Exploring the human microbiome During the International Forum for Laboratory Medicine, being held at MEDICA 2018, one seminar will focus on infectious diseases. Professor André Gessner, from the Medical Microbiology and Hygiene Department at Regensburg University, will lecture on ‘The human microbiome, an explosive ‘climate’ topic,’ he explained to EH reporter Walter Depner. WD: Generally you know the kind of audience you face during gatherings of specialists in your field. However, there’s no certainty about who will be among the MEDICA delegates attending your lecture. Could this make your job difficult or perhaps more exciting? AG: I have given many lectures to heterogeneous audiences and find the challenge of explaining complex rela- tionships in the most comprehensible way to be very exciting and positive. Often, I have received very stimulat- ing questions – especially from col- leagues in other fields. About three years ago, at the University of Regensburg, you lec- tured on The Intestinal Microbiom as the Centre of Health and Illness, and included in the invitations physicians, chemists, nutritionists, microbiologists, dieticians, techni- cal consultants and health journal- ists – a very heterogeneous audi- ence. Could that experience help with the Düsseldorf seminar? Yes, certainly. The conference is a good example for what the participants see as a successful interdisciplinary forum. Modern medicine and health- care demands an interdisciplinary approach. Do such events, as in Regensburg and now Dusseldorf, help to reach this goal? The challenge is to transmit the latest scientific knowledge, with a critical appraisal, in such a way that it is well understood and to ‘condense’ without over-simplification, which distorts the information. For me it is important to stay realistic and above all not to raise hopes among physicians and their patients too early that cannot (yet) be fulfilled. There is considerable focus on the role of microbial intestinal flora as a basic component for staying healthy. You have described mod- ern, high-throughput sequencing technology as a source of dramatic knowledge growth. Why? Without high throughput sequencing technology, together with appropri- ately qualified bioinformatics, micro- biome analysis would be impossible. It was this technology that first made this enormous knowledge growth possible – currently more than 65,000 publications in just over ten years. Are their approaches going in the right direction? The technological potential in analysis is developing rapidly. Here we need improved standardisation of analyses, quality controls and hope to gain ever increasing ‘read lengths’, that is to say DNA sections that can be sequenced in one piece, lower sequencing error rates and naturally lower costs for examinations. Especially important here is also a Seeking greater trade in medical devices Ambassador Grenell visits USA Pavilions Today Richard Grenell, the USA’s Ambassador to Germany, is visiting Medica to support over 500 U.S. firms exhibiting here and to conduct bilateral discussions with key industry stakeholders. Grenell is particularly interested in how the Medical Device and In Vitro Diagnostic Medical Device Regulations will affect USA and European manufacturers. Medical devices are a key USA export to global markets, especially in the European Union. Discussions Ambassador Richard Grenell is meeting US representatives will focus on regulatory compliance in the EU and USA and how their respective regulatory regimes can be designed to facilitate more trade between the two trading partners, reducing the administrative burden to manufacturers, while still ensuring patient safety. The USA’s presence at the show is demonstrated at the country’s Department of Commerce pavilion in Hall 16. Trade specialists from over fifteen countries, including Japan, China, France and Saudi Arabia, are at the pavilion to advise US firms on how to expand in foreign markets and are hosting business delegations from their respective countries. USA Consul General Fiona Evans and Commercial Consul Ken Walsh are accompanying Grenell during his Medica Tour. He is also meeting representa- tives from 15 States located in USA Pavilions in Halls 3, 8 and 16, and rounding off his visit with discussions with the leaders of ZVEI and Johnson & Johnson medical devices. microbiome and various diseases, so that rational new therapies can be developed in the future. Along with interdisciplinary scope, the internationality question plays an important role. What is the state of cooperation, exchange in research, teaching and practice? Microbiome research is particularly characterised by numerous already well-established international coop- eration efforts, among academic institutions such as universities, and increasingly among very many firms. The exchange is extremely intensive, not only through scientific publications but also via Internet fora and more group at the University of Erlangen, where he qualified as a specialist in medical microbiology and infectious disease epidemiology. His scientific work focuses on molecular infection immunology, infectious diseases and the role of the microbiome for diseases. He is an expert and reviewer for several international journals and scientific societies and, between 2008 and 2010 he received four calls regarding chairs for medical microbiology. Since 2010 he has been a professor and director of the Institute for Medical Microbiology and Hygiene at Regensburg University, where 150 employees focus on all aspects of infectious diseases. In 2015, Gessner became the Dean of research at the Regensburg medical faculty. than a dozen international congresses annually on microbiome topics. D O N ’ T M I S S MEDICA’S LABMED FORUM Monday, 12 Nov 2018 10.45 – 11.15 a.m. The human microbiome – diagnostic and therapeutic aspects Speaker: Prof. André Gessner, Director of the Institute for Medical Microbiology at Regensburg University and Hygiene significantly better comprehension of the functional relationships between Having studied medicine and molecular biology at the University of Hamburg, Professor André Gessner received his medical doctorate infection immunology and a PhD in molecular virology. Following five years’ basic research at the Heinrich-Pette Institute, Hamburg, he established his research in MEDICAL LIGHTING SYSTEM HALL 10 | STAND B60 WWW. H E A LT H C A R E - I N - E U R O P E . C O M The Sound Choice For 60 YearsThe Sound Choice For 60 YearsThe Sound Choice For 60 YearsIntroducing the World’s First Barrier and Securement Dressing©2018 Parker Laboratories, Inc. UltraDrape and The sound choice in patient care are trademarks of Parker Laboratories, Inc.AD 34-15-3 REV 2ISO 13485:2016Patentwww.parkerlabs.com/ultradrape.aspMinimize cost and eliminate secondary cleaning procedureswith UltraDrape™from Parker Laboratories. UltraDrape iscost-efficient compared to the alternative use of sterile gelsand covers, while its inventive design allows a no-touch, aseptic procedure.UltraDrape… the first-of-its-kind, sterile barrier and securement dressing uniquely designed for UGPIV.DRESSFORSUCCESSTo learn more about UltraDrape visit parkerlabs.com/ultradrape Visit us at Hall 9 Stand D41