Working Groups and Service Units
| Working Group Biostatistics | The working group Biostatistics at the IMBIE is concerned with the development of biostatistical methods and their application to health research data. Its main areas of research include regression modeling (particularly mixed-effects and semiparametric models), time-to-event analysis, and statistical learning (e.g. gradient boosting and random forests). Furthermore, the group is involved in various multidisciplinary research collaborations, including clinical & observational studies, registry studies, and also smaller-scale analysis projects. In addition to performing data analyses, it supports researchers in the planning of clinical and epidemiological studies. |
| Working Group Statistical Methods in Epidemiology | The working group Statistical Methods in Epidemiology provides statistical consulting and data analysis for clinical trials and epidemiological studies from all fields of biomedicine, collaborating with researchers from different disciplines. Additionally to that, the group carries out own methodological research regarding developments on statistical learning algorithms for high-dimensional data, particularly for predictive modelling based on individual risk factors. A special focus is on identifying common genetic variants and estimating polygenic risk scores for complex diseases (Genetic Epidemiology). Another focus of the working group is on advanced statistical modelling in biomedical research, particularly on robust regression and distributional regression approaches. Also for these complex model classes, members of the group are developing scalable algorithms for estimation and prediction in high-dimensional data situations, incorporating data-driven selection of informative predictors or risk factors (variable selection). |
| Working Group Applied Medical Informatics | The working group Applied Medical Informatics conducts innovative research at the interface between medical informatics and patient care. The focus is not only on the preparation, transformation, and collection of data, but also on the utilization and application of information technology to support and optimize medical processes in the immediate clinical environment or patient care. Furthermore, the working group supports and advises clinicians and clinical researchers on medical informatics related issues. Since the activities of the working group often require direct work with patient data from the University Hospital Bonn (UKB), which must take place under the direct control of the UKB executive board, scientific staff of this working group is regularly delegated to the staff unit for Medical & Scientific Technology Development and Coordination (MWTek) of the UKB, whose medical director is also the head of the working group. In addition, the working group is responsible, jointly with the Institute of Digital Medicine, for the teaching of medical informatics to medical students. |
| Clinical Trial Coordination Unit | The Clinical Trial Coordination Service Unit of the University Hospital Bonn aims at conducting high quality clinical trials in academic and methodical respects, hereby fulfilling GCP and internationally valid quality standards. It realizes investigator initiated trials (IIT) as well as industry initiated trials of all phases and all legislative contexts (drug and medicinal product studies). Besides the planning of and consulting on study projects, further central services include the project management of clinical trials, biometric consulting, quality control through monitoring, quality and safety management as well as data collection and trial evaluation. The IMBIE hosts the medical biometry, data management, and IT units of the Clinical Trial Coordination Unit. |
| BioBank Bonn | The BioBank Bonn Service Unit enables and supports clinical/translational research as well as basic research at the University Hospital Bonn, for example, the development of diagnostic, prognostic, and predictive biomarkers for certain diseases. It collects and stores biological samples of patients under standardized conditions (e.g. tissue, blood, and urine), together with the associated data. This is only done with the consent of the patient. The BioBank Bonn is directly subordinate to the Dean of the Medical Faculty. It is co-hosted by the IMBIE, the Institute of Pathology, and the Institute of Clinical Chemistry and Clinical Pharmacology. The IMBIE supports the biobank by providing database- and IT-structures. |
| Core Unit for Bioinformatics Data Analysis (CUBA) | Molecular biology and medical research is increasingly characterized by complex and large data sets driven by technology advancements. For these data, the Service Unit for Bioinformatics Data Analysis provides quantitative and computational analyses, training and consultation. Data processing pipelines, e.g. for transcriptomic data, are provided as well as guidance on available analysis tools and databases. Analyses are primarily based on freely available open source software essential for reproducible and independent research. The CUBA is a core facility of the Medical Faculty of the University of Bonn. It is co-hosted by the IMBIE and the Institute for Genomic Statistics and Bioinformatics (IGSB), benefiting from the shared IT infrastructure of the two institutes. |
