News & Highlights
28 August 2024
New findings on the treatment of bone metastases in breast cancer
In a unique study, an interdisciplinary team of researchers from the Medical University of Innsbruck, UMIT TIROL - University of Health Sciences and Technology, and the Tyrolean hospitals, led by Christine Brunner, examined data from patients under treatment for breast cancer between 2000 and 2020. The study, which has been published in the prestigious Journal of Clinical Oncology, provides important insights into the occurrence of medication-related osteonecrosis of the jaw as a side effect of the treatment of bone metastases, which significantly impacts the quality of life of patients. Marjan Arvandi (as second author and main statistician of the study), Sibylle Puntscher, and Uwe Siebert from UMIT TIROL were involved as co-authors.
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23 August 2024
Internationale Fachgesellschaft SMDM wählt Assoc.-Prof. Dr. Beate Jahn von der Privatuniversität UMIT TIROL zur Präsidentin
Kürzlich wurde Assoziierte Professorin Dr. Beate Jahn vom Department für Public Health, Versorgungsforschung und Health Technology Assessment (HTA) der Tiroler Privatuniversität UMIT TIROL eine große Ehre zuteil. Sie wurde zur Präsidentin einer der führenden internationalen Fachgesellschaften im Bereich der medizinischen Entscheidungsfindung, der Society for Medical Decision Making (SMDM), gewählt. Die Society for Medical Decision Making ist mit mehr als 1000 Mitgliedern weltweit eine der wichtigsten internationalen Fachgesellschaften, die sich mit medizinischer Entscheidungsfindung und Gesundheitsversorgung auseinandersetzt. Sie vernetzt Expert*innen aus Public Health, Medizin, Epidemiologie, Gesundheitsökonomie, Psychologie, Soziologie, Ethik, Recht, Data Science, Mathematik sowie Kommunikation. Mit diesem interdisziplinären Ansatz will die SMDM die Gesundheit von Individuen und Populationen verbessern.
Assoz.-Prof. Dr. Beate Jahn fühlt sich durch die Wahl sehr geehrt und bedankt sich für das große Vertrauen, dass ihr mit der Wahl zur Präsidentin entgegengebracht wird. „Als Präsidentin werde ich die erfolgreiche Umsetzung der strategischen SMDM-Ziele in Bezug auf Patienteneinbindung, nachhaltigen und verantwortungsbewussten Umgang mit Künstlicher Intelligenz, die Zusammenarbeit mit klinischen Fachvertretungen und Interessensgruppen sowie den internationalen Einfluss unserer Fachgesellschaft fördern. Besonders wichtig ist mir dabei die Fortbildung und Weiterentwicklung unseres wissenschaftlichen Nachwuchses zu Führungskräften, wobei ich auf die Integration von Diversität und verschiedenen Perspektiven achte.“
Wissenschaftler*innen der UMIT TIROL stehen an der Spitze der zwei Top- Fachgesellschaften im Bereich der medizinischen Entscheidungsfindung
Bereits im Mai wurde der Leiter des Departments für Public Health, Versorgungsforschung und Health Technology Assessment (HTA) der Tiroler Privatuniversität UMIT TIROL, Univ.-Prof. Dr. Uwe Siebert, zum Präsidenten der ISPOR - Fachgesellschaft für Health Economics and Outcome Research gewählt. Die ISPOR mit ihren 19.000 Mitgliedern hat sich zum Ziel gesetzt die Entscheidungsfindung für Regierungen und andere Entscheidungsträger im Gesundheitswesen interdisziplinär und wissenschaftsbasiert zu verbessern und damit die Basis für bestmögliche Gesundheitsergebnisse auf effiziente Art und Weise zu ermöglichen. Mit Univ.-Prof. Dr. Uwe Siebert und Assoz.-Prof. Dr. Beate Jahn wurden erstmals in der Geschichte von SMDM und ISPOR zwei Präsident*innen aus einer Institution in die beiden maßgeblichen internationalen Fachgesellschaften im Bereich der medizinischen Entscheidungsfindung gewählt.
„Gesundheitsuniversität UMIT TIROL ist als Kompetenzträgerin in den Gesundheitswissenschaften einmal mehr international sichtbar“
Die Rektorin der Privatuniversität UMIT TIROL, Prof. Dr. habil. Sandra Ückert gratuliert dem Team des Departments für Public Health, Versorgungsforschung und Health Technology Assessment (HTA) zur Wahl von Assoz.-Prof. Beate Jahn und Univ.-Prof. Dr. Uwe Siebert zu ihren Erfolgen: „Wir sind sehr stolz darauf, dass zwei unserer Wissenschaftler*innen in diese verantwortungsvollen Positionen der zwei renommierten Fachgesellschaften gewählt wurden. Das ist eine Auszeichnung für die hervorragende wissenschaftliche Arbeit, welche Univ.-Prof. Dr. Uwe Siebert und sein Team in den vergangenen 25 Jahren international im Bereich der evidenzbasierten Entscheidungsfindung im Gesundheitswesen geleistet haben. Gerade die Wahl von Assoz.-Prof. Dr. Beate Jahn, welche an der UMIT TIROL von Siebert als Mentor betreut wurde, zeigt, dass an der UMIT TIROL sehr großer Wert auf die Weiterentwicklung des wissenschaftlichen Nachwuchses gelegt wird. Als Rektorin freut es mich sehr, dass die Gesundheitsuniversität UMIT TIROL mit dieser Wahl als Kompetenzträgerin in den Gesundheitswissenschaften einmal mehr international sichtbar wird“, resümiert Rektorin Prof. Dr. habil. Sandra Ückert.
Departmentleiter Univ.-Prof. Dr. Uwe Siebert, ist stolz darauf, dass regelmäßig Wissenschaftler*innen aus seinem Department mit Führungspositionen in internationalen Fachgesellschaften betraut werden. „Wir freuen uns über die zahlreichen Gratulationen aus der internationalen Fachwelt verbunden mit der ausdrücklichen Anerkennung der UMIT TIROL als eine weltweit führende Institution im Bereich Health Decision Science“, sagte Univ.-Prof. Dr. Uwe Siebert. Weiters betonte Siebert, dass von diesen internationalen Netzwerken und von der damit einhergehenden interdisziplinären Zusammenarbeit auch die Studierenden der Privatuniversität UMIT TIROL in einem hohen Ausmaß profitieren.
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22 July 2024
Awarding of functional and honorary titles to Univ.-Prof. Dr. Harald Stummer
In the presence of the Vice President of the Board of AQ Austria, Prof. (FH) em. Eva Werner, Prof. Dr. Harald Stummer was awarded the title Visiting Professor of the IMC University of Applied Sciences Krems at the beginning of July 2024.
Our warmest congratulations!
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12 July 2024
The International Network of Health Promoting Hospitals (HPH) is proud to introduce the newly established Future Leaders Advisory Board.
This board comprises nine distinguished members, carefully selected for their expertise and dedication. These future leaders will be instrumental in executing the long-term vision and shaping the strategic direction of the HPH Network.
We congratulate Assoc.-Prof. Dr. Elisabeth Nöhammer on being one of the members.
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26 June 2024
Age Limits of Mammography Screening / Breast Cancer Screening in Germany
The Federal Joint Committee (G-BA) in Germany declared on 26th of June that the upper age limit of mammography screening for the early detection of breast cancer is being extended. Until now, women between the ages of 50 and 69 are eligible for attending mammography screening every two years. From 1st of July 2024, screening will be possible up to the age of 75. The decision on the extension has been informed by a benefit assessment conducted by the Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG), supplemented by results from a decision-analytic modelling study led by Assoc.-Prof. Dr. Gaby Sroczynski, MPH, and team at the Institute for Public Health, Medical Decision Making and Health Technology Assessment (Director: Prof. Dr. Uwe Siebert) at UMIT TIROL – University for Health Sciences and Technology.
Providing a similar upper age limit, the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recently published its recommendations (link) of biennial mammography screening for women between the ages of 40 and 74.
Further information:
https://www.g-ba.de/themen/methodenbewertung/erwachsene/krebsfrueherkennung/mammographie-screening-ausweitung/
Picture left: Cover sheet of the public IQWiG report
Picture right: Press release of the G-BA (https://www.g-ba.de/presse/pressemitteilungen-meldungen/1193/)
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20 June 2024
Scoping Review on Benefit-Risk Assessment Methods Published
Our Associate Researcher Dr. Erica Suzumura, together with Assoc. Prof. Dr. Beate Jahn and Prof. Dr. Uwe Siebert, published a comprehensive scoping review on benefit-risk assessment methods in BMJ Open.
The paper entitled “Methodological Guidelines and Publications of Benefit-risk Assessment for Health Technology Assessment: A Scoping Review", aimed to identify and summarize methodological guidelines and publications on methods of benefit-risk assessment to support the development of the Brazilian methodological guideline for benefit-risk assessment in the context of health technology assessment (HTA).
The comprehensive search resulted in more than 12,000 references retrieved from electronic databases and 160 full-text documents from 48 HTA and regulatory organizations. More than 120 methodological approaches to benefit-risk assessment were identified in 83 eligible documents, including frameworks, metric indices, estimates and benefit elicitation techniques.
This work is part of a research project on Methodological Innovations in HTA in Brazil, supported by a research grant from the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq). The project is carried out by the Postgraduate Program in Collective Health of the Preventive Medicine Department of the University of São Paulo - FMUSP, Brazil, under the Leadership of Prof. Dr. Patrícia Soárez.
Further information:
https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/bmjopen/14/6/e086603.full.pdf
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17 June 2024
"Join in. Marvel. Discover." Experiencing the magic of science was the motto of the Long Night of Research at UMIT TIROL
The Long Night of Research is the largest event for science and research in the German-speaking world. It aims to present scientific topics in an innovative, understandable and entertaining way with free admission. The Long Night of Research 2024 offered workshops, lectures, live presentations and experiments to watch, participate and be amazed at 270 locations across Austria.
On May 24, 2024, the so-called Long Night of Research (“Lange Nacht der Forschung”) took place with more than 2,800 stations throughout Austria to experience research and science and engage in an open dialog with society.
The science event covered a wide range of topics from society, environment, health, natural sciences, technology, energy, business, digitalization and culture.
The aim of the event was to present scientific topics in an innovative, understandable and entertaining way with free admission.
A total of 169.000 visitors took part in the Long Night of Research, of which more than 900 interested parties came to UMIT TIROL. The Institute of Public Health, Medical Decision Making and Health Technology Assessment was strongly represented with six stations.
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29 May 2024
UMIT TIROL Professor elected President of ISPOR
The ISPOR - Society for Health Economics and Outcome Research is active with 19,000 members in 110 countries worldwide
Last weekend, the ISPOR - Professional Society for Health Economics and Outcome Research elected the Head of the Department of Public Health, Health Services Research and Health Technology Assessment (HTA) at the Tyrolean university UMIT TIROL, Prof. Dr. Uwe Siebert, as President of the globally active international professional society for the period 2025/2026.
ISPOR is an international, multistakeholder organization dedicated to promoting excellence in health economics and outcomes research to improve decision making for health globally. A total of 19,000 individual and local group members in 110 countries worldwide are working towards this mission. The Society's membership includes a wide variety of healthcare stakeholders, including researchers and academicians, assessors and regulators, payers and policy makers, the life sciences industry, healthcare providers, and patient engagement organizations..
The Rector of the private university UMIT TIROL, Prof. Dr. habil. Sandra Ückert congratulates Prof. Dr. Uwe Siebert on his election: "We are very proud that Prof. Siebert has been elected President of ISPOR. This election is an honor for the outstanding scientific work that Uwe Siebert has done internationally in the field of evidence-based decision-making in healthcare over the past 25 years. As Rector, I am very pleased that the health and life sciences university UMIT TIROL is once again gaining international visibility as a leader in health sciences with this election," summarizes Rector Prof. Dr. habil. Sandra Ückert.
Prof. Dr. Uwe Siebert has set himself ambitious goals for the ISPOR presidency: "A central goal of mine is the further development of health sciences and the greater involvement of affected citizens and patients in order to make healthcare accessible, effective and sustainable for all. In addition to the evaluation of health technologies, this also includes uncomplicated worldwide access to education in health sciences and public health, which has been a focus of my academic work for over 20 years," said Prof. Dr. Uwe Siebert.
Prof. Dr. Uwe Siebert is Professor of Public Health, Medical Decision Making and Health Technology Assessment at UMIT TIROL - Private University for Health Sciences and Technology. He is the Head of the Department of Public Health, Health Services Research and HTA at UMIT TIROL. He is also Adjunct Professor of Epidemiology and Health Policy & Management at Harvard University. In 2018, Siebert was already President of the SMDM - Society for Medical Decision Making, which is committed to the further development of decision sciences in healthcare. This makes Uwe Siebert the first European in the history of ISPOR and SMDM to be elected President of both professional societies.
Contact:
Prof. Dr. Uwe Siebert
Head of the Department of Public Health, Health Services Research and Health Technology Assessment
Email: public-health@umit-tirol.at
Phone: +4350-8648-3930
For further questions:
Email: hannes.schwaighofer@umit-tirol.at
Phone: +43 664 4618201
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29 February 2024
Data protection workshop as part of the Lighthouse Project “Digital Health”
UMIT TIROL, VASCage, ESD – Evaluation Software Development, the Austrian Public Health Insurance (OeGK) and the Tirol Kliniken work together in the Lighthouse Project “Digital Health,” funded by the federal state of Tyrol, with the aim of recording, merging, linking, and processing relevant health data from various sources.
In the clinical Showcase related to stroke (work package 3, led by UMIT TIROL), causal analytic approaches, including machine learning methods, are applied to the linked data to validly and efficiently analyze the role of compliance with stroke medication within the stroke card program, its predictors as well as its impact on patient-relevant outcomes.
As part of this project within work package 5 (legal and ethical aspects of this data linkage), UMIT TIROL and VASCage organized a data protection workshop on the “Legal and Scientific Aspects of Data Linkage” on February 28, 2024. In total 30 participants from different disciplines and Tyrolean institutions engaged in a lively discussion on legal, organizational, and scientific challenges of data linkage and provided their expertise and possible solutions for challenges related to data linkage and protection. After a short welcome and introduction by Prof. Uwe Siebert (UMIT TIROL) and Prof. Michael Knoflach (VASCage), the first part of workshop led by Dr. Verena Stühlinger, data protection officer at UMIT TIROL, covered the aspects of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the Health Data Space (TEHDAS.eu) and the overall privileged use of health data in research. The second part led by Prof. Holger Gothe, data linkage expert of the UMIT TIROL project team, discussed the scientific aspects of data merging and the methodological aspects and challenges of secondary data analysis. In the final part of the workshop, Prof. Uwe Siebert provided an overview on using causal inference methods and target trial emulation for the analysis of real-world data. This in-person workshop served as an important information and networking event in the rapidly growing field of data analytics in health and medicine.
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5 February 2024
Assoc.-Prof. Elisabeth Nöhammer joins the Steering Committee of EUPHA’s Health Promotion Section
Assoc.-Prof. Elisabeth Nöhammer was selected as a member of the Health Promotion Section Steering Committee of the European Public Health Association (EUPHA). The EUPHA Health Promotion Section aims to promote exchange of research, training, and practice expertise in health promotion among European experts. It also aims to stimulate and support joint research projects of its members. The Section serves as a platform for the discussion of the theoretical foundations for health promotion as well as for advocating for health promotion within EUPHA and beyond and bring together researchers, policymakers and practitioners working in the same field for knowledge sharing and capacity building.
Link: https://eupha.org/health-promotion
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11 December 2023
UMIT TIROL scientists as new Members of the European Commission Initiative on Cervical Cancer (EC-CvC) Expert Pool
Assoc.-Prof Dr. Gaby Sroczynski, MPH, and Prof. Uwe Siebert, MPH, MSc, from the Institute of Public Health, Medical Decision Making and Health Technology Assessment at UMIT TIROL have been selected as Members of the European Commission Initiative on Cervical Cancer (EC-CvC) Expert Pool. The EC-CvC Expert Pool provides important support to the activities of the EC Initiative on Cervical Cancer.
For further information, see: https://healthcare-quality.jrc.ec.europa.eu/en/ec-cvc
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11 December 2023
Our Associate Researcher Dr. Erica Suzumura, together with Prof. Dr. Heloisa Carvalho, were awarded 2nd best radiotherapy research of the XXV Brazilian Society of Radiotherapy Conference.
The research included a decision-analytic modelling study of brachytherapy for patients with cervical cancer, developed in collaboration of Universidade de São Paulo, FMUSP and UMIT TIROL, Hall in Tirol, under the supervision of Beate Jahn, Patrícia Soárez and Uwe Siebert with the contribution of Layse Gama, Geovanne Pedro Mauro, Lára Hallsson and Gaby Sroczynski.
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09 October 2023
Expert workshop MeDeMSA working group
On 9 October 2023, the expert workshop of the MeDeMSA (Medical Decision Making in MSA) working group focused on the theme of 'MeDeMSA: HTA-supported medical decision making in MSA.' The event was hosted at Innsbruck University Hospital and led by Assoc.-Prof. Beate Jahn (UMIT TIROL), with the participation of national and international experts. In the project, a decision analysis will assess MSA diagnostics and treatment for both standard care and personalized best medical care, including telemedicine. The established interdisciplinary Standing-Expert Panel, comprising experts from the Universities of Innsbruck, Graz, London, UMIT TIROL, as well as Tirol Kliniken and i-HTS - International HealthTechScan, provided insights for decision analysis and the Health Technology Assessment Framework.
A follow-up workshop is planned for 2024.
For further details please go to: https://www.i-med.ac.at/medemsa/
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17 October 2023
Fourth Consortium Meeting – CATALYSE Consortium members met in Barcelona
The fourth CATALYSE consortium meeting took place in presence on October 16th and 17th, 2023, in Barcelona. With about 50 members of the CATALYSE consortium in attendance, the meeting served as a central gathering to assess the progress made in the first year of the project. Three members of the UMIT TIROL Team in CATALYSE attended this meeting in-person.
This meeting provided a platform for fruitful exchanges, collaborative discussions, and shared insights from our diverse network of partners and stakeholders. Key topics addressed during the meeting included:
- Reviewing the accomplishments and milestones achieved during the first year of the CATALYSE project.
- Identifying challenges and opportunities for advancing climate action and promoting health in European communities.
- Formulating strategies to enhance collaboration and synergy among consortium members to maximize the impact of our collective effort
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08 August 2023
UMIT TIROL scientist appointed as expert in working group reviewing European guideline on clinical evaluation of medical device
Dr. Dipl.-Biol. Petra Schnell-Inderst, MPH, from the Department of Public Health, Health Services Research and Health Technology Assessment (HTA) at UMIT TIROL – University for Health Sciences and Technology was recently appointed by the European umbrella organization of medical societies BioMed Alliance as an expert to the Task Force on Clinical Evaluation (WP22) of the Working Group on Clinical Investigation and Evaluation (CIE).
The task force is responsible for adapting the MEDDEV 2.7/1 Revision 4 guideline to the legal framework of the Medical Device Regulation, which is applied since May 2021. MEDDEV 2.7/1 is a European guideline for the preparation of clinical evaluations as part of the conformity assessment (CE marking) of medical devices. This guideline is intended to assist manufacturers and public authorities in establishing a common best practice for the clinical evaluation of medical devices. Clinical evaluation is the process of collecting, evaluating, and analyzing the clinical data available for a medical device to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to support CE marking.
Dr. Petra Schnell-Inderst, who heads the Health Technology Assessment Program at UMIT TIROL , was appointed to the task force as a member of the EU Horizon 2020 project CORE-MD. Led by the European Society of Cardiology, CORE-MD brings together UMIT TIROL and 21 other medical societies, EU regulatory agencies, national public health institutes, notified bodies, universities, patient advocacy groups and health technology assessment agencies. CORE-MD will systematically review methods for the evaluation of high-risk medical devices and advise EU regulators on methods for generating evidence. The aim is to achieve an appropriate balance between innovation, safety and clinical effectiveness.
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03 August 2023
UMIT TIROL doctoral candidate has been appointed as the next Chair of the ISPOR Health Technology Assessment (HTA) Round Table for the Middle East and Africa (MEA)
Abeer Al Rabayah, BSc Pharm, MBA, MSc (iHTA), PMP, UMIT TIROL doctoral candidate and Head of the Center for Drug Policy and Technology Assessment (CDPTA) at King Hussein Cancer Center (KHCC), has been appointed as the next Chair of the ISPOR Health Technology Assessment (HTA) Round Table for the Middle East and Africa (MEA) from January 2024 to December 2026.
ISPOR - The Professional Society for Health Economics and Outcomes Research, is a globally recognized scientific society with dedicated to promote health economics and outcomes research excellence to improve decision making for health globally.
As the upcoming Chair of the ISPOR HTA Round Table for the MEA region, Abeer Al Rabayah, BSc Pharm, MBA, MSc (iHTA), PMP will be instrumental in shaping the future of health technology assessment within the region and driving positive change.
We wish Abeer all the best in her upcoming leadership role.
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15 May 2023
Magdalena Flatscher-Thöni was elected to the Board of Directors of the European Association of Health Law
Magdalena Flatscher-Thöni was elected to the Board of Directors of the European Association of Health Law by the General Assembly on 20.4.2023.
In recent years, Magdalena Flatscher-Thöni has been very active in the EAHL, both academically and organizationally (as the Association's National Contact Person for Austria). Further information on the Association can be found at https://eahl.eu/.
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25 April 2023
Private University UMIT TIROL as a Meeting Place for International Scientists