Professor Andreas Oberbach is a heart surgeon at the Clinic and Polyclinic for Heart Surgery at Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich and also heads up the CardiOmics Unit at Fraunhofer IZI, where he investigates infectious diseases and intervention options that are of relevance to heart surgery.

Through his work on bacterial infiltration in the case of structural heart valve disease, Oberbach gained new insights into the correlation between infectious diseases and chronic changes to the heart valve. This work could well impact on the choice of possible therapies in future. It also enables the further development of state-of-the-art molecular diagnostic methods that can be used in routine clinical practice. In doing this, the team of researchers draws on various whole-genome analysis techniques available at the Fraunhofer institute and is working on specific ways of illustrating factors that cause diseases. The research findings gained by Oberbach and his colleagues suggest that patients with structural heart valve diseases will develop valvular degeneration when under the influence of several different types of bacteria. "We can see these findings also making a significant contribution to improving antibiotic strategies in future," said Oberbach.

His current research focuses on the extent to which these types of verification procedures will influence future treatment strategies and the step by step diagnostic approach that could be used in routine clinical practice.

Based in Berlin, the German Society for Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery is a non-profit, specialist medical association that aims to promote science and the further advancement of therapies in the field of thoracic, cardiac and vascular surgery. Every year, the society pays tribute to the special achievements of physicians and scientists by handing out renowned medical and research awards.

Contact

Prof. Dr. Dr. Dr. Andreas Oberbach 
Head of CardiOmics Unit
Phone +49 341 35536-3364
andreas.oberbach@izi-extern.fraunhofer.de