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.

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