13. September '24
Three people stand indoors in a well-lit, modern space at Hochschule Coburg. A woman in a black dress leans against a white column, while a man in a blue shirt and beige pants stands in the center. Another woman, wearing a white top and red skirt, is positioned on the right.
Three people stand indoors in a well-lit, modern space at Hochschule Coburg. A woman in a black dress leans against a white column, while a man in a blue shirt and beige pants stands in the center. Another woman, wearing a white top and red skirt, is positioned on the right.
by Press office
Coburg University of Applied Sciences is researching skin ageing – and how it can be slowed down or even reversed. For a project funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) in cooperation with Beiersdorf AG, Coburg University of Applied Sciences has almost one million euros in funding at its disposal. The research alliance focuses on a topic that has long been of concern to many people: Stopping the ageing process and thus also skin ageing and turning it back a little.
The professors at the Institute for Bioanalytics at Coburg University of Applied Sciences – Janosch Hildebrand, Stefan Kalkhof and Stefan Simm – will work together with Beiersdorf AG to investigate skin ageing processes and derive new approaches to rejuvenation. “By using so-called omics data, which represent an analysis of thousands of molecular characteristics, such as proteins and metabolic products, metabolic processes that play an important role in skin ageing can be elucidated,” project leader Prof. Dr. Janosch Hildebrand summarizes the project.
Skin-related data from large cohort studies will form the basis for developing targeted strategies that can slow down ageing processes in the skin. The analysis technologies and bioinformatics methods to be developed for this are only the first step. “Preventing age-related diseases and reducing the signs of ageing is what drives us scientists at Coburg University of Applied Sciences,” adds Prof. Dr. Janosch Hildebrand. The involvement of Beiersdorf AG highlights the relevance and applicability of the results. The Hamburg-based company has been synonymous with innovative skin care products for over 140 years and, in this context, is conducting intensive research into the complex biological processes of the skin, among other things.
“A key focus of our research work at Beiersdorf is to continue to decipher skin ageing. We use the knowledge we gain to develop even more effective product solutions in the field of skin rejuvenation in the future,” says Dr. Elke Grönniger, Head of the Skin Aging Laboratory. The Federal Ministry of Education and Research explicitly supports cooperation between universities and companies with its “Research at Universities of Applied Sciences” funding program. This closes a funding gap that supports application-oriented research projects. In the course of this project, Coburg University of Applied Sciences can significantly expand its equipment pool and thus also offer future-oriented technologies at the Coburg site. With their support, Stefan Kalkhof and Stefan Simm hope to identify the key to decisive metabolic pathways over the next three years and thus not only be able to stop the ageing of the skin.
