One Health

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20.01.2025 14:17

One Health – Infections know no borders

Dr. Franziska Ahnert-Michel Presse- und Öffentlichkeitsarbeit
Leibniz-Institut für Virologie (LIV)

International Symposium of the Leibniz Center Infection

Hamburg. Infectious diseases know no borders - from zoonoses such as SARS-CoV-2 to antibiotic resistances that threaten humans, animals and the environment alike. The 14th LCI Symposium will show how the One Health approach provides solutions to this global challenge. Current and innovative strategies, but also historical approaches against transboundary infectious diseases are the focus of this year's Symposium One Health - Infections without Boundaries, organized by the Leibniz Center Infection (LCI). The event will bring together international researchers on January 28 and 29, 2025 at the Centre for Structural Systems Biology (CSSB) on the DESY campus in Hamburg-Bahrenfeld.

One Health pursues an interdisciplinary approach that recognizes that human, animal and environmental health are closely linked. Many of the major challenges in the field of infectious diseases - such as the spread of zoonotic pathogens (infectious agents that can be transmitted from animals to humans), antibiotic resistances or pandemics - can only be solved if experts from different disciplines work together.

“With this year's symposium, we would like to emphasize the importance of the One Health approach for infection research and promote interdisciplinary exchange in order to be able to tackle global health challenges more effectively in the future,” explains Prof. Ulrich E. Schaible from the Research Center Borstel, Leibniz Lung Center (FZB), current spokesperson of the LCI.

The symposium comprises four thematic sessions: from a look at history to the prevention of infectious diseases, the speakers will also shed light on how we can better prepare for and respond to health challenges. International researchers from the fields of medicine, veterinary medicine, microbiology and environmental sciences will present their latest findings and discuss strategies for global health.

**Program highlights**

The program comprises four sessions with four keynote lectures:
Physician Prof. Dr. David L. Heymann from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine explains the basics of the One Health concept.

Historian Prof. Dr. Thomas Großbölting, Director of the Research Centre for Contemporary History in Hamburg, takes a look back at the history of tropical medicine and Bernhard Nocht, the first director of the then Institut für Schiffs- und Tropenkrankheiten (now the Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine, BNITM).

Virologist Prof. Dr. Marion Koopmanns from the Erasmus MC (affiliated to the Erasmus University Rotterdam) discusses the lessons of past pandemics for the future.

Prof. Dr. John H. Amuasi, head of the Global and One Health Research Group at the BNITM, and head of a research group at the Kumasi Centre for Collaborative Research in Tropical Medicine (KCCR) in Kumasi, Ghana, presents concepts and projects to respond to outbreaks of infection.

Other presentations will include the influence of climate change on the spread of infectious diseases, the role of wild and domestic animals as reservoirs for pathogens and innovative strategies for containing antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

The complete program of the symposium can be found here: https://www.lc-infection.de/en/lci-symposium-2025.html

**Invitation for press representatives**
Representatives of the press are cordially invited to attend the symposium. There will be an opportunity for separate questions and discussions with selected speakers and the current LCI spokesperson Prof. Ulrich E. Schaible.
Press meetings on January 28 and 29, 2025 by appointment.
Registration under: presse@leibniz-liv.de, Tel.: 040/48051-108.

**About the Leibniz Center Infection**

The Leibniz Center Infection (LCI) is a dynamic alliance of the Leibniz Institutes Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine (BNITM), Research Center Borstel, Leibniz Lung Center (FZB) and the Leibniz Institute of Virology (LIV). As members of the Leibniz Association, the institutes conduct strategic, topic-oriented research into scientific issues of social relevance. The main purpose of the alliance is to promote the research focus on Global and Emerging Infections as a core competence in the North German scientific area. The aim is to create a national competence center for infection research together with local university partners and major research institutions.

Further information can be found at www.lc-infection.de.