The Leibniz Science Campus "Integrative Analysis of pathogen-induced compartments", InterACt for short, will be funded for another four years. This was decided by the Senate of the Leibniz Association on March 21. To investigate the role of compartments in infectious diseases, InterACt in Hamburg links the Leibniz Institute of Virology with the Universität Hamburg, the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, the Research Center Borstel, the Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine and the Centre for Structural Systems Biology (CSSB) as well as the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg.

InterACt studies the interaction of pathogens such as viruses, bacteria and parasites with the affected host. The focus is on the reaction spaces or compartments that pathogens use to replicate and protect themselves from host defenses. These compartments can only be analyzed and understood in-situ.

The Leibniz ScienceCampus InterACt was established to analyze these processes using state-of-the-art imaging techniques and to integrate and merge the resulting data sets with data from complementary methods. After a successful first funding phase that led to the establishment of new junior research groups and strategic appointments, as well as many high-profile publications, the second funding phase is now focused on building on this to achieve a comprehensive picture of pathogen compartments. InterACt's focus remains on integrative approaches.

Text: Original of J. Häberlein (LIV, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., original text)