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Department of Medical Statistics
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Successful publications - FAIR-HF2 study and accompanying meta-analysis in "JAMA" and "Nature Medicine"
The Department of Medical Statistics was involved in the multicentre, randomised clinical study, funded by the German Centre for Cardiovascular Research (DZHK), as well as in the international meta-analysis with data from six randomised studies with a total of over 7,000 patients, which underlines the clinical relevance of the study results.
The study investigated whether intravenous iron administration with iron carboxymaltose can reduce the risk of hospitalisation due to heart failure or cardiovascular death in patients with heart failure and iron deficiency.
Further information can be found in the DZHK press release [DE] and in the UMG press release [DE/EN]
Alport syndrome: a drug helps children with kidney disease
For more than 20 years, Professor Dr Oliver Gross from the University Medical Center Göttingen has been searching for an effective therapy for children with Alport syndrome, a rare hereditary disease of the connective tissue.
He has now been able to prove with the Early Protect Alport study that the active ingredient Ramipril significantly delays the progression of the disease.
Prof Tim Friede was involved in the study as lead statistician. By using an innovative study design, he contributed to adapting the study methodology to the particular challenges of the study.
Read the full article here: Alport syndrome: A drug helps children with kidney disease [DE]
The article was published as part of the Newsletter Special | February 2025 - Health Research BMBF [DE].
David Jesse receives the Bernd Streitberg Prize 2025
David Jesse will be awarded the Bernd Streitberg Prize 2025 for his master's thesis “Resampling Based Inference for Restricted Mean Survival Times” written at the Department of Medical Statistics.
The Bernd Streitberg Award is organised by the German Region of the International Biometric Society (IBS-DR). It is awarded to persons without a doctorate on the basis of outstanding biometric qualification work.
The award ceremony will take place on 26 March 2025 at the IBS-DR General Assembly in Berlin.
Are AI-based prediction models fit-for-purpose?
Maxi Schulz and Tim Mathes investigated this question in the ‘Clinical Epidemiology and Health Economics’ working group at the Department of Medical Statistics.
The editorial on the practical suitability of AI-based prediction models can be found on the website of the Austrian Institute for Health Technology Assessment (AIHTA).
The RealiseD project has officially launched
The IHI RealiseD Project officially launched on 9th and 10th January 2025 with a successful kick-off meeting held in Vienna. The meeting marked the beginning of a collaborative effort aimed at transforming clinical trials for rare and ultra-rare diseases to speed up the development of new treatments and improve outcomes.
The Department of Medical of Medical Statistics is one of the partners in the project.
New Treatment Option for Severe Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy in Children Shows Promise
The Department of Medical Statistics participated in a study, which provides crucial evidence that targeted therapies like trametinib could dramatically improve the outlook for children suffering from severe hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.
Please find here the press release.
Workshop "Hierarchical models in preclinical research" of the IBS-DR
On the 5th and 6th of December 2024, the workshop “Hierarchical Models in Preclinical Research” took place at the Göttingen State and University Library.
It was organised by the two working groups “Non-Clinical Statistics” and “Bayes Methods” of the German Region of the International Biometric Society (IBS-DR).
Click here for the programme and selected presentations.
"INVENTS – Horizon Europe Project" – 1st annual consortium meeting
On 14th and 15th November 2024, the annual consortium meeting of the "INVENTS - Horizon Europe Project" took place in Göttingen.
The project is a joint initiative focusing on the development of innovative study designs, models and simulations to support clinical development in rare and/or paediatric diseases. Numerous project participants from the 15 partners from 9 different countries were welcomed to Göttingen and contributed to a successful project meeting.
Find out more about the project here: https://invents-he.eu
In 2024 the "German University Medicine Award" goes to research team for the "heart patch"
This year's "Preis der Deutschen Hochschulmedizin" is being awarded to the team of scientists from the BioVAT-HF-DZHK20 translational study for a globally unique approach: The "heart patch" uses stem cells to repair the heart muscle and is intended to strengthen the heart permanently.
The Department of Medical Statistics is responsible for the biometric supervision and analysis of the study.
Find here the UMG press release.
AI-based prognostic models - can they be used in clinical practice?
In the EbM column from 25 September 2024, Maxi Schulz and Tim Mathes look at the requirements for using (AI-based) prognostic models in practice.
The article provides an overview of the criteria that a prognostic model must fulfil in order to be considered relevant and trustworthy. In addition, aspects for the successful implementation of a forecasting model are considered and the specifics and challenges for AI-based models are examined in more detail.
To article Requirements for the use of (AI-based) forecasting models in practice [PDF, DE]
Federated AI learning in cardiovascular medicine
In an interview in the current issue of E-HEALTH-COM, Prof Sandy Engelhardt (UK Heidelberg) reports on new perspectives for medical AI research and in this context on the AI/ML project group of the German Centre for Cardiovascular Research (DZHK), which was set up on the initiative of Prof Tim Friede, as well as on the joint project ‘ECG Federated Learning of TAVI Outcomes’, which is funded by the DZHK.
Find the full interview here.
Federated trained AI: Section through the aortic valve with its three valve pockets (reference E-HEALTH-COM; publication date: 12/09/2024)
Results of the RESHAPE-HF2 study published
The Department of Medical Statistics (Prof. Dr. Tim Friede and Dr. Marius Placzek) was involved in the analysis of the international study on the use of the MitraClip device in heart failure patients. The results of the study were presented at the congress of the European Society of Cardiology in London and published simultaneously in the New England Journal of Medicine.
You can find the joint press release from the UMG and Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin here.
Post-COVID syndrome: BMBF-funded trial starts
RAPID_REVIVE (Randomised Adaptive Assessment of Post COVID Syndrome Treatments_Reducing Inflammatory Activity in Patients with Post COVID Syndrome) is an adaptive, randomised, placebo-controlled and double-blind clinical phase 2 study sponsored by Goethe University and funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) as part of the University Medicine Network.
The structural requirements for the start of the study were created as part of the NUM project ‘NAPKON Therapeutic Intervention Platform’ (NAPKON-TIP), in which the Department of Medical Statistics is involved.
To the press release of Goethe University Frankfurt am Main.
Symposium "Recent Advances in Meta-Analysis"
A symposium on the latest developments in meta-analysis methods was held in Göttingen on 28th and 29th of August 2024
Find here the programme of the symposium.
How evidence-based medicine helps MS patients
In a one-hour podcast, Tim Friede talks about evidence-based medicine and what it means for people with multiple sclerosis.
The article is part of Nele Handwerker's blog and can be listened to at the following link:
https://ms-perspektive.de/255-tim-friede [DE]
First conference of German AI service centres in Göttingen
KonKIS - the first conference of German AI service centres - will take place on 18-19 September 2024 in Göttingen. This year's focus is on AI in healthcare and the energy industry. The conference is aimed at researchers and interested parties from science and industry, especially from small and medium-sized enterprises with a need for computing power and AI expertise.
The Department of Medical Statistics is involved in setting up the AI service centre KISSKI (Hanover/Göttingen/Kassel) and will give a presentation at the conference on the challenges of introducing AI-based prediction models into medical practice.
Tim Mathes board member of the EbM network
Prof Dr Tim Mathes was elected as second deputy chairman in the board of the Network for Evidence-Based Medicine on 14 March 2024.
The EbM Network sees itself as the German-speaking competence and reference centre for all aspects of evidence-based medicine. It brings together representatives from various disciplines, professions, sectors and organisations and provides a space for independent, critical and scientific discussions on all issues relating to evidence-based healthcare.
More information on the board election [DE].
Symposium "Statistical Planning of Translational Studies"
On 20 and 21 March 2024, a symposium on current methods for statistical planning of translational studies took place in Göttingen.
Programme and download of Presentations: "Statistical Planning of Translational Studies"
Awarding of the Susanne Dahms Medal
Tim Friede was awarded the Susanne Dahms Medal for his outstanding accomplishments for the International Biometric Society and its German Region (IBS-DR) at the 70th Biometric Colloquium in Lübeck on 29 February 2024.
Read here the current UMG press release [DE].
The German Centre for Cardiovascular Research (DZHK), for which Tim Friede works as Principal Investigator at the DZHK site in Göttingen, has also responded to the award with a press release.
In it, the DZHK vividly describes the importance of biometrics for clinical studies.
To the DZHK press release [EN].
Final result of the DFG review board election – Tim Friede is a new member
On 27 February 2024, the final result of the review board election 2023 was determined.
Tim Friede was appointed by the President of the German Research Foundation as a newly elected member for the subject 2.22-01 "Epidemiology and Medical Biometry/Statistics" in Review Board 2.22 "Medicine" for the coming term of office 2024-2028.
New at the UMG – Introduction of the Service Group "Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses"
The Service Group "Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses" is intended to provide methodological counseling for evidence synthesis products (e.g. clinical practice guidelines, systematic reviews, rapid reviews) for scientists and clinicians at the UMG.
This includes, support with systematic literature searches, data extraction, assessment of methodological quality and meta-analyses, according the national (e.g. AWMF) and international standards (e.g. Cochrane).
Prof Tim Mathes, head of the Service Group, will present the services in a virtual lunch meeting and answer your questions.
You can participate in the meetings under the following links:
- Thursday 07.03.2024, 13:30 to 14:00:
https://uni-goettingen.zoom-x.de/j/61811765145 - Wednesday 20.03.2024, 12:30 to 13:00:
https://uni-goettingen.zoom-x.de/j/61703254729
Further information on the Service Group can be found here: Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses
The Department of Medical Statistics mourns the death of Reinhard Hilgers
The Department of Medical Statistics mourns the loss of Prof Dr Reinhard Hilgers, who passed away on 30 January 2024. For over 45 years, he helped shape the fortunes of the Department and medical biometrics at the Göttingen site in research, teaching and statistical consulting. Sadly, we must now bid farewell to a valued colleague and recognised expert in the field of biometrics.
We would like to convey our sincere sympathy and condolences to his family in these difficult times.
On behalf of all current and former members of the Department:
Prof Dr Tim Friede (Director) and Prof Dr Edgar Brunner (Director Emeritus) of the Department of Medical Statistics
New methodological procedure enables more precise summary of study results
The Department of Medical Statistics and the independent Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) have developed a new methodological procedure that allows the benefits of medical treatment measures to be assessed more reliably than before, in particular, if only few studies are available.
Read the joint press release [DE] from 22 January 2024.
"20 Years of Clinical Trials: Success, Impulses, Perspectives"
To mark the anniversary of the funding programme, the DFG and BMBF invited experts in clinical research on 9 November 2023 to the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities.
An opportunity for Professor Dr Tim Friede to highlight the importance of good biometric study planning and provide insights into innovative biometrical approaches for sample size planning and randomisation.
More information about the event [DE].
Symposium "Recent Advances in Meta-Analysis: Methods and Software"
In August 2023 a symposium on current methods and software tools for meta-analyses was held in Göttingen. It was initiated by Tim Friede, Christian Röver (Department of Medical Statistics, University Medical Center Göttingen) and Markus Pauly (Department of Statistics, TU Dortmund University) and took place as part of a German Research Foundation project.
The programme included presentations of many renowned researchers in the field of meta-analysis and a practical introduction to the current software.
See here the presentations of the speakers: "Recent Advances in Meta-Analysis: Methods and Software"
IGeL Podcast: Special episode "Evidence instead of eminence"
On the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the "Netzwerk evidenzbasierte Medizin" (ebM), Prof. Tim Mathes, elected assessor of the ebM board, can be heard in this special podcast.
Together with Prof. Günter Ollenschläger, founding member of ebM, he talks about how evidence-based medicine has fundamentally changed the health system and what demands will continue to be placed on the health system.
To the podcast Evidence instead of eminence.
UTI-IPD project group receives the "David Sackett Prize 2023"
The team of the project group "UTI-IPD - Reducing antibiotic use in uncomplicated urinary tract infections in adult women: a systematic review and individual participant data meta-analysis" is this year's winner of the David Sackett Prize. UMG staff from the Department of Medical Statistics and the Department of General Practice and Family Medicine were involved in the project. The project was led by Prof. Dr. Ildikó Gágyor from the University Hospital of Würzburg.
The prize is awarded for outstanding scientific achievements in the field of evidence-based medicine and health care in research, teaching or in the dissemination of the concerns of EBM. The award ceremony took place during the EbM Network Annual Meeting from 22-24 March 2023 in Potsdam.
Find all information about the award ceremony (in German) and the work that was awarded here.
Interesting facts from the Medical Statistics
"Heart patch" - research into artificial heart muscle tissue (BioVAT-HF-DZHK20)
The Department of Medical Statistics and its study statistics team are involved in the BioVAT-HF study, which is led by the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology and funded by the German Centre for Cardiovascular Research (DZHK). Within the study, the implantation of a "heart patch" with heart muscle tissue produced from stem cells is being tested for the first time worldwide in cases of heart failure.
The following video provides a brief overview of the study: "Herzpflaster“ - Forschung zu künstlichem Herzgewebe"
Discussion Paper "On the role of data, statistics and decisions in a pandemic"
This discussion paper was prepared with the participation of Prof. Tim Friede and published in the journal "Advances in Statistical Analysis".
The aim of this paper is to provide an overview of decision-making processes during a pandemic and to make recommendations on this from a statistical perspective.
Statement on the systematic review "The serotonin theory of depression"
In an article of the NZZ (Neue Zürcher Zeitung), Professor Friede comments on the systematic review "The serotonin theory of depression".
To article "Depressionen: "An den fehlenden Glückshormonen liegt’s doch nicht"