THE FUTURE OF MEDICINE: FROM DISCOVERY TO IMPACT

What if our blood and blood vessels don't just grow old with us, but actually determine how we age? As we age, some blood stem cells acquire mutations that let them outcompete their neighbors, while our blood vessels gradually lose their ability to adapt and repair. Increasing evidence suggests that these changes are not simply signs of aging but may actively drive cardiovascular disease and other age-related conditions. Could understanding the hidden dialogue between blood and blood vessels open new ways to prevent disease, preserve vascular health, and extend the years we live in good health?

Speakers:
Andreas Zeiher, German Center for Cardiovascular Research | DZHK, DE
Holger Gerhardt, German Center for Cardiovascular Research | DZHK, DE & Max Delbrück Center | MDC, DE
Stéphanie Debette, Paris Brain Institute, FR

Research can fundamentally change the course of disease. In cystic fibrosis, targeted therapies are transforming patients’ lives – while research continues to push treatment further. Individualized RNA therapies could go even further, targeting a specific mutation, potentially in a single patient. But as new treatments become possible, regulation, financing and healthcare need to keep pace.

Speakers:
Alexandra Kramarz, Mukoviszidose e.V., DE
Gesine Hansen German Center for Lung Research | DZL, DE
Matthis Synofzik, German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases | DZNE, DE

In type 1 diabetes, the immune system destroys the beta cells that produce insulin. What if we could replace these lost cells – or stimulate the body to produce new ones? This session explores how stem cells, cell replacement and regenerative approaches could one day restore the body’s own ability to produce insulin.

Speakers:
Heiko Lickert, Helmholtz Munich, DE
Stefan Irion, GC Therapeutics, US
Stefan Bornstein, German Center for Diabetes Research | DZD, DE

What if AI could help us understand how diseases emerge – and predict how they will progress? By analyzing molecular data from individual cells alongside clinical data from patients, researchers are uncovering patterns that would otherwise remain hidden. Leading experts, including Moritz Gerstung, shortlisted for the Falling Walls Science Breakthrough of the Year, will explore how AI can reveal disease mechanisms, improve prediction, and open new paths toward more precise medicine.

Speakers:
Jan Korbel, European Molecular Biology Laboratory Heidelberg | EMBL, DE
Carsten Marr, Helmholtz Munich, DE
Moritz Gerstung, German Cancer Research Center | DKFZ, DE
 

What if AI could transform medicine at every level – from understanding cells to interpreting medical images and assisting during surgery? Today, molecular data can uncover disease mechanisms, advanced medical imaging can reveal functional changes in organs, and intelligent robotic systems can support increasingly precise interventions. This session will explore how AI is reshaping the way we understand, diagnose, and treat disease – and how far this transformation might go.

Speakers:
Anna Aschenbrenner, German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases | DZNE, DE
Stefanie Speidel, German Cancer Research Center | DKFZ, DE
Jens Vogel-Claussen, German Center for Lung Research | DZL, DE
 

What if disease could be detected in the earliest stages, even before symptoms appear? Smartphone-based memory assessments, AI-based risk models drawing on clinical and other patient data, and wearable technologies are making subtle warning signs increasingly measurable. This could help detect neurodegenerative diseases in adults, mental health conditions in young people, and heart disease at an earlier stage. This session explores how predictive tools can help identify individuals at risk earlier, create a window for prevention, and move medicine from diagnosing disease to anticipating it.

Speakers:
David Berron, German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases | DZNE, DE
Eloi Marijon, French National Institute of Health and Medical Research | INSERM, FR & Université Paris Cité, FR
Nikolaos Koutsouleris, German Center for Mental Health | DZPG

Antibiotics have transformed medicine — but their success has come with the challenge of antimicrobial resistance. This discussion, featuring Mark Brönstrup, shortlisted for the Falling Walls Science Breakthrough of the Year, looks at next-generation approaches to fighting infections: from disarming pathogens and disrupting their virulence to empowering the body’s own defences.

Speakers:
Richard Alm, CARB-X, US
Mark Brönstrup Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research | HZI & German Center for Infection Research | DZIF, DE
Jan Rybniker, German Center for Infection Research | DZIF, DE

 

The immune system faces a fundamental challenge: it must attack what threatens us while leaving our own healthy cells untouched. In autoimmune disease, that distinction breaks down; in cancer, immune cells may fail to attack when they should. This discussion explores how researchers are learning to prevent harmful immune responses and direct immune cells precisely where they are needed.

Speakers:
Carolin Daniel, Helmholtz Munich & German Center for Diabetes Research | DZD, DE
Uta Höpken, Max Delbrück Center | MDC, DE
Momsen Reincke, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, DE

Tumors are not just masses of cancer cells - they are complex ecosystems of immune and stromal cells that can help cancer evade treatment. What if we could instruct therapeutic immune cells exactly which targets to attack, how to coordinate with other cells, and monitor therapy efficiency in real time? Researchers are developing programmable cell therapies alongside high-dimensional diagnostics and biosensors that capture treatment responses as they unfold. Together, these advances could turn cancer immunotherapy into a precisely guided, adaptable intervention - tailored to each patient and adjusted as the tumor evolves.

Speakers:
Larysa Baraban, Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf | HZDR, DE
Amy Lin, Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health | ARPA-H, US
Christian Seitz, German Cancer Consortium | DKTK, DE