Institute of Clinical Molecular Biology, University Hospital Schleswig Holstein (UKSH)
The Institute of Clinical Molecular Biology (IKMB) in Kiel was founded by Kiel University within the University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein (UKSH) in 2003. It is the vision of the Institute to create a systemic understanding of complex human diseases as well as the phenotype of healthy ageing by using genomic technologies. This includes validating the resulting models at the molecular level (in vitro/in vivo) and their translation into the human diagnostic or therapeutic experiment. The etiology of chronic inflammatory diseases that affect human barrier organs (Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, atopic dermatitis, psoriasis, sarcoidosis) is one of the scientific focuses of the Institute. Research at the Institute has contributed to genome-wide association studies in many disease indications leading to a plethora of identified and replicated disease loci. New sequencing technologies are used for a complete molecular definition of individuals (including genomes, epigenomes and transcriptomes). Population access through the popgen biobank ensures that molecular understanding of phenotypes in patients does not remain anecdotal but is examined for relevance on a population level.
Role within miGut-Health
Within the miGut-Health project, IKMB will be involved in WP1 and offer support in data management, identification and validation of gut health markers. The main objective within the WP1 is to integrate state-of-the-art knowledge and data from suitable human studies (i.e., medical/clinical, wellbeing, life-style etc.) to identify actionable factors linking chronic systemic and/or local inflammation to the health-to-disease transition. IKMB also acts as the key driver of successful project implementation, given UKSH`s status of the project coordinator.
