Research

Research at the Institute of Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine focuses on tuberculosis, HIV, infectious immunology, SARS-CoV-2, neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) and antimicrobial resistance (AMR). A further focus is on translational laboratory research into infectious diseases.

Research at the Munich Tropical Institute is carried out at the following locations, among others:

  • Research laboratories of the Institute of Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine, Leopoldstrasse

  • Research management, Türkenstrasse (national/international studies in collaboration with local cooperation partners, see overview of research cooperations)

  • Laboratories at the Großhadern site, LMU Munich Hospital

The Tropical Institute works closely with national and international research institutions on research projects and clinical studies (for details see research groups). To this end, we cooperate with public, academic and industrial partners, among others:

  • Center Hospitalier Universitaire Vausdois (CHUV), Switzerland
  • German Society for Tropical Medicine, Travel Medicine and Global Health (DTG)
  • German Center for Infection Research (DZIF)
  • Erasmus Universitair Medisch Centrum Rotterdam (EMC), Netherlands
  • European HIV Vaccine Alliance - EHVA
  • Research Center Borstel, Germany
  • Foundation for Innovative Diagnostics (FIND), Switzerland
  • Fraunhofer Institute for Translational Medicine and Pharmacology ITMP - Immunology, Infection and Pandemic Research IIP
  • Gene Center of the LMU Munich, Germany
  • Helmholtz Munich, Germany
  • Imperial College London, MRC London Institute of Medical Sciences (MRC), UK
  • Institut de Recherche Pour le Developpement (IRD), France

  • Instituto de Saúde Pública da Universidade do Porto (ISPUP), Portugal

  • Instituto Universitário Egas Moniz (IUEM), University of Lisbon, Portugal

  • IRCCS Ospedale Sacro Cuore Don Calabria, Department of Infectious -Tropical Diseases and Microbiology, Italy
  • Karolinska Institutet, Sweden
  • Koninklijke Nederlandse Centrale Vereniging tot Bestrijding der Tuberculose (KNCV), Netherlands
  • Le Centre hospitalier universitaire vaudois (CHUV), Switzerland

  • Leibnitz Institute for Nature Research and Infection Biology e.V., Germany
  • London School of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, UK
  • Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, Germany
  • Luxembourg Institute of Health (LIH)
  • Lygature, Netherlands
  • Max von Pettenkofer Institute for Virology, LMU, Germany
  • Medical Research Council Clinical Trials Unit (MRC CTU) at UCL, London, UK
  • National Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM), France
  • National Institute of Pneumology Marius Nasta (Institutul de Pneumoftiziologie "Marius Nasta"), Romania
  • Radboud University Medical Center (Radboudumc), Netherlands
  • Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-University Bonn, Germany
  • Technical University of Munich, Germany
  • Universidad de Zaragoza, Spain

  • University of Heidelberg, Germany

  • University Hospital Erlangen, Germany

  • University College London, UK

  • University of Antwerp, Belgium

  • University of Bologna, Italy

  • University of Cambridge, UK

  • University of Liverpool, UK

  • University of Milano (UMIL), Italy

  • University of Oxford, Oxford University Clinical Research Unit (OUCRU), UK

  • University of Verona, Italy

  • University Vita-Salute San Raffaele (USR), Italy


Europe (geographical allocation)

  • Bangladesh University of Health Sciences (BUHS), Bangladesh
  • Bill & Melinda Gates Medical Research Institute (Gates MRI), USA
  • Buruli Ulcer Laboratory Network (BU-LABNET), Center Pasteur du Cameroun, Yaoundé, Cameroon
  • Center for International Health (CIH)
  • Center de Recherches Médicales de Lambaréné (CERMEL), Gabon
  • Centro de Investigação Operacional da Beira (CIOB), Mozambique
  • Christian Medical College (CMC), Vellore, India
  • Clinical HIV Research Unit (CHRU), South Africa
  • Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI), USA
  • Critical Path Institute (C-Path), USA
  • Henry M Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine (HJF), Bethesda, MD, USA
  • Hirsch Institute of Tropical Medicine (HITM), Ethiopia
  • HJF Medical Research International, Kericho/Kisumu, Kenya
  • Ifakara Health Institute (IHI), Tanzania
  • Instituto Nacional De Saúde (INS), Mozambique
  • Jimma University Medical Center (JUMC), Jimma, Ethiopia
  • Kamuzu University of Health Sciences (KUHeS), Blantyre, Malawi
  • Kibong'oto Infectious Diseases Hospital (formerly: Ki'bongoto National TB Hospital), Tanzania

  • Kilimanjaro Clinical Research Institute (KCRI), Tanzania

  • Kumasi Center for Collaborative Research (KCCR), Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi, Ghana
  • Mbarara University of Science and Technology (MUST), Uganda
  • MRC Unit The Gambia at LSHTM, The Gambia
  • MRC/UVRI & LSHTM Uganda Research Unit, Uganda
  • National Control Program for Neglected Tropical Diseases, Tanzania
  • National Health Laboratory Service-University of Cape Town, South Africa
  • National Institute of Medical Research Mwanza, Tanzania

  • NIMR - MMRC (Mbeya Medical Research Center), Tanzania
  • Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR), Accra, Ghana

  • Patan Academy of Health Sciences, Nepal
  • St. Paul's Hospital Millennium Medical College (SPHMMC), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

  • Stellenbosch University, TASK Clinical Research Center (TCRC), South Africa

  • TASK Applied Science

  • TB Alliance, South Africa
  • The Aurum Institute, South Africa
  • The Health Research Unit Zim (THRU ZIM) at the Biomedical Research and Training Institute, Zimbabwe
  • The Hackensack Meridian Health Center for Discovery and Innovation (CDI), USA

  • The Johns Hopkins University, USA

  • The Regents of The University of California, USA

  • The University of St Andrews, UK
  • TropNet Network
  • U.S. Army Medical Research Directorate - Kenya (USAMRU-K), Kisumu, Kenya

  • U.S. Military HIV Research Program by the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Silver Spring, MD, USA

  • UCSF Center for Tuberculosis, University of California, San Francisco, USA

  • University of Buea, Cameroon

  • University of Cape Coast, Ghana

  • University of Cape Town, South Africa

  • University of Witwatersrand (WITS), South Africa

  • Bill & Melinda Gates Medical Research Institute (Gates MRI), USA
  • Buruli Ulcer Laboratory Network (BU-LABNET), Center Pasteur du Cameroun, Yaoundé, Cameroon
  • Center for International Health (CIH), LMU
  • COMBINE / IHI AMR Accelerator
  • The European & Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP)
  • German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ)
  • German Center for Infection Research (DZIF)
  • EGHRIN - European Global Health Research Network
  • European University Alliance for Global Health (EUGLOH)
  • European HIV Vaccine Alliance - EHVA
  • European Respiratory Society (ERS), Switzerland
  • Foundation for Innovative Diagnostics (FIND), Switzerland
  • GeoSentinel Network
  • German Alliance for Global Health Research (GLOHRA)
  • Innovative Health Initiative (IHI) (formerly: IMI)
  • Institut de Recherche Pour le Developpement (IRD), France

  • Koninklijke Nederlandse Centrale Vereniging tot Bestrijding der Tuberculose (KNCV), Netherlands
  • National Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM), France
  • Network for Education in International Health (tropEd)
  • TB Alliance, South Africa
  • UNITE4TB Consortium
  • World Health Organization (WHO), Switzerland
  • Bangladesh University of Health Sciences (BUHS), Bangladesh
  • Center for International Health (CIH), LMU
  • Clinical HIV Research Unit (CHRU), South Africa
  • Colorado State University, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Science, USA
  • Erasmus Universitair Medisch Centrum Rotterdam (EMC), Netherlands
  • Imperial College London, MRC London Institute of Medical Sciences (MRC), UK
  • Instituto de Saúde Pública da Universidade do Porto (ISPUP), Portugal
  • Instituto Universitário Egas Moniz (IUEM), University of Lisbon, Portugal
  • IRCCS Ospedale Sacro Cuore Don Calabria, Department of Infectious -Tropical Diseases and Microbiology, Italy
  • Jimma University Medical Center (JUMC), Jimma, Ethiopia
  • Kamuzu University of Health Sciences (KUHeS), Blantyre, Malawi
  • Karolinska Institutet, Sweden
  • Kumasi Center for Collaborative Research (KCCR), Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi, Ghana
  • Lancaster University, UK
  • Le Centre hospitalier universitaire vaudois (CHUV), Switzerland

  • London School of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, UK
  • Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, Germany
  • Max von Pettenkofer Institute for Virology, LMU, Germany
  • Medical Research Council Clinical Trials Unit (MRC CTU) at UCL, London, UK
  • Munich Clinic, Germany
  • National Institute of Pneumology Marius Nasta (Institutul de Pneumoftiziologie "Marius Nasta"), Romania
  • NIMR - MMRC (Mbeya Medical Research Center), Tanzania
  • Radboud University Medical Center (Radboudumc), Netherlands
  • Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-University Bonn, Germany
  • St. Paul's Hospital Millennium Medical College (SPHMMC), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

  • Stellenbosch University, TASK Clinical Research Center (TCRC), South Africa

  • The Johns Hopkins University, USA

  • The Regents of The University of California, USA

  • The University of St Andrews, UK
  • UCSF Center for Tuberculosis, University of California, San Francisco, USA
  • Universidad de Zaragoza, Spain

  • University of Heidelberg, Germany

  • University Hospital Erlangen, Germany

  • University College London, UK

  • University of Antwerp, Belgium

  • University of Bologna, Italy

  • University of Buea, Cameroon

  • University of Cape Coast, Ghana

  • University of Cape Town, South Africa

  • University of Liverpool, UK

  • University of Milano (UMIL), Italy

  • University of Oxford, Oxford University Clinical Research Unit (OUCRU), UK

  • University of Verona, Italy

  • University of Witwatersrand (WITS), South Africa

  • University Vita-Salute San Raffaele (USR), Italy
  • Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF)
  • Bavarian State Chancellery, Germany
  • Bavarian State Ministry of Science and the Arts, Germany
  • Munich Fire Department, Germany
  • Health Department of the City of Munich, Germany
  • Institute of Microbiology of the German Armed Forces, Munich, Germany
  • Ministère de la santé, de l'Hygiène Publique et de l'Accès Universel aux Soins, Lomé, Togo
  • Münchner Stadtentwässerung, Germany
  • Task Force Infectiology, Bavarian State Office for Health and Food Safety (LGL), Germany
  • Robert Koch Institute
  • Technical University of Munich, Germany
  • U.S. Army Medical Research Directorate - Kenya (USAMRU-K), Kisumu, Kenya

  • U.S. Military HIV Research Program by the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Silver Spring, MD, USA

  • CureVac AG, Germany
  • EUROIMMUN Medizinische Labordiagnostik AG, Germany
  • GlaxoSmithKline (GSK)
  • Johnson & Johnson (J&J)
  • Hapila GmbH, Germany
  • MSD
  • Otsuka Novel Products GmbH
  • Roche Diagnostics GmbH
  • Sanofi Aventis Germany GmbH
  • Sequella Inc.
  • Speransa Therapeutics GmbH

Contact us

Research Unit, Institute of Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine

Director: Prof. Dr. med. Michael Hoelscher

Türkenstraße 89
80799 München
Contact us

Clinical studies

In our Clinical Trial Unit (CTU) we have been researching and working together with renowned vaccine developers on new developments and improvements to vaccines for over 20 years.

International clinical research (ICTU) is carried out by the Institute's research groups and in cooperation with global research partners. Further details on ICTU projects and studies can be found in the Research Groups section.

Crédit d'Impôt Recherche (CIR) – Accreditation by the French Ministry of Higher Education and Research

Since March 27, 2025, the Institute of Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine at LMU University Hospital Munich has been accredited by the French Ministry of Higher Education and Research as an innovative research service provider eligible under the Crédit d’Impôt Recherche (CIR) program. This accreditation allows French sponsors to claim tax benefits for research services provided by us in the field of early-phase clinical trials.

The accreditation is valid for the years 2025, 2026, 2027, 2028, and 2029.

Research groups and focus areas

Tuberculosis and chronic lung diseases

HI virus, co-infections and vaccination studies

Infection and Immunity

Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs)

Diagnostic research

COVID-19 / SARS-CoV-2

Vaccine development

New analytical and diagnostic methods in infectious diseases and tropical medicine

Data management and data analysis, statistics, epidemiology

Clinical tropical medicine, travel and migration medicine

Global Health

Sexual and reproductive health

Other viral diseases, e.g. HPV (human papillomavirus), hepatitis B virus