11.2025
CAPNETZ ACADEMY – Promoting Scientific Excellence in Respiratory Medicine and Infectious Disease Research
For more than 20 years, the CAPNETZ STIFTUNG has been committed to researching community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) and acute respiratory infections. With the CAPNETZ ACADEMY, it creates a unique support environment for physicians and researchers who aim to combine clinical and scientific excellence and thereby contribute to the advancement of modern, evidence-based medicine.
At the core of the Academy are two structured funding programs that specifically strengthen the scientific independence and career development of young talents.
The Clinician Scientist Program is the central funding program of the CAPNETZ ACADEMY. It is aimed at young physicians who wish to combine their clinical work with scientific research and gain new insights into respiratory infections, particularly community-acquired pneumonia.
Participants are given the opportunity to further develop within the CAPNETZ network in an interdisciplinary environment and to conduct their own research projects with access to the extensive CAPNETZ data and biomaterials.
The program supports protected research time and enables the development of long-term scientific career perspectives.
With the Clinical Data Scientist Program, the CAPNETZ ACADEMY is launching a new funding format for the first time in 2025, responding to the growing importance of data science and artificial intelligence in medicine.
The program is aimed at young medical doctors as well as researchers from STEM fields (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) who wish to work at the intersection of clinical research and data science. Its goal is to develop data-based methods that contribute to improved analysis, modeling, and personalized treatment of patients with respiratory infections.
In close collaboration with the CAPNETZ network, the program supports projects that build a bridge between medical practice, large clinical cohort data, machine learning or artificial intelligence-based data analysis, thus laying foundation for digital health.
A shared mission
Both programs combine scientific curiosity and data-driven innovation with the goal of sustainably improving the care of patients with acute respiratory infection.
The CAPNETZ ACADEMY stands for interdisciplinary collaboration, scientific excellence, and top-level support for early-career researchers — in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.
07.2025
Dr. med. Eva Pappe
Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin
Dr. med. Theo Dähne
University Medical Centre Freiburg
Dr. med. Stephanie Müller
University Hospital Dresden
CAPNETZ Clinician Scientist Program
The CAPNETZ STIFTUNG recently established the CAPNETZ ACADEMY and launched the Clinician Scientist Programme as its first initiative. The aim is to support the next generation of dedicated physicians in their clinical and scientific development with a focus on respiratory tract infections – especially community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) – on their career path.
In August 2025, the first Clinician Scientist Programme will accept three outstanding candidates and offer them the unique opportunity to combine clinical practice and cutting-edge research in the field of CAP.
We are pleased to introduce the first three fellows:
- Dr. med. Stephanie Müller (University Hospital Dresden) and Dr med. Theo Dähne (University Medical Centre Freiburg) have jointly applied project: ‘Mycoplasma pneumoniae – Before and After COVID-19: Epidemiology, Resistance and Outcomes within the prospective multicenter CAPNETZ Cohort’.
- Dr. med. Eva Pappe (Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin) is investigating the influence of biological and social gender in CAP with the project proposal: ‘The role of sex and gender in modulating disease outcome in community-acquired pneumonia’
All fellows receive access to the extensive clinical database and biosamples from the CAPNETZ study and benefit from close support from experienced mentors and a strong CAPNETZ network.
We look forward to exciting scientific discoveries and to advancing patient-oriented cutting-edge research!
05.2025
DGP Congress meeting
At the 65th Congress of the German Respiratory Society (DGP) in Leipzig, a total of 310 scientific abstracts were submitted this year. Among them, five posters featuring data from CAPNETZ network-supported studies were presented — kudos to all presenters and participants!
Special congratulations go to Dr. Christopher Alexander Hinze from Hannover, who won 3rd prize in the 2025 DGP Poster Award. He presented the poster titled “Epidemiologie, klinischer Verlauf und Komplikationen einer RSV-Infektion bei Erwachsenen ab 60 Jahren im ambulanten Bereich in Deutschland”, based on data from the BUCOSS Study. The BUCOSS study was designed and conducted by CAPNETZ STIFTUNG, with funding support from GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) as industrial partner.
Additionally, data from the BUCOSS-Hosp Study were presented as a poster by Frank Eberhardt (CAPNETZ STIFTUNG, Hannover).
Frank Eberhardt and Natalia Strauch serve as project managers for both the BUCOSS and BUCOSS-Hosp studies. Their dedication, along with the valuable contributions of the committed clinicians and investigators, clinical site staff, study personnel, the GSK team, and the CAPNETZ STIFTUNG management, has been instrumental in the success of these projects.
04.2024
In memory of Prof. Welte
The board members and staff of the CAPNETZ STIFTUNG are deeply saddened by the death of Professor Tobias Welte at the age 64 after a brief illness. Professor Welte was not only an outstanding physician and scientist, but also a visionary thinker who successfully led and accompanied many national and international alliances and societies with a strong sense of duty and an integrative, calm, and engaging approach. He always shared his vast knowledge with his students, colleagues and friends.
His illustrious career has included significant roles such as President of the German Society for Pulmonology, the German Sepsis Society, and the European Respiratory Society. He played a pivotal role in capacity building and establishing several institutions, including the CAPNETZ competence network, with the founding of the CAPNETZ STIFTUNG in 2007. We remain indebted to him for his tireless work over many years.
In the summer of 2024, Professor Welte would have celebrated both his 65th birthday and his impressive 20th anniversary as Professor of Pulmonology at the Hannover Medical School. These milestones would not only have been cause for celebration, but also recognition of his long, dedicated, and significant contributions to the medical interventions aimed at saving lives and improving the wellbeing of many patients.
However, his legacy will live on in medicine, in science, and in the hearts of all those who had the privilege of working with him, and will continue to inspire a new generation of physicians and scientists.
Our thoughts are with his family and all those who have accompanied him with love and respect during this sad moment.