Medical Research: Leveraging the Opportunities of Digitization for Patient Care and Scientific Location!

The TMF’s Board Chairman Prof. Dr. Michael Krawczak, University Medical Center Schleswig-Holstein - Campus Kiel, welcomed guests from science, politics, and business to the anniversary evening in the heart of Berlin's government district: "Scientific progress thrives on the competition of ideas and competencies. It is all the more important to keep the need for coordination and consensus in mind where collaboration with others is a prerequisite for the success of one's own project." The TMF provides researchers with a platform where they can jointly identify needs, develop solutions, and implement them sustainably.

Prof. Dr. Britta Siegmund from Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin also emphasized the TMF's contribution to efficient top medical research in Germany: "Tailored infrastructures are a critical success factor for medical research in the long term. The effective offerings of the TMF and the associated knowledge transfer support collaborative medical research in an outstanding way," said the newly elected Vice President of the German Research Foundation. The fact that such a platform has existed uninterrupted for two decades and has continually evolved is a special exception in the national and international research landscape.

Learning Healthcare System Links Research and Patient Care

In his keynote speech, Dr. Klaus Mittelbach, CEO of the Central Association of Electrical Engineering and Electronics Industry (ZVEI), emphasized the importance of the network idea: "Digitization is not about using individual technical tools in isolation but utilizing them interconnectedly for personalized healthcare." This also includes medical research enabling new processes in care and the data from these processes serving as the basis for further medical research. "A joint roadmap for medical research is an important step towards shaping the future of the research and development location Germany," Dr. Mittelbach continued.

Dr. Ulrike Haus, Medical Director Novartis Oncology, highlighted the importance of cooperation for medical progress. Linking medical registries and harnessing "real-world data" from care could significantly contribute to better understanding diseases and starting tailored therapies at the optimal time. To unlock this treasure trove of data, a cross-departmental innovation and research policy is needed.

Health Research Roadmap: Focus on Data Availability

In a panel discussion moderated by Tagesspiegel editor-in-chief for health Ingo Bach, the focus was on concrete steps to achieve the goal set by the German government in the joint high-tech strategy and the health research framework plan to bring medical progress to people faster by 2025.

Dr. Siegfried Throm, Managing Director Research, Development, Innovation at the Association of Research-Based Pharmaceutical Companies, pointed out the great potential of personalized therapy, especially in oncology.

According to the panel participants, the availability of suitable data foundations from routine care for research purposes is a crucial prerequisite for this as well as for training applications of "artificial intelligence."

Dr. Michael Meyer from Siemens Healthineers Germany explained that international standards and structured data are pre-competitive foundations for medical progress to which all actors must contribute equally. Availability of quality-assured data directly benefits patient care through increased efficiency and patient safety, added Prof. Dr. Andrew Ullmann, MdB, and spokesman for the FDP parliamentary group in the health committee.

The TMF Board Prof. Dr. med. Wolfgang Hoffmann, MPH from University Medicine Greifswald emphasized the rightly high level of protection of pseudonymized data in health research regarding data security. The abstract risk of data misuse must be carefully weighed against the significant health risks of inadequate data availability.

A leading role of politics in paving the way for a research-compatible electronic patient record was urged by Tino Sorge, MdB, and reporter for CDU/CSU for Digital in the Health Committee. It is essential to accelerate and remove existing obstacles such as data protection.

Prof. Dr. Martin Gersch from the Department of Business Informatics at the Free University of Berlin pointed out the innovation barriers inherent in the structure of the German healthcare system. Therefore, networks like the TMF that bring actors together for exchange and professional dialogue are all the more important. Such networks are needed to organize progress across sectors.