Minister of Science Petra Olschowski visits the Bosch Health Campus
Baden-Württemberg's Science Minister Petra Olschowski was a guest at the Bosch Health Campus and gained an overview of current research in clinical pharmacology, tumor research, complementary medicine and geriatrics.
Minister of Science Petra Olschowski (center) during the laboratory tour of the Robert Bosch Center for Tumor Diseases (RBCT) with BHC Managing Director Prof. Dr. Mark Dominik Alscher (right), the Managing Director of the Robert Bosch Stiftung Dr. Bernard Straub (left) and Dr. Steven Johnsen, Scientific Director of the RBCT (back).
Dr. Bernhard Straub, CEO of the Robert Bosch Stiftung, and Prof. Dr. Mark Dominik Alscher, CEO of the Bosch Health Campus (BHC), opened the visit by explaining the history and development of the health campus. The presentation of the individual pillars of the BHC focused in particular on the scientific aspects and current developments in the field of research (for example digitalization).
The Koordinierungsstelle Telemedizin Baden-Württemberg (KTBW), which has been part of the Bosch Health Campus since 2023, was already known to the Minister of Science as a former state institution. Some of the projects funded by the ministry, such as Clinnova (complex data integration and applied artificial intelligence in the hospital sector), are still ongoing. Alscher particularly emphasized the further development of the KTBW at the Bosch Health Campus with its focus on digital health and innovative care approaches.
Prof. Dr. Holger Cramer reported on the extent to which the effect of complementary medical procedures can be scientifically proven and the role that exercise and a healthy diet play in illnesses. He is not only Scientific Director of the Robert Bosch Center for Integrative Medicine and Health at the BHC, but also Professor for Research into Complementary Medicine at the University of Tübingen.
Personalized medicine for tailored therapies
In the research area of clinical pharmacology, Prof. Dr. Matthias Schwab, Director of the renowned Dr. Margarete Fischer-Bosch Institute of Clinical Pharmacology (IKP), explained how the analysis of patients' DNA can reduce side effects when taking medication. For example, the IKP is currently developing a drug for breast cancer patients for whom conventional medication has little or no effect, but which can still reduce the risk of relapse.
Prof. Dr. Markus Ketteler, Chief Physician for Internal Medicine and Geriatric Medicine at Robert Bosch Hospital, used practical examples to illustrate the importance of research in the field of geriatric medicine. Digitalization in the healthcare system also plays a major role here - as do the challenges he faces with his elderly patients. The Minister of Science was particularly interested in whether or how the training of young academics should be organized in the future in order to enable appropriate patient care.
"Thanks to the unique commitment of a foundation, the Bosch Health Campus enables cutting-edge medical research and care. We have been supporting the cooperation between the Bosch Health Campus and the Faculty of Medicine and the University Hospital of Tübingen for many years. The Robert Bosch Stiftung repeatedly takes the initiative and develops this cooperation further - we very much welcome this", said Petra Olschowski, Minister of Science, Research and Arts in Baden-Württemberg.
“The Bosch Health Campus continues to develop and thus contributes to Baden-Württemberg's leading position as a healthcare location.”
At the end of the visit, Dr. Steven Johnsen, Scientific Director of the Robert Bosch Center for Tumor Diseases, gave the Science Minister a tour of the research institute's laboratories. In addition to an insight into the state-of-the-art technical equipment, Olschowski gained an impression of how current methods, such as single-cell sequencing, can help to develop new drugs to combat cancer.