The Leibniz Center Infection connects the research of the three Leibniz Institutes BNITM, FZB and LIV under one virtual roof. The research directions of these three institutes are complementary to each other: Parasitic diseases, tropical and emerging infections at BNITM, bacterial infections at FZB and viral diseases at LIV. The connecting elements of all three institutes are co-infections, i.e. infections that occur simultaneously and can influence each other, e.g. tuberculosis and HIV infection. 

LIV and BNITM overlap in the area of newly occurring infections, which are mostly of viral origin and whose research often requires special safety conditions under BSL4 conditions, as provided by BNITM. Infections with bacterial pathogens of the lungs are being investigated at the FZB. Here, the main focus is on the tuberculosis pathogens and pneumococci that are pulmonologically close to the investigations of influenza viruses at LIV. The three institutes also complement each other in terms of their technological infrastructures. While structural biology at the FZB focuses on bacterial glycolipids using NMR and mass spectrometry, the LIV offers a high-end unit for various imaging methods (electron microscopy, tomography, Live Cell Two Photon Microscopy) as well as bioinformatic analysis methods in high-throughput deep sequencing. In addition to the high security laboratory of security level 4 (BSL4), BNITM maintains a security insectarium (BSL3), a strong epidemiology and a field station in Ghana.

This complementarity within LCI ensures cooperative infection research at a high, interdisciplinary level using valuable resources jointly.