The cluster brings together Berlin’s leading research institutions to uncover how immune-tissue networks sustain health, to detect the earliest cellular and molecular changes that indicate disease or remission, and to intercept pathological processes before symptoms arise.

Focusing on chronic inflammatory and immune-mediated conditions such as inflammatory bowel diseases, rheumatoid arthritis, and cancer, ImmunoPreCept integrates single-cell and spatial tissue technologies with AI-driven predictive modeling to map the transitions between health, pre-disease states, and established disease. By emphasizing the immune system’s pivotal role in maintaining tissue homeostasis, the cluster aims to address the currently understudied loss of health-maintaining functions that precedes symptomatic disease, enabling early diagnosis and molecularly guided preventive strategies.

ImmunoPreCept leverages Berlin’s unique interdisciplinary synergies, uniting experts in medical systems biology, immunology, tissue biology, single-cell analysis, and clinical medicine to advance research and translational applications at unprecedented scale and precision. Its research programs explore how the immune system supports tissue adaptation, how perturbations in homeostatic processes contribute to disease onset, and to what extent clinical remission corresponds to restored health.

Beyond its scientific mission, the cluster promotes dialogue between science and society through the Berlin Hub for Science with Society (BHS2), addressing ethical and societal implications of this emerging preventive paradigm.

By uniting biomedical discovery, data-driven precision medicine, and societal engagement, ImmunoPreCept aims to extend healthy lifespan, reduce disease burden, and establish Berlin as a global center for interceptive and preventive medicine.

Involved Institutions:

• Berlin Institute of Health (BIH)
• German Rheumatism Research Centre Berlin (DRFZ)
• Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) in the Helmholtz Association
• Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics (MPIMG)
• Museum für Naturkunde – Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science