Center for Photonics in Infection Research to Open in Jena

Germany’s Federal Ministry of Education and Research is funding the establishment of the Leibniz Centre for Photonics in Infection Research (LPI) at the Jena University Hospital. The center aims to advance the development of light-based medical technology, and it is intended to expedite the translation of research results into marketable products in a standardized process chain. It is initiated by the Jena Leibniz Institutes of Photonic Technology (Leibniz IPHT) and Natural Product Research and Infection Biology (Leibniz HKI), the Friedrich Schiller University Jena, and the Jena University Hospital.

LPI spokesperson professor Jürgen Popp (second from right) presents the LPI laboratory to German Federal Ministry of Education and Research state secretary Sabine Döring (fourth from right) and minister Wolfgang Tiefensee (third from right). Left and right are LPI scientists Marie-Luise Enghardt (right) and Richard Gros. Courtesy of Michael Szabó/Jena University Hospital.

Planning for the center’s construction is currently underway, as is the establishment of management and governance structures for the center. The LPI is open to the national and international scientific community and will also enable small- and medium-size companies as well as startups to achieve valid results faster, Leibniz IPHT said in an announcement. Industry and public authorities will be involved to ensure the smooth market entry of new diagnostic procedures and therapeutic approaches.

“The combination of photonic technologies, basic microbiological research, and clinical application is a truly unique selling point of the location,” said Wolfgang Tiefensee, minister of economic affairs and science. In addition to enabling the quick transfer of research results into practice, Tiefensee said, a primary objective of the facility is to drastically shorten the development times of new drugs and therapies.

To that end, the LPI will provide a first-in-patient-unit (FiPU) that will offer patients in the intensive care unit afflicted with life-threatening illnesses the opportunity to try potentially life-saving solutions that are still being researched. The design planning for the FiPU is currently underway and the conversion is scheduled to begin in early 2024.

More than 100 scientists are currently working on five joint projects that will form the LPI’s basic technological equipment in the future.