Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin
Campus Virchow-Klinikum
Augustenburger Platz 1
13353 Berlin

Germany

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Project Leader

Professor Stefan D. Anker, MD, PhD Coordinator of SICA-HF  Phone: +49 (0)30-450 553463  Fax: +49 (0)30-450 553951  Contact

Project Staff

Dr. Stephan von Haehling, MD, PhD Scientific Coordinator of SICA-HF  Phone: +49-(0)30-450 553 506  Fax: +49-(0)30-450 553 951  Contact

Professor Wolfram Doehner, MD, PhD Phone: +49 (0)30-450 553 507  Fax: +49 (0)30-450553 951  Contact

Dr. Anja Sandek, MD Phone: +49 (0)30-450 553 478  Fax: +49 (0)30-450 553 951  Contact

Monika Diek, MA Phone: +49 (0)30-450 553 407  Fax: +49 (0)30-450 553 951  Contact

Nicole Ebner PhD Student  Phone: +49 (0)30-450 565 528  Contact

Corinna Denecke Study Nurse  Phone: +49 (0)30-450 553025  Fax: +49 (0)30-450 553951  Contact

Matthias Tacke MD Student  Phone: +49 (0)30-450553625  Contact

Susann Fülster MD Student  Phone: +49 (0)30-450 553 625  Fax: +49 (0)30-450 553 951  Contact

Dr. Tarek Bekfani Phone: +49 (0)30-450 553 025   Fax: +49 (0)30-450 553 951  Contact

Dr. Miroslava Valentova Phone: +49 (0)30-450 553 577  Fax: +49 (0)30-450 553 951  Contact

Jennifer Kube MD Student  Phone: +49 (0)30-450 553 625  Fax: +49 (0)30-450 553 951  Contact

Lisa Steinbeck MD Student  Phone: +49 (0)30-450 553 625  Fax: +49 (0)30-450 553 951  Contact

Institute Presentation

The Charité was founded in 1710 as a hospital for patients suffering from plague. Since then, the Charité has become one of the largest university hospitals in Europe with currently more than 3,500 hospital beds on three campuses. More than half of the German awardees of the Nobel Prize in medicine or physiology are from the Charité including Emil von Behring, Robert Koch, and Paul Ehrlich.

The Centre for Applied Cachexia Research is part of the Department of Cardiology at the Campus Virchow-Klinikum of the Charité. This campus is located in Berlin-Wedding in the northern part of the city. The Virchow hospital was opened in 1906 later to become part of the Charité Medical School. Our research focus are chronic illnesses that are associated with cachexia, most prominently heart failure, but also cancer and stroke. These illnesses are being investigated using clinical methodologies but also animal models. For example, we perform metabolic studies, biomarker analyses, body composition analyses, cardiopulmonary exercise testing, blood flow assessments and many other clinical investigations.

The lead investigators of SICA-HF, Prof. Stefan D. Anker, Dr. Stephan von Haehling, and Prof. Wolfram Doehner have published extensively in their respective fields and are renowned experts in heart failure research. Stefan D. Anker published the original paper that established cachexia as an independent prognostic factor in heart failure. He is also well-known for his expertise in the field of obesity and insulin resistance in heart failure. Stephan von Haehling is a senior researcher in the field of biomarker research, immune function, and endothelial dysfunction in chronic heart failure. 
Wolfram Doehner is internationally recognised for his work in the field of pathophysiologic studies of metabolic abnormalities. He is a senior scientist and head of the research group on metabolic studies in heart failure.