Thoracic aortic aneurysms - focus: early detection and pathogenesis
Discovery of central pathomechanistic mechanisms in disease development and progression.
Discovery of the first valid early diagnostic marker for the presence of thoracic aortic aneurysms.

Drug development - focus: cardiovascular system
Discovery that inhibitors of histone deacetylases act as anti-cancer therapeutics. First compounds are used clinically.
Identification of several new compounds that increase the durability (patentability) of bypass grafts, protect and preserve the myocardium after a heart attack and under conditions of heart transplantation.

Environmental risk factors - focus: cardiovascular diseases
Identification of new environmental risk factors for cardiovascular diseases
Deciphering several disease-causing mechanisms
Discovery of lead and cadmium as new and independent risk factors for cardiovascular disease
Creating awareness of tolerable weekly doses

Research on cigarette smoke toxicity and ageing - focus: cardiovascular disease
Development of a new device for conducting cigarette smoke toxicity studies
Several high impact publications in scientific journals
Highly cited review articles (e.g. in Nature Reviews in Cardiology)
Pioneering work on the toxicity of e-cigarettes

Research on apoptosis and cell death - focus on cancer research
Deciphering fundamental principles in cell death signaling & publishing high-impact original research papers in peer-reviewed journals

Recent projects
Characterization of immune-relevant domains of surface proteins of the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. Co-PI, from the Faculty of Medicine/JKU Linz (2020-2022)
Covid-19-xPOC. Project partner, FFG (2020-2022)

• Scholarship from the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG)
• Scholarship from the Austrian Academic Exchange Service (ÖAD)
• Award for the best doctoral thesis from the University of Innsbruck
• Walter Doberauer Scholarship for Research on Ageing from the Austrian Society for Geriatrics and Gerontology

Doppler, C., Messner, B., Mimler, T., Schachner, B., Rezk, M., Ganhör, C., Wechselberger, C., Müller, M., Puh, S., Pröll, J., Arbeithuber, B., Müller, T., Zierer, A., & Bernhard, D. (2023). Noncanonical atherosclerosis as the driving force in tricuspid aortic valve associated aneurysms - A trace collection. Journal of lipid research, 64(3), 100338. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jlr.2023.100338, opens an external URL in a new window  Online ahead of print. PMID: 36736622

Doppler, C., Feischl, M., Ganhör, C., Puh, S., Müller, M., Kotnik, M., Mimler, T., Sonnleitner, M., Bernhard, D., & Wechselberger, C. (2022). Low-entry-barrier point-of-care testing of anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG in the population of Upper Austria from December 2020 until April 2021-a feasible surveillance strategy for post-pandemic monitoring?. Analytical and bioanalytical chemistry, 414(10), 3291–3299. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-022-03966-z, opens an external URL in a new window 

Willeit, P., Bernar, B., Zurl, C., Al-Rawi, M., Berghold, A., Bernhard, D., Borena, W., Doppler, C., Kerbl, R., Köhler, A., Krause, R., Lamprecht, B., Pröll, J., Schmidt, H., Steinmetz, I., Stelzl, E., Stoiber, H., von Laer, D., Zuber, J., Müller, T., … Wagner, M. (2021). Sensitivity and specificity of the antigen-based anterior nasal self-testing programme for detecting SARS-CoV-2 infection in schools, Austria, March 2021. Euro surveillance : bulletin Europeen sur les maladies transmissibles = European communicable disease bulletin, 26(34), 2100797. https://doi.org/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2021.26.34.2100797, opens an external URL in a new window 

Willeit, P., Krause, R., Lamprecht, B., Berghold, A., Hanson, B., Stelzl, E., Stoiber, H., Zuber, J., Heinen, R., Köhler, A., Bernhard, D., Borena, W., Doppler, C., von Laer, D., Schmidt, H., Pröll, J., Steinmetz, I., & Wagner, M. (2021). Prevalence of RT-qPCR-detected SARS-CoV-2 infection at schools: First results from the Austrian School-SARS-CoV-2 prospective cohort study. The Lancet regional health. Europe, 5, 100086. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lanepe.2021.100086, opens an external URL in a new window 

Wechselberger, C., Süßner, S., Doppler, S., & Bernhard, D. (2020). Performance evaluation of serological assays to determine the immunoglobulin status in SARS-CoV-2 infected patients. Journal of clinical virology : the official publication of the Pan American Society for Clinical Virology, 131, 104589. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcv.2020.104589, opens an external URL in a new window 

Egger, A. E., Grabmann, G., Gollmann-Tepeköylü, C., Pechriggl, E. J., Artner, C., Türkcan, A., Hartinger, C. G., Fritsch, H., Keppler, B. K., Brenner, E., Grimm, M., Messner, B., & Bernhard, D. (2019). Chemical imaging and assessment of cadmium distribution in the human body. Metallomics : integrated biometal science, 11(12), 2010–2019. https://doi.org/10.1039/c9mt00178f, opens an external URL in a new window 

Stern C, Scharinger B, Tuerkcan A, Nebert C, Mimler T, Baranyi U, Doppler C, Aschacher T, Andreas M, Stelzmueller M-E, et al. Strong Signs for a Weak Wall in Tricuspid Aortic Valve Associated Aneurysms and a Role for Osteopontin in Bicuspid Aortic Valve Associated Aneurysms. International Journal of Molecular Sciences. 2019; 20(19):4782. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms20194782, opens an external URL in a new window 

Messner, B., & Bernhard, D. (2019). Bicuspid aortic valve-associated aortopathy: Where do we stand?. Journal of molecular and cellular cardiology, 133, 76–85. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yjmcc.2019.05.023, opens an external URL in a new window 

Joa, H., Blažević, T., Grojer, C., Zeller, I., Heiss, E. H., Atanasov, A. G., Feldler, I., Gruzdaitis, P., Czaloun, C., Proksch, P., Messner, B., Bernhard, D., & Dirsch, V. M. (2019). Tylophorine reduces protein biosynthesis and rapidly decreases cyclin D1, inhibiting vascular smooth muscle cell proliferation in vitro and in organ culture. Phytomedicine : international journal of phytotherapy and phytopharmacology, 60, 152938. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.phymed.2019.152938, opens an external URL in a new window 

Meisenbichler, C., Doppler, C., Bernhard, D., & Müller, T. (2019). Improved matrix coating for positive- and negative-ion-mode MALDI-TOF imaging of lipids in blood vessel tissues. Analytical and bioanalytical chemistry, 411(15), 3221–3227. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-019-01826-x, opens an external URL in a new window 

Danzl, K., Messner, B., Doppler, C., Nebert, C., Abfalterer, A., Sakic, A., Temml, V., Heinz, K., Streitwieser, R., Edelmann, T., Mairhofer, M., Grimm, M., Laufer, G., Zierer, A., Stuppner, H., Schuster, D., Ploner, C., Müller, T., & Bernhard, D. (2019). Early inhibition of endothelial retinoid uptake upon myocardial infarction restores cardiac function and prevents cell, tissue, and animal death. Journal of molecular and cellular cardiology, 126, 105–117. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yjmcc.2018.11.012, opens an external URL in a new window