Charité ramps up cooperation with Karolinska Institutet and Karolinska University Hospital

To further intensify their cooperation, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin has signed a Memorandum Of Understanding (MOU) with Karolinska Institutet and Karolinska University Hospital in Stockholm, Sweden. Going forward, both institutions plan to work together even more closely in many areas. These include sharing knowledge, student and staff exchanges along with collaboration on global health research, precision medicine, telemedicine, and clinical trials. The move is intended to benefit patients, employees, and researchers alike.

 

Digitalization, the shortage of skilled workers, and rapid advances in scientific research – the challenges facing the healthcare sector and health research are similar in Sweden and Germany. The three institutions aim to counter these trends by deepening the cooperation between them.

New strategies for the healthcare of the future 

One of the priorities of the cooperative relationship between Charité and Karolinska University Hospital will be to develop new strategies for the healthcare of the future. “Going forward, we need innovative solutions in order to recruit, train, and retain staff. We can also benefit from exchange and from shared projects in terms of the digitalization of healthcare,” says Prof. Heyo K. Kroemer, CEO of Charité. “This makes the signing of the MOU with Karolinska University Hospital an important step in paving the way for cooperation programs.” The institutions also plan to embark on joint clinical trials, with a particular focus on cell and gene therapy. 

The MOUs were signed today on Tuesday, October 17, 2023 during the World Health Summit, the leading international conference on global health.

Tackling global health problems together

“I am very pleased that we are able to further intensify our relationships with Karolinska Institutet,” says Prof. Joachim Spranger, Dean of Charité, who signed the memorandum as the head of the Faculty Board. “By sharing knowledge and enabling student and staff exchanges, we will be able to learn from each other in various areas, which also includes sharing best practices involving research and university governance,” Spranger explains. 

Further areas of focus for the MOU include global health research, cancer research, precision medicine, and artificial intelligence (AI). The institutions plan to pool their resources, expertise, and technologies for joint research projects. 

Sharing knowledge across teaching, research, and patient care

Karolinska Institutet is one of the world’s leading medical universities and the largest single contributor to academic medical research in Sweden. It offers the country’s broadest range of education in medicine and health sciences. Karolinska University Hospital, for its part, concentrates on patient care, training healthcare personnel, and conducting trials. The two institutions work closely together at many levels. Another goal of sharing knowledge is to pinpoint ways to further integrate research, teaching, and patient care across the two countries.

The institutions in Berlin and Stockholm already collaborate in a number of fields today. For example, Prof. Stefan Swartling Peterson of Karolinska Institutet and Prof. Beate Kampmann, Scientific Director at the CharitéCenter for Global Health, work together to improve interconnectivity among academic institutions in Sub-Saharan Africa, especially in the field of Vaccinology. The goal of the global health project is to learn from the experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic and support the Africa-led initiatives for local production of vaccines and medications in this region. Charité and Karolinska Institutet also work closely together in the EU’s TEF-Health project (Testing and Experimentation Facility for Health AI and Robotics), which aims to test and validate innovative artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics solutions for the healthcare sector and accelerate their path to market. 

Karolinska University Hospital and Charité also already share joint projects, particularly in hospital management, such as addressing the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, concepts for industry partnerships, and exchanges on digitalization in healthcare. Both institutions are founding members of the European University Hospital Alliance (EUHA) where they work together in multiple working groups to improve health outcomes and create sustainable European healthcare systems.

Charité’s international connections 
Science and the research sector can only succeed if they take an international approach. With this in mind, Charité actively cultivates specific international connections at the institutional level through strategic partnerships, institutional networks, cooperative research, and clinical partnerships. As part of international strategic networks, Charité works with other international medical schools and university medical centers, including within the European University Hospital Alliance (EUHA) and the M8 Alliance of Academic Health Centers, Universities and National Academies. 

 

 

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