Our LOEWE Center DRUID (Novel Drug Targets against Poverty-related and Neglected Tropical Infectious Diseases) addresses urgent problems regarding the identification and characterization of potential targets for the development of drugs and diagnostics against infectious diseases. Our research program is divided into five project areas (A-E) that investigate target molecules from transcription and translation, cytosolic and membrane-associated targets, and targets in hosts and vectors.

More than a billion people in 149 countries worldwide suffer from poverty-associated and neglected diseases (PRNDs) caused by infectious agents (viruses, bacteria, parasites, or fungi). PRNDs can take highly acute life-threatening courses, but often also lead to severe chronic diseases. They can assume highly acute, life-threatening progressive forms but also frequently lead to acute chronic diseases. Fighting them is urgently necessary from not only a medical and humanitarian standpoint but also because it will make a decisive contribution to breaking poverty cycles. Moreover, there are too few effective drugs for the majority of PRNDs, a situation worsened by side effects and resistance buildup.

Under the leadership of the Philipps University in Marburg, more than 30 scientists from six different institutions across Hessen are cooperating in currently 29 interdisciplinary research projects, combining their capacities and expertise with the greatest synergy. Our center unites the Hessian medicine-leading universities (Philipps University Marburg, Justus-Liebig University Giessen, Goethe University Frankfurt), as well as the Paul Ehrlich Institute, the Fraunhofer Institute for Translational Medicine and Pharmacology ITMP and the University of Applied Sciences in Giessen. Since the projects have high translational potential, very concrete, close collaborations with partners from industry have already been established to pave the way for application. In order to cope with the complexity of the topic and build efficient networks, additional partners at the (inter)national level are included.