CPI spokesperson Prof. Stefanie Dimmeler on nearly 20 years in a continuously successful Cluster of Excellence and on new, exciting research questions in cardiovascular science
UniReport: Congratulations, Professor Dimmeler. How does the success of CPI feel to you at this moment?
Stefanie Dimmeler: I feel fantastic. Our success in the Excellence Strategy has been incredibly energizing – it makes my work even more enjoyable than before. The weekend after the decision, I was already working on new projects. Naturally, everyone was pretty nervous before the announcement, making it hard to focus on new ideas. You just didn’t know if all the effort would pay off.
How and where did you experience the decision? Was there a big celebration on May 22?
We were a bit superstitious and hadn’t planned anything in advance. In Frankfurt, we gathered rather spontaneously in a small group. Whoever happened to be nearby joined in. Since we work at different locations, we’ll be meeting soon in Bad Nauheim – our halfway point between Frankfurt and Giessen – for a proper celebration. But even the smaller gathering was lovely.
CPI was already funded from 2006 to 2018 as the “Excellence Cluster Cardio-Pulmonary System” and has been supported again since 2019 as the Cardio-Pulmonary Institute (CPI). After such a comparatively long period of funding, does one enter the competition more confidently than a brand-new cluster project?
I was part of the first review in 2006, back then still as an early-career researcher. Of course, you build some routine over time, but that doesn’t make it any less exciting. A new cluster certainly has to bring together many elements for the first time. But for a long-running project, the challenge consists of maintaining innovation at a high level. As they say in management: it’s easier to go from 80 to 95 percent than from 95 to 99. That holds true for established clusters as well. CPI’s fourth successful funding round is certainly exceptional. The challenge lies in constantly identifying new topics. You have to stay fresh and curious – not just keep doing what you’ve always done. You have to ask: Where are we headed? That’s a challenge – but a good one. It improves the quality of research because you’re engaging directly with new questions. Research fields are also evolving, especially technologically – how can we build on that? In this sense, even an “old” cluster faces completely new challenges.
CPI studies how the heart and lungs function, age, and become diseased – and how targeted treatments can be developed. Are you in global competition with other research? How do you maintain a unique edge?
There is certainly a great deal of international research in the cardio-pulmonary field, but CPI definitely has its unique strengths – for example, in pulmonary hypertension. We’ve studied how the lung’s blood vessels change under those conditions. Today, there are drugs – some developed with CPI involvement – that help treat the disease. People live longer thanks to these treatments, which introduces new challenges: a chronic stage of the disease. The same is true for atherosclerosis, which causes heart attacks – survival rates have dramatically improved. Now, we’re turning our focus to aging: aging alone alters the heart and lung systems. So, we’re asking: what promotes healthy aging and prevents entirely new heart and lung diseases? In aging, the heart and lungs interact strongly – the heart becomes stiff and less flexible, harming the lungs and creating a vicious cycle that contributes to aging. A good example is “heart failure with preserved ejection fraction” – not a problem of pumping, but of relaxation and expansion – which is one of the topics we are currently researching.
How do you view collaboration with non-university partners like the Max Planck Institute? Is there something each side brings that the other doesn’t?
We’re definitely set up in a very synergistic way: with strong lung research in Giessen, strong vascular research in Frankfurt, and the Max Planck Institute, which brings outstanding basic research, excellent technical infrastructure, and solid funding. That was extremely helpful when the center was first founded. By now, we’re complementary in our expertise – with the university hospitals contributing the clinical perspective. We really couldn’t have designed it better.
Funding begins on January 1, 2026. Will there be overlap between the old and new funding periods?
We’re still waiting to see how large the budget will be – the German Research Foundation (DFG) has hinted at possible cuts. Once the final budget is known, we’ll plan CPI’s future. Some of our programs will continue, especially our early-career programs, which have been very successful. We’re also looking to internationalize these programs – hoping to attract postdocs from abroad, especially those who may find the U.S. less appealing right now. And in terms of professorships, we want to strengthen research into aging and its connection to the nervous system – these are important emerging fields, and we’ll need even more expertise here.
Are there already connections or collaborations with SCALE, Goethe University’s second successful Cluster of Excellence, also at the research level?
Thematically, the two clusters are clearly distinct, but otherwise, there are many connections. Michaela Müller-McNicoll is a member of our cluster. Interestingly, CPI actually helped ensure she remained in Frankfurt – we used our Excellence funding at the time to support her professorship. There is a lot of mutual appreciation. I don’t see any internal competition – it’s more external. I was genuinely thrilled that SCALE was selected for funding. When the list of funded clusters was published online, my second glance immediately went to SCALE. Now both Frankfurt clusters need to explore how we can jointly support scientific fields to make the most of our funding – for the benefit of the entire university. That applies to Collaborative Research Centers and other research initiatives too: it’s about attracting versatile researchers who can be applied in multiple contexts.
What about the current collaborations within the RMU alliance?
We have excellent connections in cardiovascular research, especially since both Mainz and Frankfurt are sites of the German Center for Cardiovascular Research (DZHK), which closely links us. I’m also a partner in the Mainz “Cluster4Future”, another fruitful collaboration.
SCALE: Subcellular Architecture of Life
Cells are composed of billions of molecules, organized from individual components to large molecular complexes and organelles. While many single molecules are well characterized, it remains unclear how cellular architecture arises, functions, and how its components interact. Researchers in the SCALE cluster aim to uncover the cell’s self-organization principles and create a high-resolution spatial and temporal simulation of cellular processes. This will improve our understanding of how cells actually function and how their various “machines” cooperate.
CPI: Cardio-Pulmonary Institute
Cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases are among the leading causes of death worldwide. An aging population and emerging risk factors such as environmental pollutants and infections are making treatment increasingly complex. The Cardio-Pulmonary Institute (CPI) aims to pioneer new paths in medicine through innovative research. Under the motto “Precision Biology Drives Precision Medicine”, CPI investigates how the heart and lungs function, age, and become diseased – and how they can be treated in a targeted manner. The institute follows an integrated approach, with scientists from diverse disciplines and clinics working together to develop therapies tailored to individual patients. Cutting-edge data analytics, clinical studies, and digital methods enable the rapid transfer of research into clinical practice.
