Jana Grune

Dr. Jana Grune serves as a DZHK Junior Research Group leader at the German Heart Center at Charité in Berlin, focusing on pathophysiological mechanisms of heart-lung axis diseases, particularly pulmonary hypertension due to left heart disease. Her translational research integrates cellular models, complex disease models, and patient material to bridge basic and clinical science.

Her primary research explores experimental cardiology, immuno-physiology, and pharmacology of cardiopulmonary diseases, with emphasis on vascular remodeling, innate immune system activation, and molecular alterations in pulmonary hypertension. She investigates how immune cell recruitment actively mediates vascular changes and seeks to define novel signaling pathways to inform treatment strategies for right heart failure.

Analysis of her 2017-2024 publications reveals consistent focus on heart failure mechanisms, pulmonary hypertension subtypes, and immune-cardiovascular interactions. Key methodologies include advanced echocardiography, animal models of cardiac disease, and molecular analysis of vascular remodeling, with recurring themes of oxidative stress, mineralocorticoid receptor signaling, and heart-lung crosstalk in disease progression.

Dr. Grune's significant contributions have been recognized with multiple awards:

• DPG: Du Bois-Reymond Preis (2023)
• DGK: Frany-Maximilin-Groedel-Forschungspreis (2023)
• DKG: Hans-Blömer-Young Investigator Award (2022)
• ISHR Poster Award for 'Cardio-pulmonary interactions in HFpEF' (2022)
• DGK Hans-Blömer-Young Investigator Award (2022)
• Visualsonics Travel Award for 3D echocardiography (2019)
• ECCR Best Poster 'Basic Research' (2016)

Her laboratory at the German Heart Center employs ultrasonographic assessment, cellular models, and patient-derived materials to investigate cardiopulmonary pathophysiology, with particular expertise in right ventricular adaptation to increased afterload and immune-mediated vascular changes.