Teaching and research at the institute of Veterinary Physiology is dedicated to understanding and describing life processes of species with relevance to veterinary medicine.

As a subdiscipline of the medical sciences, physiology is devoted to understanding the physical and biochemical processes of cells, tissues and organs, with a particular emphasis on the crosstalk that occurs between the parts and the organism as a whole. Future veterinarians also need to gain an understanding of variations in the physiological processes of different species of domestic animals. Thus, considerable differences exist between dogs, cattle, pigs and poultry concerning respiration, digestion or reproduction.

Modern veterinary medicine is also increasingly interested in ascribing the function or dysfunction of life processes to single molecules, such as proteins functioning as transporters or receptors. This knowledge is central to the development of new strategies in feeding, breeding and treatment of domestic animals. For example, feed additives or drugs can lead to a pharmacological modulation of relevant molecules to prevent or cure diseases or to reduce pain.

At the Institute of Veterinary Physiology at the FU Berlin, we are particularly concerned with investigating the molecular foundations of processes involved in epithelial functions, digestion and metabolism, with an additional focus on magnesium homeostasis.