On 24 and 25 November 2025, the event brought together around 100 participants from research and clinical practice at TWINCORE in Hannover to strategically advance multi-omics in Lower Saxony and strengthen cross-location cooperation. To kick things off, Bernd Wollnik (TRAIN Omics site spokesperson Göttingen), Sara Haag (TRAIN) and Thomas Illig (TRAIN Omics site spokesperson Hanover) provided insights into current and future activities. In addition, MoReHealth Lower Saxony presented a best practice approach for standardised multi-omics in personalised medicine.
Strong keynote lectures
Two keynote lectures provided scientific impetus: Eugenio F. Fornasiero showed how ageing processes can be deciphered across different scales through protein dynamics, while Lars Dölken focused on the ‘arms race’ between viral evasion strategies, immunological recognition and stress-induced immunity.
Pitches for ´Healthy Life´ projects
The event centred on the session ‘Healthy Life – a systematic joint multi-omics approach’. A total of 20 project ideas were presented in three pitch blocks, which deliberately fuelled cross-location exchange. Building on the decisions of the TRAIN Omics Retreat 2025, the collaboration was formalised under the umbrella of ‘Healthy Life Lower Saxony – a systematic joint multi-omics approach’. In the medium term, the development of a transregional research centre (SFB/CRC) is planned. One conceptual theme presented was an innovative ‘life-span clock’ as a new measurement approach for healthy ageing.
IBT poster prize goes to Göttingen
The poster session was also well attended: around 25 posters were presented in concise flash talks and offered high-quality scientific insights ranging from ‘Genes to Genomes’ to ‘Molecules to Medicine’. The poster prize awarded by the Institute for Biomedical Translation (IBT) went to the contribution ‘Multi-Omics Identification of Shared Molecular Targets Across Lysosomal Diseases’ by Lina Schmidt (Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, UMG).
Introduction of the concept for the digital platfom “ExtENd”
Technology and infrastructure topics provided additional highlights. Sara Haag presented ExTENd, a concept for a central digital platform that aims to bundle technology infrastructure, expertise exchange and collaboration in Lower Saxony. Thomas Sommer also gave a concise overview of current and upcoming activities at the IBT.
Bottom line
Overall, the 2nd TRAIN Omics Days impressively demonstrated the effectiveness of the multi-omics community in Lower Saxony. With clear steps towards ‘Healthy Life Lower Saxony,’ the medium-term goal of Transregio, and excellent scientific contributions, the partner institutions are providing noticeable impetus for research, translation and sustainable cooperation.
Sponsors of the 2025 TRAIN Omics Days:
We want to thank our industrial partners 10x Genomics, Novogene Europe and Seer for their support. The poster prize was kindly funded by IBT Lower Saxony – Institute for Biomedical Translation.