User:Jena FLI



The ᛌᛌᛌLeibniz Institute on Aging - Fritz-Lipmann-Instituteᛌᛌᛌ (FLI) is a non-university research institution located at the Beutenberg Campus in Jena and is involved in basic biomedical research in the field of life science. the institute is a member of the Leibniz Association. The FLI is run in private legal form as a registered association.

When it was founded, the FLI was the first national research institute to devote itself to basic biomedical research in the field of ageing research / gerontology on a broad scale.

History of the institute
The first predecessor of the institute was the "Schott-Zeiss Institute for Microbiology", founded in 1944, from which the "Institute for Microbiology and Experimental Therapy" emerged in 1953. In 1970, the institute was renamed the Central Institute for Microbiology and Experimental Therapy (ZIMET) of the Academy of Sciences of the GDR.

After reunification, the former ZIMET was essentially divided into two institutes in 1991: the Hans Knöll Institute (HKI) and the Institute of Molecular Biotechnology (IMB). The IMB focused on research in the field of evolutionary biotechnology and genome sciences and, from January 1992, was one of the research institutions jointly funded by the federal and state governments in the then "Blue List", now the Leibniz Association.

Following an evaluation of the Institute, the German Council of Science and Humanities proposed a new research concept for the IMB in 1999. As a result, Prof. Peter Herrlich was appointed as the new director of the IMB in 2003, who proposed the new scientific concept "Mechanisms of ageing and age-related diseases". In 2005, the institute was renamed the "Leibniz Institute on Aging - Fritz Lipmann Institute" (FLI) to reflect its new scientific orientation.

The institute is named after the German-American biochemist Fritz Lipmann (1899-1986), who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1953 for his discovery of Coenzyme A as an important intermediate in lipid metabolism.

From 2012 to 2017, the Institute was headed by Scientific Director Prof. Karl Lenhard Rudolph. Since January 2024, Prof. Dario Riccardo Valenzano has been the Scientific Director of the Institute. The Administrative Director since 2006 is Dr. Daniele Barthel.

Research and development
The aim of biomedical ageing research at the FLI is to decipher the genetic, epigenetic and molecular processes that underlie age-related changes. This research focus of the FLI is unique - in Germany and beyond. Ageing is a highly complex process that is influenced by genetic and external factors. Research at the FLI aims to create a scientific basis for the development of novel therapeutic approaches that help to extend the health span - i.e. the time during which people age healthily. Extending the health span is not only important for individual people. It is highly relevant overall in order to be able to cope with demographic change and the associated ageing of society.

Cooperation
A multidisciplinary approach is the foundation of research at the FLI and is reflected in a large number of national and international collaborations with other research institutions.

The FLI works closely with the Friedrich Schiller University Jena (FSU) and the Jena University Hospital and is integrated into around 300 national research cooperations and alliances. In addition, the FLI maintains a systematic exchange with research institutions in more than 30 countries around the world.

Infrastructure
The institute employs around 350 people, including a large number of international scientists (employees, students and visiting scientists) from 40 different countries (share of 23.1% in 2020).

The institute's budget in 2021 was 31.4 million euros (federal BMBF grant: 16.0 million euros, grant from the state of Thuringia: 12.4 million euros). Around 3.0 million euros were raised as third-party funds.

With the commissioning of a new laboratory building in 2013, the institute's floor space increased from 4,500 to around 10,000 m². In 2017, extensive renovation work began on the institute's old building [1].

Web links
* Leibniz-Institute on Aging - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual references
Annual report 2019-2020