Research

Bioinformatik-Forschung bedeutet vor allem die Entwicklung von geeigneten Computermodellen und -verfahren zur Vorhersage von Molekül-Eigenschaften und lebenswissenschaftlichen Phänomenen. Am ZBH widmen wir uns mit drei Arbeitsgruppen und zwei Nachwuchsgruppen einem breiten Spektrum bioinformatischer Fragestellungen. Computerprogramme aus dem ZBH sind weltweit im akademischen und industriellen Umfeld im Einsatz.
 
The Center for Bioinformatics Hamburg (ZBH) is an organization of the University of Hamburg. It began its work on July 1, 2002. The ZBH aims at establishing research and education in bioinformatics on a high national as well as international level. For this, the ZBH is furnished with five research groups covering a wide range of bioinformatics topics:

Research Group for Computational Systems Biology, Prof. Dr. Jan Baumbach

The Computational Systems Biology research laboratory at University of Hamburg investigates the molecular mechanisms driving diseases using artificial intelligence methodology and combinatorial optimization. We develop computational methods for Network and Systems Medicine, in particular for mechanotyping and redefining diseases by their mechanistic causes rather than symptoms. Here, we emerge novel ways for drug repurposing and synergistic pharmacology. We also develop privacy-preserving artificial intelligence tools to unleash the power of big data in precision medicine, where sensitive data may not be shared cross-institutionally for prediction model learning. The COVID19 pandemic has demonstrated that the data silo attitude puts massive researchers barriers in our way, which need to be overcome. We thus develop privacy-by-design methods, largely based on federated artificial intelligence, that respect individual privacy while still allowing for big data analytics.

Research Group for Genome Informatics , Prof. Dr. Stefan Kurtz

The Research Group for Genome Informatics develops and applies new algorithms and data structures 
as well as flexible software systems for processing large sets of sequences.

Research Group for Biomolecular Modeling , Prof. Dr. Andrew Torda

Research Group for Computational Molecular Design , Prof. Dr. Matthias Rarey

The development of novel bioactive compounds like they appear as active substances in drugs happens more and more with the aid of computers. The research focus of the AMD group at the Center for Bioinformatics is the development of necessary software systems.