Research
Research in the IFB AdiposityDiseases is committed to multidisciplinarity in clinical trials and in basic research. Scientist from different fields work in six research areas in over 50 research projects. Adiposity (obesity) and its associated diseases are in the focus of the scientific studies.
The research at the IFB ranges from psychosocial aspects, obesity genes, hormones of fat cells, obesity in children, brain activity to bariatric surgery methods. A committee of high-ranking international scientists selects the research projects and evaluates the results.
In the IFB AdiposityDiseases research is accompanied by treatment. This innovative concept of collecting basic research, clinical trials and treatment under one central roof is an essential precondition, that research results can be used in treatment and vice versa. Standardized pathways in the center let the patients benefit of the fast implementation of new research results. Researching physicians of the University Medical Center of Leipzig provide the required practical relevance. The structured therapy of obese children and adolescents, as well as the research in the field of children's obesity, is unique in Germany.
The granted funding for the IFB AdiposityDiseases sustainably boosts the research profile “lifestyle diseases” of the Medical Faculty of the University of Leipzig. Leipzig is developing into a national reference center for the research and treatment of obesity and its accompanying diseases. The basis for this is a professional competence in this area that was continually built up during the past years: Apart from Charité Berlin, Leipzig accommodates the only DFG-funded joint research project dealing with this focus in Germany: The clinical research group: „Atherobesity“. Additionally, the Collaborative Research Center (CRC) “Mechanisms of Obesity” strengthens the research profile of the Faculty of Medicine in Leipzig. The CRC started in 2013 and is sponsored by the German Research Foundation (DFG).