News

The public health service must be further developed in a quality-orientated manner. The Health Planning Symposium on 7 and 8 October in Stuttgart is a milestone.

One of the most important German healthcare researchers, Professor Wolfgang Hoffmann, Managing Director and Head of Department of the Institute for Community Medicine at the University of Greifswald, is also positively impressed: ‘Quality assurance of work in the healthcare system is essential. To achieve this, science must move closer to practice - and to the public health service. Together, we can make the healthcare system sustainable, resilient and future-proof.’ (Source: Ministry of Social Affairs, Health and Integration Baden-Württemberg)

You can find the complete press release here .

The kick-off meeting of the Greifswald/Rostock site of the German Centre for Child and Adolescent Health (DZKJ) will take place on Friday, 8 November 2024 from 10 am to 4 pm. The venue is the Alfried Krupp Wissenschaftskolleg, Martin-Luther-Straße 14 in 17489 - Greifswald.The DZKJ is a BMBF-funded German Centre for Health Research. The DZKJ consists of seven sites that were selected in a competitive process in 2021 and subsequently developed a joint research concept. In a translational research approach, the DZKJ interlinks basic research, clinical research, epidemiology, health services research and prevention. The core element of the joint research strategy is the bundling of clinical competences and scientific expertise with a simultaneous close networking of research infrastructures.The dual location Greifswald/Rostock is characterised by the research focus on community health research, which is unique in the German Centre for Child and Adolescent Health. The research concept and the research structures at the centre will be presented at the kick-off meeting. Scientists and young researchers will give you an initial insight into the DZKJ projects at the centre.

Please register by 20 October 2024: dzkj@uni-greifswald.de .

‘We look forward to your participation and an exciting exchange!’

Neeltje van den Berg, Michael Kölch und Silke Schmidt-Schuchert

(Management of the DZKJ site Greifswald/Rostock)

Further information on the DZKJ can be found here .

New board elected

Greifswald physician Hoffmann new head of the Network for Health Services Research

The 36th general meeting of the German Network for Health Services Research has elected Greifswald physician and health scientist Wolfgang Hoffmann as its new chairman. One goal: more networking. To the article (Source: Ärzte Zeitung)

How can the healthcare system and society best deal with future health crises? The ‘Health and Resilience’ Expert Council deals with this question on a scientific basis. It is the successor body to the Corona Expert Council.

You can find detailed information here . (Source: Federal Government)

The Federal Government's Expert Council should help to intelligently counter future health disasters. An interview with Susanne Moebus and Wolfgang Hoffmann about current challenges.

You can find the complete interview here . (Source: Apotheken Umschau)

Researchers around the world are trying to better predict and prevent pandemics such as Covid-19 in the future. A film team accompanied the SHIP One Health team in their work on this topic as part of a report for plan b and Re: in summer 2023 and also visited the SHIP research centre. The result can be seen on ZDF, on Arte or in the media centre:

plan b: Pandemic - no thanks!

Link to the media centre: https://www.zdf.de/gesellschaft/plan-b/plan-b-pandemie--nein-danke-100.html

Re: Recognising new diseases early

Link to the media centre:

https://www.arte.tv/de/videos/107194-080-A/re-neue-krankheiten-frueh-erkennen/

The topping-out ceremony for the new research building, the William B. Kannel Center for Community Medicine, took place on 17 July 2024. Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania's Minister President Manuela Schwesig was joined by numerous guests from state politics and the healthcare sector.

In her speech, Minister Schwesig emphasised the particular importance of research using data from the state's own population, as is carried out at the Institute for Community Medicine. Every day that is invested in medical research and science is a very important day, said Schwesig. This is the only way to ensure an improvement in the health of the population.

The new research building stands for the ‘great importance of population health for the work of Greifswald University Medicine’, emphasised Prof. Uwe Reuter. For the Chairman of the Executive Board, the William B. Kannel Centre also documents ‘that the federal and state governments know that this field of research is in the best hands with the scientists at the UMG. We are grateful to the politicians for their trust and support.’

Prof. Henry Völzke, Head of the Study of Health in Pomerania - Section Clinical Epidemiological Research (SHIP-KEF), emphasised the interaction between the various disciplines at the UMG and community medicine: ‘We are a research community. In future, we will be able to expand our existing synergies even further.’

Workplaces for around 380 people will be created on a floor space of over 6,600 square metres. The six departments of the Institute of Community Medicine, Community Dentistry, the central office of the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Clinical Cancer Registry and Greifswald's shares in the German Centres for Cardiovascular Research (DZHK) and Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) can be brought together under one roof.

In the forthcoming research building, the scientists will investigate the increasing incidence of diseases such as diabetes, obesity and cardiovascular diseases in connection with demographic change. Mecklenburg-Vorpommern is regarded as a model region in this regard.


 

 

Current news from the sections can be found in the respective section of the department pages:

• Section Methods of Community Medicine
• Section Healthcare Epidemiology and Community Health
• Section SHIP - Clinical Epidemiological Research
• Section General Medicine
  
• Section Prevention Research and Social Medicine
  
• Section Medical Informatics
  

Greifswald University Medicine contributes in three ways

 

The effectiveness of various eye treatments is to be analysed more precisely. To this end, large amounts of data are being analysed and recommendations developed using artificial intelligence. This is the purpose of the large-scale research project ‘EyeMatics’, which starts in March and is being supported by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research with around seven million euros. Greifswald University Medicine has a threefold role to play. (Source: UMG)

You can find the complete article here here

‘Researching together for a healthier future’ is the motto of Germany's largest health study to date. Since 2014, adults randomly selected from the population registers have been undergoing medical examinations in 18 study centres across Germany and asked about their living conditions. Ten years ago, the first NAKO study centre in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern was also opened in Neustrelitz and shortly afterwards in Neubrandenburg. Before the third phase of the NAKO health study is launched nationwide, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern still has the opportunity to conduct a second study until June. This has been running since 2018 and is due to be completed shortly.

You can find the full article here here .

Adults from Western Pomerania have been undergoing regular medical and dental examinations in the SHIP study since 1997 in order to better understand the connection between risk factors and diseases and to be able to better categorise disease progression on an individual basis. In the new image film of the SHIP-KEF department of the Institute of Community Medicine, employees and study participants explain what SHIP is all about, what is special about long-term studies and how the investigations have been further developed in recent years. Click here for the film.

The German government's new Expert Council on Health and Resilience began its work in Berlin in mid-March. It is the successor body to the Corona Expert Council, consisting of 23 scientists from various disciplines, including medicine, epidemiology, ethics, virology, psychology, nursing science and public health. In future, they will advise the Federal Government on an honorary and independent basis. Among the 23 members is Prof Dr Wolfgang Hoffmann, Director of the Institute of Community Medicine Greifswald. The press release of the Federal Government can be found under the following link:

Healthcare data such as routine data from statutory health insurance (GKV-routine data) and data from medical registries such as cancer registries are already a very important international resource for the evidence-based improvement of the quality, safety and efficiency of healthcare. The scientific gold standard is the linking of data from different sources, but this can rarely be realised in Germany due to a very strict interpretation of data protection.

This has become particularly clear during the pandemic, as the resilience of medical care depends largely on the rapid availability of care data. Against this background, the Federal Ministry of Health (BMG) commissioned experts from TU Dresden, the University of Würzburg, the University of Cologne and the University of Greifswald to draw up a report on linking health insurance data with study data in compliance with data protection regulations. The report has now been published and can be obtained free of charge here. (Source: University Hospital Dresden)

 

In a current evaluation study, funded by the AOK-Bundesverband, the University Medicine Greifswald and the University Hospital Cologne show considerable progress in the treatment of advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) through the national Network Genomic Medicine (nNGM). The networked, personalised care concept led to a significant improvement in the survival rate compared to the control group. The study is based on data from 509 patients treated in the nNGM, whose median survival was 10.5 months compared to 8.7 months in the control group.The nNGM, which has been active since 2013 and was rolled out nationwide in 2018, consists of specialised centres that use state-of-the-art molecular diagnostics to examine all relevant mutations in tumour samples. The results enable personalised advice to be given on the optimal therapy. Prof. Jürgen Wolf, Medical Director of the Centre for Integrated Oncology (CIO) at Cologne University Hospital, emphasises the clear benefits of networked care and the rapid implementation of scientific findings in practice. The study emphasises that patients who were eligible for targeted treatments in particular benefited from the network treatment. After one year, 79% (nNGM) of patients were still alive compared to 66% (control group). The nNGM patients were also more likely to receive targeted drugs in the first line (8.4% compared to 5.1%). The close cooperation between specialised centres and local doctors and the avoidance of further sampling played a decisive role. AOK Rheinland/Hamburg, a partner of the nNGM since 2014, sees the results as confirmation of its commitment. Around 80% of people with statutory health insurance now have access to the nNGM, and around 60% of eligible patients with advanced NSCLC are treated in the network. The AOK-Bundesverband hopes that the study results will help to further increase this proportion.The evaluation study analysed data from 509 patients treated in the nNGM and compared them with 7213 AOK-insured patients without nNGM treatment. Prof Wolfgang Hoffmann, Head of the Institute of Community Medicine at Greifswald University Hospital, emphasises that the results provide important insights into the care of NSCLC patients in Germany. The nNGM has demonstrably improved care, which is an encouragement for patients, doctors and scientists.

https://nngm.de

The article can be found in ‘Kompass Pneumologie - Kaleidoskop 2/2024’ (Karger Verlag)

https://karger.com/kkp/article/12/1/64/895118/Spektrum-Pneumologie-wissenswert-kompakt-anregend?searchresult=1