European researcher gets $3 million grant to study biofilms

Regine Hengge of Freie Universität Berlin has been awarded a European Research Council Advanced Investigator Grant worth 2 million Euros ($2.9 million U.S.) for a project to investigate the formation of bacterial biofilms.

Her research project, "New Concepts in Second Messenger Signaling and Bacterial Biofilm Formation," aims to lead to a comprehensive understanding of biofilms that cause serious complications in infectious diseases and contribute to other disease conditions such as dental caries and periodontitis. The research will focus on the molecular genetic control mechanisms and the processing of various environmental signals to determine the origin, architecture, and properties of biofilms.

The funding, which extends over a period of five years, will be used to hire additional postdoctoral researchers and graduate students for Professor Hengge's group, expand international collaboration, and purchase laboratory equipment. In addition, two international conferences on biofilms will be held at Freie Universität.

Professor Hengge expects that by gaining a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms by which biofilms are formed, it will be possible to develop substances that can prevent biofilm formation in medical and technical areas, according to a university press release.