P4 medicine (predictive, preventive, personalized, participatory) is one of the world's most promising developments for improved, holistic and efficient health care. DigiMed Bayern's goal is to guide Bavaria into this medicine of the future with a lighthouse project.

The lighthouse P4-medicine project DigiMed Bayern was launched at the end of 2018 with over 20 million € funding by the Bavarian State Ministry of Health and Care. DigiMed Bayern combines comprehensive datasets of patients diagnosed with atherosclerotic diseases, such as coronary heart disease and stroke, or with genetic risk factors. This dataset will be further enriched with state-of-the-art multi-dimensional molecular characterization (-omics technologies) of associated sample material. For the integrative analysis of the resulting "Big Data", an ethically and legally compliant, highly secure and sustainable IT infrastructure will be fundamentally designed and implemented. Finally, patients and persons at risk will benefit from advancements in disease risk prediction, targeted prevention, diagnosis and treatment.

Superior goals of DigiMed Bayern

1.    Using the example of atherosclerosis, a first analysis of comprehensive data sets in the sense of digital medicine of the future is carried out. All those involved in the health care system in Bavaria should benefit directly: the prediction for coronary heart disease (CHD) and stroke should be made more accurate in the short term and preventive treatment should be improved. In the medium to long term improvements in diagnosis and therapy are pursued. The population-wide identification of familial hypercholesterinemia as an exemplary risk factor for atherosclerosis should be sustainably improved.
2.    The technical, legal and social possibilities and limitations of P4 medicine are recorded, promoted and documented by means of concrete implementation. This includes a proactive multi-directional information exchange with all those involved in health, with a focus on systemic development.
3.    Resulting insights and structures should be expandable in the health system, in research and in the economy and be transferable to other diseases. In particular, an exemplary and transferable integrated digital infrastructure should be created.
4.    Bavaria as a location for P4 medicine should be substantially developed, including international perception and internationally networking.

Planned duration:
Q4 2018 to Q4 2023

Scientific Directorate:   
German Heart Centre Munich

Managing Directorate:   
Bio^M Biotech Cluster Development GmbH

Initially involved Institutions   

• Department of Informatics, Technical University of Munich
• Department of Political Science, University of Vienna
  
• Department of Proteomics and Signal Transduction, Max-Planck-Institute of Biochemistry
• Department of Sport and Health Sciences, Technical University of Munich
• Department of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery, University Hospital rechts der Isar of the Technical University of Munich
• Faculty of Law, University of Augsburg
• German Heart Foundation
• Institute for Medical Information Processing, Biometry, and Epidemiology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich
• Institute for Stroke and Dementia Research, Hospital of the Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich
• Institute of Epidemiology, Helmholtz Center Munich
• Institute of Human Genetics, Helmholtz Center Munich
• Institute of Human Genetics, University Hospital rechts der Isar of the Technical University of Munich
• Institute of Informatics, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich
• Institute of Technology-Theology-Natural Sciences, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich
• Leibniz Supercomputing Center

More information:

Homepage of the Project: www.digimed-bayern.de

Description of the work packages of DigiMed Bayern (pdf).