Working Groups of the Clinical Epidemiology Unit
- Infectious Disease Epidemiology
- Epidemiological Methods
- Observational Study Platform
Infectious Disease Epidemiology
Infectious diseases remain a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. New pathogens continue to emerge, causing unforeseen outbreaks leading to events like the influenza pandemic in 2009 and the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Infectious disease epidemiology (IDEpi) provides key tools for the assessment and response to these health threats in populations.
A major focus of the IDEpi group is on improving the parametrisation of infectious disease models via the collection and extensive analysis of real-world epidemiological data, especially with respect to contact patterns (OptimAgent, Respinow). This allows us to use better-informed mathematical models to answer relevant public health questions and provide valuable guidance to decision-makers in various contexts, including in healthcare settings (InnoBRI, Opti-ITS) and during epidemic and pandemic situations (PREPARED, EpiAdaptDiag).
We collaborate with many national and international partners in academia, medicine, and the public health system and are part of the German Modelling Network for Severe Infectious Diseases (MONID). These collaborations enable us to bring together expertise from various disciplines, providing a well-rounded research perspective and increasing our public health impact. We also focus on teaching and training current and future researchers and medical doctors through courses on infectious disease epidemiology and modelling at various levels nationally and internationally.
Our overall aim is to produce high-quality research in infectious disease epidemiology which can be translated into improving the health of human populations.
Epidemiological Methods
We answer clinical research questions by identifying and using the best available methods and study designs (e.g., to control bias and confounding or to evaluate diagnostic test accuracy). Through long-standing cooperation with partners from university hospitals and research institutes in Northern Germany, we identify relevant research questions to eventually improve individual patient outcomes (ChilSFree). In medicine, numerous decisions are made by care providers, often in shared decision making, on the basis of an estimated probability that a specific disease or condition is present (diagnostic setting) or a specific event will occur in the future (prognostic setting). We apply modern statistical concepts (e.g., machine learning) in medical prediction problems (ELISE). The early and reliable diagnosis of an infection is not only essential for determining the disease status of an individual, but also for the model-based evaluation of the effectiveness of infection control measures at population level. In cross-topic projects with the IDEpi working group, we investigate methods to evaluate diagnostic test accuracy (EpiAdaptDiag). The microbiome plays a major role in the maintenance of human health by shaping the immune system and maintaining homeostasis. Therefore, we also investigate the role of the human microbiota for health and disease in different cohorts of patients and of the general population. In addition to the microbiome, we also investigate (applying methods of causal inference) other factors that can influence an individual’s susceptibility to infections.
Observational Study Platform
We provide a technical, methodological, data collection and biosampling infrastructure for clinicians and potential other cooperation partners that allows the planning, practical conduct and analysis of observational studies. The different components are linked in an openly available Observational Study Platform. Within this platform, we offer support:
- - in the planning of observational studies
- - a study centre for the practical performance of population-based studies
- - access to a variety of primary data sources available at the institute (PROCAM-2, BiDirect, NAKO)
- - support in getting access to secondary data sources linked to the institute (e.g., Health Insurance Data, Cancer Registry Data)
- - support in accessing biosamples available at the 'Zentrale Biobank der Medizinischen Fakultät Münster' (ZBB-MFM)
- - support in the analysis of observational studies using modern statistical and epidemiological models
The two central projects currently running in the working group are the NAKO Health Study and ZEBra-MSP, the evaluation of the German Mammography Screening Program.