News 2026

Priv. Doz. Dr. Thomas Theo Brehm is a physician and scientist in the Clinical Infectiology Research Group at the Research Center Borstel, Leibniz Lung Center (FZB), and an internist/clinical infectiologist at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE). The topic of his habilitation thesis is: Clinical courses, therapeutic strategies, and immunology of SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19: A comprehensive analysis of the pandemic.

His current research topics are in the field of tuberculosis and are wide-ranging. Together with Prof. Christoph Lange, Medical Director at the FZB, Priv. Doz. Dr. Brehm heads the clinical infrastructure for tuberculosis (ClinTB) at the German Center for Infection Research. His current projects include international prospective studies on the treatment of antibiotic-resistant tuberculosis, post-tuberculosis lung diseases, innovative methods of tuberculosis diagnosis, the risk of tuberculosis for people with immunosuppression, and adjuvant tuberculosis therapy in Europe. Some of the ongoing work is integrated into the European tuberculosis study network TBnet. Since December 2025, Priv. Doz. Dr. Brehm has been leading a partnership project between the FZB and V.N. Karazin University in Kharkiv in eastern Ukraine, which is being funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development and the Else Kröner-Fresenius Foundation for a period of two years.

The clinical work of Priv. Doz. Dr. Brehm includes antibiotic stewardship (ABS) at the UKE. ABS refers to the rational and responsible use of antibiotics—through the detection of a (bacterial) infection, the selection of the appropriate antibiotic, and the adjustment of the duration of therapy, dosage, and form of antibiotic administration. The aim is to treat patients in the best possible way while preventing selection processes and resistance in bacteria. Priv. Doz. Dr. Brehm brings his experience as a certified Antibiotic Steward at the UKE to tuberculosis research and prevention. Together with more than 60 international colleagues, he has played a leading role in drafting international standards for ABS for tuberculosis. As a next step, he is working with the WHO European Region to investigate how these standards are currently established in Europe. The results of the study will be presented at an international conference in Moldova in early June, where colleagues will work together to find ways to improve ABS for tuberculosis in Europe.

We wish him every success in these endeavors and congratulate him warmly on his habilitation!

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