The Max Planck Institute for Heart and Lung Research and its predecessor have a long and rich scientific history in cardiovascular biology and medicine. For several decades, the institute was home of the German Cardiology Society and helped to lay the foundations of modern research-orientated cardiology in Germany. Moreover, the former clinical department of the institute, the Kerckhoff Hospital, became one of Germany’s leading heart centres.

Today’s MPI for Heart and Lung Research emerged in 2005 from the former MPI for Physiological and Clinical Research. It is located in two research buildings, one of which opened in 2009. The institute has four departments devoted to cardiovascular and pulmonary research, which are headed by Thomas Braun (Cardiac Development and Remodelling), Stefan Offermanns (Pharmacology), Didier Stainier (Developmental Genetics) and Werner Seeger (Lung Development and Remodelling). The scientific expertise of the institute is strengthened by five independent junior research groups, which are supported by highly competitive research funding from the European Research Council, the Max Planck Society, the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, the Excellence Cluster Cardio-Pulmonary System (ECCPS) and the Hessian excellence initiative. Research in the institute is assisted by strong scientific support groups and includes state-of-the-art transgenic- (mouse and zebrafish), imaging-, proteomics-, next generating sequencing- and bioinformatic services.

The institute runs the International Max Planck Research School for Heart and Lung Research (IMPRS-HLR), which enables the identification and training of highly talented PhD students from all over the world. The IMPRS-HLR is well integrated and collaborates with graduate schools and doctoral programs at the Universities of Frankfurt and Giessen.

The Max Planck Institute for Heart and Lung Research is also part of major research alliances focusing on various aspects of cardiovascular and lung disease. These include several DFG-funded Collaborative Research Centres (together with the Universities of Frankfurt, Giessen, Heidelberg, Mainz and Marburg) as well as the DFG / BMBF-sponsored Excellence Cluster Cardiopulmonary System (ECCPS). Furthermore, the institute plays a pivotal role in several state-sponsored LOEWE initiatives, i.e. the LOEWE centres for Cell and Gene Therapy (CGT) or the LOEWE research cluster Ubiquitin networks (Ub-Net). The MPI is also an integral part of the prestigious German Centres for Cardiovascular Research (DZHK) and the German Centre for Lung Research (DZL).