Infrastructures for Medical
Research
The TMF is the umbrella organization for networked
medical research in Germany. It is the platform for interdisciplinary exchange
as well as cross-project and cross-location cooperation in order to identify
and solve the organizational, legal/ethical and technological problems of
modern medical research. Solutions range from expert opinions, generic concepts,
and IT applications to checklists, practical guides, training, and consultation
services. The TMF makes these solutions available to the public free of charge.
Our Mission
We bring
together researchers in different disciplines and develop concepts,
infrastructures, and methods that promote medical research. We thus increase
the safety, quality, and efficiency of medical research, ensure the necessary
standardization, and offer researchers, irrespective of their scientific
issues, assistance in dealing with the increasingly complex legal and
regulatory infrastructure of medical research.
Our Aims
Our aims in
particular are the following:
-
to
improve the quality, organization, and cooperation of medical research;
-
to
clarify the legal and ethical foundations for performing medical research and to
provide model solutions;
-
to
promote quality assurance and quality management in medical research, for
example in the field of clinical studies and in biobanking;
-
to
develop and expand efficient IT infrastructures and to promote their
implementation in cross-institutional networked structures;
-
to
make contributions to sustainable and efficient health research by means of
improved transfer of research findings to patient care, and
-
to
inform researchers, patients, politicians, and journalists about medical
research issues in an up-to-date, independent, and appropriate manner by means
of science-based communication.
Our Method of Work
Our
technical work focuses on interdisciplinary dialog in the working groups. The
experts involved in networked medical research, who come from a very wide range
of disciplines, meet here regularly and exchange experiences. They analyze
current problem areas of medical research from various angles and identify the
need for solutions on a general basis.
As a result
of the joint discourse it is possible to initiate scientific methodology
projects and fund them with the TMF's own resources, for example in order to
develop expert opinions, practical guides, tools, or services. By developing
sustainable infrastructures for medical research we are also strengthening the
position of Germany as a science location faced with European and international
competition.
With our
projects and events we also establish dialog between health sector institutions
that do not necessarily communicate in day-to-day activities. The spectrum
ranges from patient care, clinical research, research infrastructure experts,
and the use of telematics to experts on issues of standardization or healthcare
politics control. Researchers from universities come together with
representatives of extra-university research institutes, whereby federal
institutes are just as involved as professional societies and associations from
related sectors. We thus make a major contribution toward avoiding the
duplication of work and pooling resources.