Interdisciplinary cooperation for better medical imaging
The Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg and the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine will cooperate in the field of medical imaging in the future. A cooperation agreement was signed on Friday, 11 March 2022 at the Buch Research Campus in Berlin.
The STIMULATE research campus of Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg (OVGU) and the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association (MDC) from Berlin want to cooperate in the future. On this behalf, a contract was signed in Berlin on 11 March 2022. The Rector of OVGU, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Jens Strackeljan, said after the signing: "I am very pleased that the agreed close cooperation of the MDC with the STIMULATE research campus of our university will establish a strong medical technology axis between Berlin and Magdeburg."
"The research profiles of our two institutions are suitable for generating synergy effects and mutually optimising resources and competencies," added MDC Administrative Director Professor Heike Graßmann. Both institutions want to jointly develop medical technology, especially in diagnostic and interventional imaging. The partners see the more intensive scientific cooperation as a long-term task. In addition to research, translation and teaching, both contract partners named the promotion of young scientists as an important concern.
Specifically, the aim is to use third-party funding to establish a platform for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) together with academic and industrial partners from both sides. This aims to define the future of the technology. In addition, the two institutions want to organise joint symposia and summer schools and set up an incubator for start-ups.
The MDC and the OVGU are already involved in the "Artificial Intelligence in Digital Health (AIDHeal)" network together with Berlin and Potsdam universities. "Artificial intelligence is a technology driver for modern medical imaging. That is why we link developers and users in the AIDHeal network to increase the international visibility and competitiveness of 'Digital Healthcare, made in Germany'," said Professor Thoralf Niendorf, who heads the Experimental Ultra-High Field MR group at the MDC.
"The complementary expertise of both locations, i.e. the excellent basic research of the MDC and the transfer-oriented research combined with the start-ups that have already emerged at the STIMULATE research campus, are key to the continuous translation of solutions into society," said the spokesperson of the Magdeburg research campus, Professor Georg Rose. Medical imaging and translational application are the focus, although socio-political issues are also to be considered, which methodologically require increased interdisciplinarity.
The MDC is one of the internationally leading biomedical research centres. With the STIMULATE research campus, OVGU inhibits one of the most important international centres for image-guided minimally invasive interventions. Both institutions possess excellent expertise in imaging.
Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg
Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg was founded in 1993. With nine faculties and almost 14,000 students in about 100 degree programmes, it is a university centre for teaching and research in Saxony-Anhalt. As a profile university with clearly defined contours, the University of Magdeburg has defined its research foci in engineering, natural sciences and medicine. In addition, it sees mathematics and economics, social sciences and humanities as indispensable disciplines for a modern university in the information society. A good 26 percent of all students are from abroad. Around 2,500 graduates leave the university every year after successfully completing their studies, around 200 of them as licensed doctors.
With the research campus STIMULATE (Solution Centre for Image Guided Local Therapies), Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg, together with Siemens Healthineers and STIMULATE Verein, is pursuing the research and development of image-guided minimally invasive methods. The public-private partnership, which is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, is thus contributing to better combating widespread age-related diseases in the fields of oncology, neurology and vascular diseases.
http://www.ovgu.de
http://www.forschungscampus-stimulate.de
Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC)
The Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association is one of the leading international biomedical research centres. Nobel laureate Max Delbrück, born in Berlin, was a founder of molecular biology. At the MDC sites in Berlin-Buch and Mitte, researchers from around 60 countries analyse the human system - the foundations of life from its smallest building blocks to cross-organ mechanisms. Understanding what controls or disturbs the dynamic equilibrium in a cell, an organ or the entire body can help prevent diseases, diagnose them early and stop them with tailored therapies. The findings of basic research should quickly benefit patients. The MDC therefore promotes spin-offs and cooperates in networks. The partnerships with the Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin in the joint Experimental and Clinical Research Center (ECRC) and the Berlin Institute of Health (BIH) in the Charité as well as the German Centre for Cardiovascular Research (DZHK) are particularly close. 1,600 people work at the MDC. Founded in 1992, the MDC is financed 90 percent by the federal government and 10 percent by the state of Berlin.
http://www.mdc-berlin.de/de
Wissenschaftlicher Ansprechpartner:
University of Magdeburg
Prof. Dr. Georg Rose, Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg, Institute for Medical Technology/ Board of Directors STIMULATE, phone: +49 391 67-58862, e-mail: georg.rose@ovgu.de
Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine
Prof. Dr. Thoralf Niendorf, Head of the Research Group Experimental Ultra-High-Field MR, Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association (MDC), phone: +49 30 9406-4504, e-mail: thoralf.niendorf@mdc-berlin.de