The German Research Foundation (DFG) has established eleven new Collaborative Research Centers (SFBs) to further strengthen cutting-edge research at universities and has decided to extend 20 Collaborative Research Centers by one additional funding period each. These include seven SFB/Transregional Collaborative Research Centers (TRR), for which there are several applicant universities. The two Collaborative Research Centers in which the Central Institute of Mental Health (CIMH) has been involved to date have both successfully qualified for a further funding period. Collaborative Research Centers enable the processing of innovative, demanding and long-term research projects in a network.

Why people lose control over drug use

The research of the Collaborative Research Center/Transregional Collaborative Research Center “Losing and Regaining Control over Drug Intake – From Trajectories to Mechanisms to Interventions” (SFB/TRR 265) aims at a better understanding of the mechanisms responsible for people losing control over drug use. At the behavioral, cognitive and neuroscientific levels, researchers are working to identify the triggers and influencing factors for such loss of control. They are investigating the underlying neurobiological mechanisms and learning mechanisms in order to develop therapies based on these findings. The speaker of the SFB/TRR 265 changes from Charité – Universitätsmedizin to the Central Institute of Mental Health (CIMH) in Mannheim. The new spokesperson is Prof. Dr. Rainer Spanagel, Scientific Director of the Institute for Psychopharmacology at the CIMH and holder of a professorship at the Mannheim Medical Faculty of the University of Heidelberg. Partners in the SFB/TRR 265, which is funded with around 16.3 million euros, are the Charité and the Technical University of Dresden as co-applicants, as well as the Universities of Potsdam and Würzburg, the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology and the Health & Medical University (Erfurt / Potsdam).

How acute pain becomes chronic pain

In the Collaborative Research Center “From Nociception to Chronic Pain: Structure-Function Characteristics of Neural Pathways and their Reorganization” (SFB 1158), the participating scientists investigate how acute pain becomes chronic pain. The focus is on changes in neurons and neural pathways. Important molecular and cellular mechanisms have already been elucidated. In the third and final funding period, the researchers will focus in particular on the question of how this chronification can be prevented or reversed. Thus, the treatment and prevention of chronic pain will not only involve new drugs, but also, among other things, neuromodulatory and cognitive intervention options. As before, the spokesperson of the Collaborative Research Center is Prof. Dr. Rohini Kuner, Managing Director of the Institute of Pharmacology at the Heidelberg Medical Faculty. The deputy spokesperson of the SFB 1158 continues to be Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Dr. h.c. Herta Flor, Scientific Director of the Institute of Neuropsychology and Clinical Psychology at the CIMH. The DFG is funding the Collaborative Research Center with approximately 17.5 million euros.