Epidemiologic research at the DRFZ addresses the prognosis of rheumatic diseases in adults and children, the quality of health care and the safety and effectiveness of new treatments. This research area maintains unique long-term cohorts and closely cooperates with a large network of rheumatologists all over Germany and Europe.
The DRFZ has 24 independent research groups, 8 of which are liaison groups with the Charité – University Medicine Berlin, 1 with the Cluster of Excellence "NeuroCure" at the Charité and 1 with the Robert Koch-Institute in Berlin. At the DRFZ, physicians, biologists, geneticists, biochemists, mathematicians and sociologists closely collaborate. Researchers of the DRFZ participate in 6 Collaborative Research Programs of the German Research Council (DFG) and in 9 research networks of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). The DRFZ is partner in 5 research networks of the EU, and holds one Advanced Grant of the European Research Council.
Within the Leibniz Association, the DRFZ is a member of the Leibniz-Research Networks "Healthy Aging" and "Interdisciplinary Drug Research", and coordinates an international network on “Immunological memory”.
