PHYSIOLOGICAL CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES OF GENOME INSTABILITY

PHYSIOLOGICAL CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES OF GENOME INSTABILITY

The newly established Research Unit 5504 funded by the German Research Foundation DFG is pursuing a highly innovative program that aims to understand the physiological causes and consequences of genome instability. The ultimate goal of the Research Unit is to understand both how homeostatic processes affect genome stability and how the DDR maintains the physiological integrity of the organism in the face of DNA damage.

To this end, we assembled a team of leading researchers that all focus on in vivo studies of genome stability using animal models. The research unit will bridge the knowledge gap between causes of genome instability such as transcription-blocking lesions, DNA strand breaks, telomere dysfunction, mechanical stress and structural elements such as G-quadruplexes, and the response mechanisms that determine how genome instability affects cellular and organismal homeostasis

Projects

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Upcoming Events

Seminar Series

Mi · 23.07.2025

"Aging in the hematopoietic compartment" (Kirschner) and "Beyond clocks - the inner workings of DNA methylation dynamics" (Chandra)

Guests: Dr. Kristina Kirschner and Dr. Tamir Chandra, Mayo Clinic

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Seminar Series

Do · 24.07.2025

Shaping the genome with diet: how nutritional cues influence chromatin organization and function in a whole organism

Guest: Dr. Daphne S. Cabianca (Helmholtz Munich)

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Seminar Series

Do · 11.09.2025

"Epigenetic determinants of genome stability for mammalian tissue", (project 1)

Speaker: Anna Eva Koch

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Seminar Series

Do · 09.10.2025

"Coordination of DNA Damage Response and Aging by Ubiquitin Signaling", project 4

Speaker: Thorsten Hoppe

Seminar Series

Do · 30.10.2025

tba

Guest: Dr. Sylvie Noordermeer, LUMC

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Seminar Series

Do · 13.11.2025

"Genome Instability Syndromes as a Toolbox to Unravel Novel DNA Repair Pathways", (project 5)

Speaker: Maxim Hützen

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Seminar Series

Do · 27.11.2025

tba

Guest: Dr. Puck Knipscheer

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Seminar Series

Do · 11.12.2025

"Mechanism and Consequences of SLX4IP- and ERCC1-XPF-dependent Telomere Dysfunction", project 6

Speaker: Francesca Pandolfo (Stephanie Panier)

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Seminar Series

Do · 08.01.2026

A damage driven transcription stress on aging and the effect of calorie restriction, (project 7)

Speaker: Joris Demmer (Jan Hoeijmakers)

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Seminar Series

Do · 22.01.2026

tba

Guest: Dr. Charléne Boumendil, CNRS, UMR 9002

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FOR 5504
Universitätsklinik Köln
CECAD Research Center
Joseph-Stelzmann-Str. 26
50931 Köln
Tel. +49 (0)221 478 84198
simon.uszkoreit@uk-koeln.de