Goals
The scientists involved in health research at the Helmholtz Association are studying the causes and development of cancer, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, pulmonary illnesses, nervous system disorders and infectious diseases. Their aim is to help develop efficient methods for the early detection, prevention, diagnosis and treatment of these major common diseases. The research on complex and often chronic illnesses requires interdisciplinary approaches, which the Helmholtz centres implement in cooperation with partners from medical schools, universities, other research organisations and industry. The Helmholtz centres active in the field of health research perform outstanding basic research and apply their expertise to the development of new methods for the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of illnesses. They are making this expertise available to the German Centres of Health Research, which were founded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research in order to improve the translation of basic research findings into clinical applications.

Programme structure for the funding period 2009-2013
Ten Helmholtz centres work together in the field of health research: the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) Berlin-Buch, the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI), the Helmholtz Zentrum München – German Research Center for Environmental Health, the Forschungszentrum Jülich, the Helmholtz-Zentrum Geesthacht Centre for Materials and Coastal Research (HZG), the GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research, and the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ. These centres gained a new partner on 1 January 2011, when the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) joined the Helmholtz Association.

In the current period of programme-oriented funding, the centres involved in health research will serve as partners for both the German Health Centres and various research consortia and will work in the following six programmes:

• Cancer Research
• Cardiovascular and Metabolic Diseases
• Function and Dysfunction of the Nervous System
• Infection and Immunity
• Environmental Health
• Systemic Analysis of Multifactorial Diseases

A seventh programme, “Diseases of the Nervous System”, is currently under development.

Outlook
The long-term goal of health research at the Helmholtz Association is to improve medical care and quality of life for the population into old age. Individually tailored options for prevention and treatment will play a vital role in the future, but it will also be important to better understand the role of the metabolic syndrome as a risk factor for several of the major common diseases. A key contribution will be made by the Helmholtz translational centres and the German Centres of Health Research – together with the National Cohort as a resource for epidemiology and prevention research.