The MHH (Hannover Medical School) is one of the the largest comprehensive transplant centers in Europe. In 2008 the MHH has founded the Integrated Research and Treatment Center Transplantation (IFB-Tx) to integrate and focus transplantation medicine and research.

The IFB-Tx is supported by a generous grant of the Federal Ministry of Research (BMBF) of 25 M EURO from 2008 until 2013. The support is part of a national competition for excellence in clinical research.

The overall aim of the IFB-Tx is to integrate all basic and clinical departments involved in transplantation into an effective unit to develop new diagnostic and therapeutic strategies to rectify the current limitations of transplant medicine.

Solid organ and cell-based (bone marrow cells, stem cells, islet cells and others) transplantation has made considerable progress in the past years; however, graft survival remains limited and side effects of immunosuppressive medication are considerable. Moreover, mortality of transplanted patients is still unacceptably high. Haematopoietic stem cell transplantation, disease relapse and graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) result in considerable morbidity and mortality.

The large numbers of solid organ and cell transplants performed at the MHH allows the IFB-Tx to perform large-scale clinical and basic studies addressing important questions in the area of transplant medicine. We aim to substantially influence national and international standards in this regard and to facilitate appropriate diagnostic and therapeutic changes.

Our goals are

1. to further improve the translational research program in transplantation to improve patient and graft survival after solid organ and stem cell transplantation.
2. to further develop and foster the established attractive career program for clinician scientists: from the education of students to a long-term tenure track system.
3. to optimize and consolidate the implementation and organisation of the sustained clinical research structure in transplantation medicine within the MHH where decision-making, qualified allocation of support, spatial organisation, and clinical structures are effectively administered.

We are well underway to reach these goals.

• To establish long-term follow-up programs for transplanted patients.
• To perform a comprehensive interdisciplinary approach to Tx and patient care.
• To initiate programs for prolonged survival for patients with end-stage diseases.
• To offer interdisciplinary education and training in Tx medicine.
• To offer and support attractive career opportunities by the IFB-Tx structure.
• To present our educational program as a role model for medical training in Germany.
• To have established professional supportive Core Facilities as basis for clinical research.