Providing patients with optimal care, preventing infections and expanding healthcare is the mission statement of the Network of University Medicine (NUM), which was founded in spring 2020. The network is currently bundling research activities for coping with the COVID-19 pandemic and opening up new strategies for action. Funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and coordinated by Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, the research network involves all 36 German university hospitals and other partners in working on solutions for the best possible health care and pandemic preparedness. Emphasis is placed on hospital-related research and health care research, the results of which directly benefit patients, are incorporated into crisis management and contribute to the establishment of a sustainable, national research infrastructure. To implement this task, 390 million euros are provided to the NUM and the participating institutions for collaborative projects by mid-2025. In the medium term, the aim is to use the structures and concepts created within the network also for research into other disease patterns and generally for cooperative research in university medicine.
Local Coordination Units (LCU) of the NUM were set up at each university hospital as local administrative hubs to ensure exchange and coordination between the network participants. They are the central point of contact for the project participants at the respective location and support them in all administrative, NUM-related matters concerning project planning and implementation. In addition, they act as information hubs for communication with the NUM coordination office and the other LCUs.
Further information :
LCU at MHH: https://www.mhh.de/forschung/covid-19/mhh-projekte/bmbf
NUM Website: https://www.netzwerk-universitaetsmedizin.de