New junior research group on heart arrhythmia
Freiburg, 15/12/2025
As part of its special programme for international academic freedom, the Baden-Württemberg Foundation is funding an interdisciplinary research project led by Freiburg-based systems biologist Dr Viviane Timmermann.
Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death in the Western world. They are often triggered by ischaemia, a disorder of the blood supply to the heart muscle, which can lead to heart arrhythmia. The aim of the new junior research group ‘The Heart under Pressure: Ischemic Arrhythmogenesis at the Mechano-Electric Signalling Crossroad’ at the University of Freiburg is to better understand this and find new approaches for possible therapies. The project will start in February 2026 and will be led by systems biologist Dr Viviane Timmermann.
Internationally attractive groups
The junior research group is funded by the Baden-Württemberg Foundation through its special programme for international academic freedom. With this special programme, the foundation specifically finances the establishment of internationally attractive junior research groups at universities in the state. One of the aims is to offer prospects to outstanding scientists who are currently subject to restricted research conditions in their home countries or who are unable to realise planned stays abroad from Germany. The latter was also the case for Viviane Timmermann: a research stay in the USA that had already been approved as part of a Marie Curie postdoctoral fellowship could not be carried out as planned.
“Research is literally a matter close to my heart. Together with researchers at the University of Freiburg and with the support of the Baden-Württemberg Foundation, I want to better understand our heart so that hopefully fewer people will have to suffer from cardiovascular disease in the future.”
Dr Viviane Timmermann
Systems biologist, University of Freiburg
Provided that the evaluation after three years is successful, funding for the Freiburg junior research group will run for a total of six years and amount to 1.8 million euros. “Research is literally a matter close to my heart,” says Timmermann. “Together with researchers at the University of Freiburg and with the support of the Baden-Württemberg Foundation, I want to better understand our heart so that hopefully fewer people will have to suffer from cardiovascular disease in the future.”
Mechano-electric feedback mechanisms
Our heart is both adaptable and efficient: it works quietly when we read, and pumps with high performance when we exercise. Electrical signals and mechanical contractions work closely together to ensure that blood flows reliably through the body. In the case of ischaemia, the heart muscle is no longer supplied with sufficient oxygen, which can lead to heart arrhythmia. Because these disturbances are primarily manifested in altered electrical signals, research has so far focused mainly on the electrical function of the heart.
Less attention has been paid to mechano-electric feedback mechanisms, i.e. the question of how movements of the heart muscle and electrical signals influence each other. It is plausible that a highly optimised organ such as the heart uses such mechanisms to stabilise its function and efficiency – similar to a violin, whose sound is influenced not only by the strings but also by the tension of the sound box.
Data-based computer models of the heart
In order to better understand the mechanisms of ischaemic arrhythmias, the interdisciplinary junior research group combines physics and engineering with biology and medicine. In close cooperation with researchers from the Freiburg Collaborative Research Centre “Dynamic Organisation of Cellular Protein Machineries” and the Cluster of Excellence CIBSS – Centre for Integrative Biological Signalling Studies at the University of Freiburg, data-based computer models of the heart are to be developed. These models provide insights into the coupling of contraction and electrical excitation that are hardly possible in classical experiments. In the long term, the aim is to develop new approaches for the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular diseases.
About the person
Dr Viviane Timmermann works with Prof. Dr Jens Timmer at the Institute of Physics and Prof. Dr Christoph Borner at the Institute for Molecular Medicine and Cell Research at the University of Freiburg. Timmermann studied mathematics and works in the fields of theoretical physics and its application in the life sciences, as well as theoretical systems biology. Her research focuses on data-based modelling of dynamic biological systems, with an emphasis on basic research in cardiology, particularly ischaemia.