Why are you involved in the NUM?
Two reasons are particularly important to me here: The coronavirus pandemic has shown very clearly that the research community in Germany must be better organised and coordinated in order to be able to answer the crucial questions of politics and society in medical crisis situations quickly, methodologically sound and using the complementary competencies of university health research (keyword: pandemic preparedness). Furthermore, the NUM has the potential to create an innovative, integrative and secure infrastructure for research with healthcare-related data in Germany. This is urgently needed, because otherwise Germany will continue to lose ground as a centre of research in international comparison.
Where do you see the greatest opportunities if all university hospitals conduct joint research?
Integration of different expertise and disciplines. Linking clinical and methodological expertise, which is a crucial prerequisite for beneficial health research. Transparency and co-operation also lead to a reduction in research waste...
Tell us a technical term from your job that sounds exciting and that only the real experts understand! What does the term mean?
Target Trial Emulation. This involves emulating an otherwise unfeasible intervention study (the target trial) in healthcare-related data such as registry data, DIZ data and SHI routine data, thereby achieving a quality level that is almost as high as that of a "real" RCT. The emulation of target trials can be realised quickly and in a resource-saving manner on the basis of an innovative data infrastructure such as that created in the NUM - even in pandemics and crises in which patient recruitment in studies is hardly possible.