Understanding our internal clock to improve health

Why circadian timing matters for health and disease

Our internal clock governs fundamental physiological processes throughout the body. When this temporal orchestration is disrupted, disease can arise long before symptoms become apparent. This challenge, however, presents a transformative opportunity: understanding the mechanisms of circadian timing can redefine how we prevent, diagnose, and treat illness.

Our consortium envisions circadian biology as a unifying framework for future medicine. We aim to reveal how disrupted timing drives disease, and to develop strategies to measure ("Detecting"), restore ("Targeting"), and therapeutically harness ("Exploiting") the circadian clock. Through this work, we seek to pave the way toward a future in which medicine is predictive, personalized, and precisely aligned with the body’s endogenous rhythms.

The voices of TRR 418

We are excited to explore the potential of circadian medicine to reshape how health is approached. Our vision is to align medical strategies with the body’s internal clock.

Achim Kramer

Spokesperson

We rely on a solid scientific foundation to understand how timing affects physiology and disease. Together, we uncover mechanisms that guide precise, evidence-based interventions.

Henrik Oster

Deputy Spokesperson

We see daily how disrupted rhythms influence patient recovery and well-being. By addressing and restoring these patterns, we aim to improve care and outcomes.

Claudia Spies

Deputy Spokesperson

Our projects

Our projects translate the principles of circadian medicine into focused research questions. Each project addresses a specific biological system, disease context, or methodological challenge, while contributing to a shared, transdisciplinary effort. Together, they connect mechanistic insight, clinical investigation, and data-driven approaches to advance circadian diagnostics, interventions, and therapies. Explore the projects to see how circadian medicine is studied in practice.

Project overview

A01

Exploiting

Mechanisms of circadian vaccination responses in humans and mice

The timing of vaccination can influence immune protection, yet the molecular processes translating time of day into long-term immunity remain poorly understood. This project explores how circadian physiology shapes early immune activation and downstream responses after vaccination in humans and mice.

Mechanisms of circadian vaccination responses in humans and mice

The timing of vaccination can influence immune protection, yet the molecular processes translating time of day into long-term immunity remain poorly understood. This project explores how circadian physiology shapes early immune activation and downstream responses after vaccination in humans and mice.

B02

Detecting

Exploiting

Circadian desynchronization and epigenetic alteration crosstalk on the development and resolution of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis

A coordinated circadian-epigenetic network maintains liver metabolic homeostasis. Disruption of circadian rhythms or epigenetic regulation alters metabolism and inflammation, contributing to steatohepatitis. This project explores their interaction.

Circadian desynchronization and epigenetic alteration crosstalk on the development and resolution of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis

A coordinated circadian-epigenetic network maintains liver metabolic homeostasis. Disruption of circadian rhythms or epigenetic regulation alters metabolism and inflammation, contributing to steatohepatitis. This project explores their interaction.

C01

Detecting

Targeting

Individualized data-driven light intervention in intensive care unit patients

Circadian rhythms are often disrupted in critically ill patients, worsening outcomes. Non-invasive detection and normalization in the ICU are not yet implemented. This project integrates high-resolution patient data with dynamic light therapy to restore circadian rhythms.

Individualized data-driven light intervention in intensive care unit patients

Circadian rhythms are often disrupted in critically ill patients, worsening outcomes. Non-invasive detection and normalization in the ICU are not yet implemented. This project integrates high-resolution patient data with dynamic light therapy to restore circadian rhythms.

The publications of TRR 418

The publications of TRR 418 present the scientific foundations of the consortium’s work in circadian medicine. They provide detailed insight into experimental, clinical, and data-driven studies that underpin advances in understanding circadian timing in health and disease. Explore our publications to engage with the evidence, methods, and scientific reasoning behind this research.

Publications overview

Detecting

HairTime: A noninvasive assay for estimating circadian phase from a single hair sample

March 25, 2026

Proc Natl Acad Sci USA

Circadian clocks govern daily physiological and behavioral processes and are crucial for health; disruptions can lead to various diseases. The circadian phase of entrainment—the phase of the internal circadian clock in relation to external environmental cycles—is influenced by both genetic and environmental factors, varies between individuals, and is reflected in daily behaviors such as sleep–wake patterns, cognitive performance, and physical activity. While circadian phase may also fluctuate within individuals, the dynamics and extent of such variation in daily life remain largely unexplored. The gold standard for circadian phase assessment, dim-light melatonin onset (DLMO), is impractical for large-scale studies, and blood-based molecular biomarkers, while promising, are limited in feasibility. To address these challenges, we developed HairTime, a noninvasive assay that estimates circadian phase from a single daytime hair sample. Developed and evaluated in two steps—a training and a validation study—HairTime demonstrated strong predictive power compared to DLMO. Suitable for large-scale studies, it was assessed using over 4,000 samples. Circadian phase estimations showed a normal distribution and were associated with age, sex, and notably, work schedules, with earlier timing on workdays, suggesting that societal factors can modulate internal rhythms. Together, these findings establish HairTime as a promising tool for assessing circadian phase in research and lay the foundation for future applications in personalized chronotherapy.

HairTime: A noninvasive assay for estimating circadian phase from a single hair sample

March 25, 2026

Proc Natl Acad Sci USA

Circadian clocks govern daily physiological and behavioral processes and are crucial for health; disruptions can lead to various diseases. The circadian phase of entrainment—the phase of the internal circadian clock in relation to external environmental cycles—is influenced by both genetic and environmental factors, varies between individuals, and is reflected in daily behaviors such as sleep–wake patterns, cognitive performance, and physical activity. While circadian phase may also fluctuate within individuals, the dynamics and extent of such variation in daily life remain largely unexplored. The gold standard for circadian phase assessment, dim-light melatonin onset (DLMO), is impractical for large-scale studies, and blood-based molecular biomarkers, while promising, are limited in feasibility. To address these challenges, we developed HairTime, a noninvasive assay that estimates circadian phase from a single daytime hair sample. Developed and evaluated in two steps—a training and a validation study—HairTime demonstrated strong predictive power compared to DLMO. Suitable for large-scale studies, it was assessed using over 4,000 samples. Circadian phase estimations showed a normal distribution and were associated with age, sex, and notably, work schedules, with earlier timing on workdays, suggesting that societal factors can modulate internal rhythms. Together, these findings establish HairTime as a promising tool for assessing circadian phase in research and lay the foundation for future applications in personalized chronotherapy.

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