At this year's virtual.MEDICA (November 16 – 19, 2020), the MEDICA LABMED FORUM will address question such as How can diagnoses be made even more reliable and faster with the help of the latest scientific findings? How can a large amount of information be linked and evaluated in such a way that new therapeutic options can be developed? The forum's high profile program with renowned speakers is free of charge for registered online visitors and will be held on all days of the trade fair digitally due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It can be accessed via the Conference Area at virtual.MEDICA https://virtual.medica-tradefair.com.

The English language forum sessions will focus on the topics microbiology and infectious diseases, cardiology and oncology and, of course, COVID-19. In addition, young scientists and the industry look into the future together and present promising trends in laboratory medicine. The forum will be organized by Prof. Dr. Georg Hoffmann from the medical publishing house Trillium, in cooperation with the German Heart Center Munich (DHM).

Day 1: Microbiome diagnostics, infection diagnostics and breathomics

The series of sessions will start on November 16 (12:00 pm Central European time) with the microbiome/infection diagnostics and breathomics themes, chaired by Prof. Dr. med. Beniam Ghebremedhin (Witten/Herdecke University, HELIOS Wuppertal University Clinic).

The fascination of microbiome research lies on the one hand in the rapid increase in knowledge over the last ten years and on the other hand in the many cross-links to a variety of widespread diseases - from obesity to depression. The articles are dedicated to the first diagnostic and therapeutic applications. The sessions will address primary diagnostic and therapeutic applications.

Following an introduction to the topic, with explanations of the analytical standards by Prof. Dr. Andrè Gessner, Prof. Dr. Ernst Holler will explain how this research is used in oncology (both speakers are from the University Hospital Regensburg). The next two talks will look at the importance of microbiotics for the central physical communication axis, the so-called intestinal-brain axis, and gastroenterology. The speakers will be Prof. Dr. Jonathan Swann, Imperial College / London and Prof. Dr. Simona Cristescu, Institute for Molecules and Materials / Nijmegen.

The next part of the program will all be about breathomics. Here, the volatile metabolome, the characteristic metabolic properties of exhaled breath, is analyzed. This contains many gaseous substances which predominantly come from the patient's lungs and blood. Breathomics from a microbiological point of view also provides information about infections of the respiratory tract and possible bacterial colonization of the intestine. Prof. Dr. Agnieszka Smolinska, University of Maastricht, will demonstrate the use of this analytical technique in gastroenterology. Dr. Wolfgang Vautz, ION-Gas GmbH, will present new methods of respiratory gas analysis. Prof. Dr. Jonathan Swan and Prof. Dr. Wieland Vogt, Steinbeis-Hochschule Berlin, will explain the role of volatile metabolites in the intestinal-brain axis and applications for monitoring the course of influenza.

Day 2: Digitalization, computational biology and genetics in cardiology and oncology

The second day of the virtual event, November 17 (12:00 pm Central European time), will be chaired by Prof. Dr. med. Stefan Holdenrieder of the German Heart Centre Munich. The first half will be dedicated to digital cardiology. The "paperless hospital" wants to digitally capture and effectively use all the information that arises in the process of patient treatment and diagnostics. The presentation by Dr. Dr. Moritz von Scheidt, German Heart Center Munich, will focus on the organization of data streams and innovative networks for personalized forms of health care, especially in coronary heart disease. Prof. Dr. Markus Krane, also from the German Heart Center Munich, will then present new approaches to digitalization in heart surgery. Blood pressure, heartbeat, stress levels - more and more digital measuring devices provide health-conscious people with a wealth of data on numerous bodily functions. Sports physician Prof. Dr. Billy Sperlich from the University of Würzburg will explains how this "private data" can be made available to amateur athletes, athletes and patients in rehabilitation. The question "How can the complexity inherent in these growing data volumes be simplified" will be explored by Prof. Dr. Frank Klawonn, of the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) in Brunswick.

The European Union has issued a regulation on the usage of in-vitro diagnostic medical devices. After a transition period of five years, all medical products, including software products, must undergo mandatory quality tests from 2022 onwards. The essential aspects of this regulation will be presented by Dr. Sebastian Grömminger of the Johner Institute in Konstanz.

Oncology, with the focus on blood analyses (key words: liquid biopsy and exosomes), will also be an important issue at the virtual MEDICA LABMED FORUM. In his talk, Dr. Frank Diehl, a scientific advisor from Hamburg, will look at new developments in examining circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) in blood plasma which is used to detect tumors at an early stage. NGS-based deep sequencing and combination with tumor-associated proteins are increasingly playing an important role in the detection of a large number of tumor-specific mutations and epigenetic changes on ctDNA.

The bioinformatics specialist Dr. Niroshan Nadarajah from the Munich Leukemia Laboratory (MLL), will speaks about the possibilities of using artificial intelligence to improve the diagnosis of leukemia, to make better classifications through gradual differentiations and to increase the prognostic validity. Prof. Dr. Michiel Pegtel, Head of the Liquid Biopsy Center at the University of Amsterdam, will concentrate on extracellular vesicles and exosomes which are emitted into the surrounding environment by tumor cells. He will explore how this reflects the tumor's biology and can be used for cancer diagnosis and therapy. . Prof. Dr. Bernd. Giebel, from the University of Essen, will continue with this topic and present new therapeutical approaches in immunomodulation with the help of exosomes obtained from stem cells.

Day 3: The central role of laboratory medicine in the COVID-19 pandemic

"Never before has laboratory medicine been so much in the focus of public interest as during the Coronavirus crisis. Testing, testing, testing is demanded from all sides. This is why we are focusing on diagnostic and clinical aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic on November 18," explained Prof. Dr. Hoffmann.

The speeches on the third day of the forum (starting at 12:00 pm Central European time) will be chaired by Prof. Dr. med. Gunther Hartmann from the University of Bonn. The presentations will concentrate on COVID-19 diagnostics, mass screening of the population and the required quality control. New developments of technologies for COVID-19 testing as well as current possibilities for testing immunity against SARS CoV-2 will also be discussed. With a capacity of more than one million coronavirus tests per week (as of October 2020), Germany is considered a model country in this sector worldwide.

Furthermore, the role of laboratory medical diagnostics in monitoring COVID-19 infections and in estimating the occurrence of severe cases of the disease will be highlighted. Findings on genetic susceptibility to severe COVID-19 disease will also be addressed as well as models for predicting possible (local) overloading of the health care system.

Day 4: Young scientists and laboratory medicine specialists meet innovative industry

On the last day of the forum (November 19) young scientists and laboratory medicine specialists will report on their research projects on biobanking, liquid biopsy and other trends in laboratory medicine while diagnostic companies will present innovative test procedures for COVID-19. This day will be under the patronage of the German Society for Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Diagnostics (DGKL, Young Laboratory Division) and the Association of Diagnostics Manufacturers (VDGH, Life Science Research Group).


The complete program for virtual.MEDICA 2020 will be online starting middle of October and free online visitor registration is open now at https://virtual.medica-tradefair.com

For further information on visiting or exhibiting at virtual.MEDICA, contact Messe Düsseldorf North America; Telephone: (312) 781-5180; E-mail: info@mdna.com; Visit https://virtual.medica-tradefair.com/ and www.mdna.com; Follow us on twitter at http://twitter.com/mdnachicago