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BIH at Charité Newsletter
No 1/2024 | FEbruary Issue

Dear Readers,

A year ago we opened the Rahel Hirsch Center for Translational Medicine (RHC) with an inaugural ceremony. Since then, several BIH research groups have set up shop there and some of Charité’s outpatient clinics have moved in as well. We now cordially invite you to visit the Rahel Hirsch Center for Translational Medicine, where you can see an exhibition entitled “STEM Passion.” Through their project, exhibition organizers and artists Dr. Elisabetta Citterio and Claudia Cagliano aim to put a spotlight on the achievements and leading role of women in science, while also showing the incredible diversity of female researchers. We are delighted that the women featured in the exhibition include Berlin scientists from the BIH and the Max Delbrück Center. You can learn more about the exhibition in this month’s newsletter.

We also share the latest news from our research groups and are pleased to introduce you to Prof. Peter N. Robinson, who took up an Alexander von Humboldt Professorship for Artificial Intelligence at the BIH in early January.

Best wishes,
Christopher Baum and Michael Frieser

 

News From the BIH

Logo STEM Passion

STEM Passion – A Journey Inspired by Women in Science

On February 13, 2024, the STEM Passion exhibition was officially opened at the Rahel Hirsch Center for Translational Medicine. With their project, the two exhibition organizers and artists Dr. Elisabetta Citterio and Claudia Cagliano want to draw public attention to the successes and leading role of women in science and show how diverse the image of female scientists is. Between 2019 and 2023, they interviewed and photographed over 50 female scientists in various positions at top international research institutions. 25 selected portraits are now on display in the Rahel Hirsch Center for Translational Medicine for one month until March 12, 2024. The exhibition is organized by the BIH and the Max Delbrück Center and generously supported by BR50, as well as the Collaborative Research Centres SFB1315, SFB 1444, SFB 1470, SPP2395. Be sure to stop by!

Read more (in German only)
 

Personalia

Portrait images of Peter N. Robinson

Alexander von Humboldt Professorship for Artificial Intelligence

In January 2024, Prof. Peter N. Robinson will take up an Alexander von Humboldt Professorship for Artificial Intelligence at the BIH. Robinson, a bioinformatician, is a pioneer in the computational genome and phenotype analysis of genetic diseases. His major work has been the development of the Human Phenotype Ontology (HPO), which is now a standard tool used globally to diagnose gene-related diseases. At the BIH, Robinson plans to develop algorithms for AI-based precision medicine and to expand the HPO as a resource for this purpose. The professorship is made possible by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation and comes with a grant of €5 million. Welcome at the BIH!

Read the press release
Portrait image of Konstanze Pflüger

Konstanze Pflüger Takes Over as Head of Communications at the BIH

In mid-January, Konstanze Pflüger took over as Head of Communications at the BIH. Konstanze Pflüger is an experienced communications professional at the interface between technology, innovation, and health. Until the end of 2023, she was leading corporate communications, marketing, and brand at the non-profit HealthTech organization Data4Life. Prior to this, she held similar positions at the digital health investors Heartbeat Labs, Heal Capital, and Project A, where she consulted the portfolio companies in all fields of communications as part of her role. A very warm welcome!

 

News From the Research Group Brain Simulation

Image of Petra Ritter and a graphic of two heads

"Success Stories Digital Technologies" – Yearbook With BIH Participation 

Petra Ritter, BIH Johanna Quandt Professor for Brain Simulation, is one of the project leaders featured in the current yearbook of the National Contact Point Digital and Industrial Technologies (NKS DIT) for the EU's Horizon Europe program, which this time focuses on projects led by women. Her VirtualBrainCloud project is listed in the yearbook on the pages 18-19. The "Success Story" yearbooks of the NCP DIT present selected success stories of EU projects of German companies, research institutions and universities in two-page portraits with a focus on digital technologies. The synergy effects resulting from cooperation between science and industry become visible.

Download "Success Stories Digital Technologies" - Yearbook 2023 (in German)
 

News From the BIH Core Unit Digital Medicine and Interoperability

Logo xShare

New EU Project xShare With BIH Participation

The BIH is part of xShare, the new European project that brings citizens into the European Helath Data Space (EHDS) by empowering them to share their health data for care or research purposes, under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), with just the click of a button. The project brings together all the key interoperability stakeholders in Europe and will provide specifications for the European Electronic Health Record Exchange Format (EEHRxF). The BIH Core Unit Digital Medicine and Interoperability will contribute to the definition of the specifications and will be co-leading together with ETHEL (European Health Telematics Association) the work package focusing on public health and cross-border threats.

Read more

Poster of the Athens Digital Health Week

Athens Digital Health Week 2024

In January the BIH Core Unit for Digital Health and Interoperability was represented at the Digital Health Week in Athens. Nina Haffer, research fellow at the Core Unit, gave a presentation on gender biases in medical terminologies. At the conference, an insight into the data model, terminological aspects and the FHIR specification of the International Patient Summary (IPS) was given, rounded off by the perspective of the European Patient Summary (epSOS) on the IPS. This is a standard that has been introduced throughout Europe. The specification serves to support the application scenario of "unplanned, cross-border care" and the digital storage of international care data. Furthermore, Thomas Debertsäuser, also a research fellow in the Core Unit, has co-developed an international data model for oncology within the data model on gender biases.

To the presentation by Nina Haffer (Start: 01:19:15)
Learn more about the ADHW

 

News From the BIH Biomedical Innovation Academy (BIA)

Portrait image of Dr. med. Livius Penter

"Nanoranger" Characterizes Leukemia Cells

Single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) has expanded our ability to distinguish cell populations and elucidate their interactions with each other. However, there are still difficulties in distinguishing leukemia cells from normal hematopoiesis based on gene expression alone. Livius Penter, BIH Charité Digital Clinician Scientist Fellow and specialist at the Department of Hematology, Oncology and Tumor Immunology at Charité, together with colleagues Mehdi Borji and Adi Nagler, addressed this problem. The researchers recently published their findings on the nanoranger protocol in Nature Communications.

Read more
Read the publication
BIH at Charité Newsletter

First BIH PhD Candidates Selected

The first candidates for the BIH PhD Program were selected in January 2024 in a two-stage selection process. Eight female candidates prevailed in the selection process out of 21 female and male candidates who were invited to the interviews. The PhD projects will start after the beginning in one of the cooperating PhD schools. Welcome on board!

Read more about the BIH PhD Program
 

News From Charité BIH Innovation (CBI)

View into the event room showing attendees from their backside

Networking at the Idea Night

End of January SPARK-BIH and the Cluster of Excellence NeuroCure organized a networking event ("Idea Night") to foster collaborations and creation of translational project ideas. Participants were invited to present their innovative project ideas or unmet medical needs they identified during their clinical work. With good ideas and lively discussions, the participants contributed to an inspiring evening.

Read more

Board with sticky notes

Medical Design Thinking Workshop

In December 2023, the Detect & Dispatch team of Charité BIH Innovation hosted a Design Thinking Workshop focused on the process of ideation. Participants with backgrounds in diverse knowledge areas teamed-up to conceptualize innovative solutions to four well-known problems in the field of healthcare. To close the workshop, the teams presented their ideas to an external jury, followed by a networking event. If you like to hear more about our next workshops, contact us via detect-dispatch@bih-charite.de

Read more

 

News From the BIH Center of Digital Health

BIH at Charité Newsletter

BIH SpaceHack Project Presented in Nature Genetics

In December 2023, Dr. Naveed Ishaque, BIH Group Leader in the BIH Center of Digital Health, ran a Hackathon Project called SpaceHack as part of the de.NBI BioHackathon Germany event. SpaceHack, featured in a recent Nature Genetics editorial, aims to establish best practices for spatial transcriptomics data analysis. In 2022, it focused on cell segmentation, while 2023 honed in on identifying tissue domains and niches, incorporating community-driven benchmarking. The SpaceHack 2023 was well attended, and with 40 participants it accounted for nearly half of the entire hackathon.

Read more
Read the editorial in Nature Genetics

 

News From the Staff Office Equal Opportunities

Logo Embrace Diversity

Expansion of the Diversity Journal Club – New: DRIVERS

From February 2024, the Diversity Journal Club will join forces with the BIH Quest Center to discuss current research on diversity and responsible research and innovation in the new Journal Club for Diversity and Responsible Research and Innovation (DRIVERS). DRIVERS meets every first Monday of the month at 11 am (CET) and discusses selected literature on Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) and diversity. The main focus is on cross-cutting issues, the role of research assessment and its reform. The aim is to provide all participants with well-founded concepts and relevant facts about RRI and diversity and to reflect on these in a practice-oriented way during the discussion. The Journal Club is held in English.

Read more about DRIVERS

 

Open Calls

Logo BIH Biomedical Innovation Academy (BIA)

Calls for Applications: BIH Charité Clinician Scientist Programs

The BIH Biomedical Innovation Academy (BIA) and the Medical Faculty of Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin will publish their first call for applications this year for the BIH Charité (Junior) Clinician Scientist Program. The program is a recognized, modern career path in academic medicine that provides research-oriented physicians with a structured residency with defined space for clinical and basic research. In addition, the (Junior) Digital Clinician Scientist Program will be announced. Deadline for all calls is March, 12, 2024.

Read more about the calls
BIH at Charité Newsletter

The TIER2 2024 Award for Establishing a Reproducibility Network

Reproducibility Networks are national, peer-led consortia of researchers that aim to promote and ensure rigorous research practices by providing relevant training, supporting research improvement efforts, and disseminating best practices. As part of its mission to boost reproducibility, TIER2 is supporting nations in underrepresented areas to establish new Reproducibility Networks. Following the success of the 2023 open call, where consortia in Georgia and Ukraine were awarded, TIER2 is now launching a new call inviting consortia in “Widening participation” countries to apply. The open call is spearheaded by Alexandra Bannach-Brown and Friederike E. Kohrs from the BIH QUEST Center for Responsible Research at Charité/BIH, a TIER2 project partner.

Read more about the call

BIH at Charité Newsletter
 

New International Edition of gesundhyte.de

The issue focuses on "Research Reconnected". Thanks to all the authors and congratulations on this exciting issue!

To the gesundhyte.de issue 15

 
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