Studying bacterial communities, known as microbiomes, is a complex task, which often leads to bias. This can affect the accuracy and validity of scientific and clinical knowledge. Researchers at the chair for environmental medicine at the Faculty of Medicine have now developed a standardised procedure to address this problem.

Soil contaminated with harmful perfluorinated and polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS) is difficult to clean, a complete remediation is often not possible. To improve the remediation process, researchers at the University of Augsburg are trialling various cleaning methods. Their work is now being financially supported by the Bavarian Research Foundation.

Prof Claudia Traidl-Hoffmann has been appointed to the German Advisory Council on Global Change (WBGU) for the second time in a row. This renewed appointment emphasises the great importance of environmental medicine in scientific policy advice. Over the next four years, Traidl-Hoffmann will work together with the other members of the WBGU to develop a sustainable environmental and health policy and formulate innovative recommendations for action.

During the summer of 2024, we had the honour to have Prof. Damialis as a Guest Professor at the Institute of Environmental Medicine and Integrative Health (TUNE) directed by Prof. Claudia Traidl-Hoffmann at the University of Augsburg.

Keep your fingers crossed!

PollDi -- the health app developed at our institute has been nominated for the 17th German Sustainability Award

Keep your fingers crossed!

PollDi the health app developed at our institute is nominated for the 17th German Sustainability Award

Test

Summer is here - and with it the heat. Due to the climate crisis, hot days and heatwaves are becoming more frequent and extreme and this is already clearly noticeable. The German Weather Service is currently issuing heat warnings for a large part of Germany.

On Thursday, 18 April 2024, Prof. Claudia Traidl-Hoffmann met Klaus Holetschek, parliamentary group leader of the CSU parliamentary group, for an exchange on the topic of health in climate change, pandemic prevention and resilience.

On March 11, 2024, the inauguration of the expanded safety laboratory in Augsburg marked a milestone within the EU-funded "PerForM-REACT" project, aimed at enhancing pandemic preparedness. Equipped with high-tech infrastructure, this facility enables advanced research capabilities. A collaborative effort between Helmholtz Munich and the University Hospital Augsburg, the project not only boosters the efficacy of pandemic prevention but also fosters interdisciplinary cooperation in health research.

Many cancer patients develop severe dermatitis during radiotherapy. Which factors increase the risk of such radiodermatitis has only been partially understood up until now. A pilot study at the University of Augsburg, the Technical University of Munich (TUM), and Helmholtz Munich now points to the important role played by skin bacteria. Breast cancer patients whose skin flora was severely disturbed all developed severe dermatitis during radiotherapy. The results give hope of a test that is able to provide early identification of at-risk groups. The results have been published in the renowned medical journal JAMA Oncology.

Claudia Traidl-Hoffmann, director of the Institute of Environmental Medicine at Helmholtz Munich, and Eckart von Hirschhausen, founder of the Healthy Earth - Healthy People Foundation, were guests of Luisa Jacobs, editor at ZEIT ONLINE, live at the ZEIT FORUM Health. The discussion was organised by the ZEIT events team.