis and personalized nutrition in the TRA Life and Health.

Doctoral Student

Annalena Liesen

"I joined the TRA Life and Health as a scientific staff representative on the steering committee to experience and promote the exchange between different areas of the life sciences."

Argelander Professorship for Organoid Biology

Jun.-Prof. Dr. Ana Ivonne Vazquez-Armendariz

Ana Ivonne Vazquez-Armendariz adds a new area of focus to TRA Life and Health's research profile 'Construction & Deconstruction of Life' with her expertise on lung organoids.

Hertz Chair for Artificial Intelligence and Neuroscience

Prof. Dr. Dr. Dominik Bach

Dominik Bach establishs a new focus at the interface between neuroscience, psychiatry and computer science in TRA Life and Health.

Contact

Meike Brömer

m.broemer@uni-bonn.de

tra3@uni-bonn.de

+49 228 73 54470

TRA manager | Strategic Development and Quality Assurance Unit

TRA Life and Health

Research

About us

Offers

Technologies

News from the TRA

Notifications

Highlights and Announcements

TRA Workshop zu Datenmanagement und Datenwissenschaft in verschiedenen Disziplinen (06.10.2026)