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No 9/2025 | November Issue
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Dear Reader,
From November 1 to 10 Berlin celebrated the 10th anniversary of Berlin Science Week – and the BIH was right in the middle of things. Whether at the Museum of Natural History, the BIH Diversithon, or in engaging workshops at the Berlin Institute for Medical Systems Biology, our researchers demonstrated just how vibrant translational science can be. You can find all the highlights from our participation in our event review. This issue also looks back at the Falling Walls Science Summit and the Future Medicine Innovation Days, where BIH researchers gave inspiring talks. Plus, you’ll learn about the latest developments at the GCT Atlas, a new EU funding success for the BIH QUEST Center, an award for one of our advanced clinician scientists, and a podcast recommendation from the BIH community.
Happy reading!
Your BIH Newsletter Team
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Greater Transparency and Networking: GCT Atlas With New GMP Map Layer
The GCT Atlas, the central digital information platform for gene and cell-based therapies (GCT) in Germany, has been expanded to include a new map layer showing GMP manufacturing sites. This expansion is a decisive milestone for the clinical translation of innovative therapies and strengthens the networking of stakeholders along the entire value chain.
Read more (only in German)
The GCT Atlas website
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News From the BIH QUEST Center
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The Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment (CoARA) is awarding the Berlin Institute of Health at Charité nearly €60,000 to advance the development of a transparent and fair infrastructure for evaluating research groups. To this end, BIH researchers are expanding the existing MERIT portal for appointments as part of the new “ MERIT BIH Groups” project. BIH is one of only 28 institutes across Europe to receive funding under the competitive CoARA Cascade Funding Program. CoARA supports institutional reform initiatives that promote the transition to fairer and more meaningful research assessment procedures. Read moreAbout CoARA at Charité and BIH
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News From the BIH Biomedical Innovation Academy (BIA)
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Advanced Clinician Scientist Awarded With Rudolf Pichlmayr Prize
Prof. Dr. med. Nathanael Raschzok, BIH Charité Advanced Clinician Scientist and alumnus of the BIH Charité Clinician Scientist Program, currently employed as attending surgeon in the Department of Surgery at Charité, was awarded the Rudolf Pichlmayr Prize on October 10, 2025. This prize is the most prestigious German prize in transplantation medicine and is awarded annually by the German Transplantation Society (DTG) at the DTG's annual meeting for outstanding achievements in the field of transplantation medicine. Nathanael Raschzok was honored for his work on "Expanding the donor pool for liver transplantation through borderline acceptable organs" – his work was made possible in large part by the Clinician Scientist Program.
To the DTG announcement (only in German)
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Podcast With BIH Doctoral Candidate
What happens in the brain when drugs take effect – and how can this be visualized using data? Dr. Hanna Proner discusses this topic in the new episode of Audible Women in Science with Maria Luise da Costa Zemsch, doctoral candidate in the BIH research group of Petra Ritter, and fellow of the Zia class of 2024/25. Maria Luise conducts research at the intersection of neuroscience and computer science – and wants to understand how drugs affect neural processes in order to enable personalized therapies in the future. Listen to the podcast (only in German)
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Future Medicine Innovation Days 2025
The Future Medicine Innovation Days 2025 offered two days of exciting insights with leading minds from science, research, and the healthcare industry, including the panel discussion: “Where does Germany stand as a center for research and innovation?” with Professor Christopher Baum, Chair of the BIH Board of Directors and Chief Translational Research Officer of Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin. In the discussion with representatives from politics, Christopher Baum emphasized the urgent need for more speed and consolidation of federal fragmentation in research.
Click here for the recording (only in German)
(panel discussion starts at around 0:37:50)
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From November 1 to 10, the BIH once again participated in Berlin Science Week with several program offerings. Whether it was stem cells, single-cell technologies, Wikipedia entries about female researchers, or the future of the academic publishing system, visitors had a lot to see at the Berlin Science Week this year. In two roundtable discussions at the Falling Walls Summit, experts also addressed how biomedical innovation systems in Europe can be supported and how AI and data structures can contribute to better healthcare. A big thank you to everyone involved! Read more / Videos / Picture gallery
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The BIH successfully concluded its Digital Health Accelerator (DHA) Demo Day mid-October 2025. The virtual event brought together clinicians, researchers, investors, and innovators in digital health to present solutions developed by those working closest to patients. Eleven teams presented their innovations, addressing challenges in surgical precision, diagnostics, maternal care, and chronic disease management. Whether starting from a clinical need or already with an early prototype, each project was guided through the BIH DHA program’s translational approach to better understand its market potential and take concrete steps toward real-world application and commercialization. Read more
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Changing the Future of Medicine
At the Future Medicine Innovation Days, seven teams of young scientists presented their ideas for changing the future of medicine in three-minute pitches, including three successful Charité/BIH spin-offs: dotbase, Recovery Cat, and TimeTeller. The winner was dotbase with a platform that bundles clinical data and enables personalized medicine. The product development and spin-off process of dotbase were supported by Charité BIH Innovation.
Click here for the recording (German)
(Pitches start at around 4:43:00)
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Three days of top-level research, exchange, and inspiration: The 13th GSCN Conference, held Ocober, 15–17 2025, in Munich, brought together over 500 participants, great talks, 144 posters, 39 exhibitors, and a memorable networking evening. See you in Berlin 2026!
Read more
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All BIH events are noted in our event calender. If you would like to receive a regular overview of upcoming BIH Events, please register here. Many thanks.
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The BIH Biomedical Innovation Academy (BIA) and the Grant Commission of Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin have published another call for applications for their BIH-MD Student Research Stipends, which support students of human medicine and dentistry at Charité for doctoral projects leading to the Dr. med., MD/PhD or Dr. med. dent. degrees. Funding is available for medicine students whose supervisors are employed at Charité or the Max Delbrück Center. The research task must be designed in such a way that the doctoral project fits thematically with the objectives of BIH and comprises an exclusively scientific activity of at least six months. Deadline for the call is December 3, 2025 at 2 p.m. Read more about the call
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Do you want your research to make an impact beyond your own discipline? If you’ve got an idea of how you could improve your communications and reach a wider and more diverse audience, why not develop and test it out together with a media professional? Apply now for the science x media tandem program. With this programm Stiftung Charité aims to promote the social openness of the life sciences. The deadline for submitting a full application in collaboration with your media partner is January 30, 2026. Read more
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With the Visiting Fellows, Stiftung Charité provides funding for established or leading researchers from abroad or from other locations in Germany to stay in Berlin at Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin (including the BIH and German Heart Center Berlin (DHZC)) or at the Max Delbrück Center temporarily and, optionally, to set up their own research group. The application deadline is February 9, 2026 (11:59 p.m.). All information about the program
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