Alumni Project Week Global Digital Health
“Global Digital Health – Interdisciplinary Challenges from International Perspectives” is a collaborative initiative bringing together international Research Alumni and local researchers from 6 German partner institutions (DKFZ, KIT, and the Universities of Cologne, Heidelberg, Münster, and Siegen) in Cologne and Heidelberg during 20–26 November 2025.
The project aims to engage researchers from various disciplines and expertise areas, focusing on interdisciplinary dialogue and leveraging the diverse competencies of international alumni to discuss the development of global digital health and the use of artificial intelligence (AI). The week focuses on addressing the societal, developmental, and global relevance as well as ethical and legal issues of digital advancements in disease prevention, diagnostics, medical care and therapy, bio medical informatics, ageing research as well as health policies and health education, alongside their challenges and opportunities from a global perspective. The interdisciplinary and international perspectives are seen as key to identify open questions and challenges in scientific discussions, with contributions from the partner institutions serving as a catalyst.
Out of almost 100 applications, 24 alumni from all over the world were successful with their scientific projects. Participants from in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, Egypt, Finland, Ghana, Iceland, Israel, Japan, Mexico, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Tanzania, Turkey, Hungary, Ukraine and the United Kingdom will represent all partner institutions during the project week. The alumni will receive support for travel and lodging costs.
Structure and Venues
Online Kick-Off 2025
- 30 September 2025: Virtual pre-meeting
Project Week in Germany: Cologne and Heidelberg
- Interactive project week on interdisciplinary challenges from international perspectives in Cologne and Heidelberg
- 20-22 November – University of Cologne, Cologne
- 23 November: travel day between Cologne and Heidelberg
- 24-26 November – German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg
Digital Follow-Up 2026
- Follow up digital events to continue discussions and foster sustainable collaborations.
Public Lectures in Cologne
“Challenges and Perspectives in Global Digital Health with Focus on Healthy Ageing”
M. CRISTINA POLIDORI
Thur 20 Nov 2025, 6.30-7.30 p.m., University of Cologne
M. Cristina Polidori is a senior physician and Full Professor and Head of Ageing Clinical Research at the Dpt. II for Internal Medicine, Cologne University Hospital as well as PI at the Cologne Excellence Cluster on Aging and Aging-Associated Diseases. She is a specialist in gerontology and geriatrics as well as in internal medicine and geriatrics, holds a Master of Philosophy and is a professor of physiological chemistry. She is a former fellow of Harvard University, of the EU Marie Curie Program Quality of Life and Management of Living Resources, and of the Robert Bosch Foundation. M. C. Polidori is president elect of the German Association of Gerontology and Geriatrics and member of the Academic Board of the European Geriatric Medicine Society. She has obtained several prestigious recognitions for her studies on person-centered medicine and healthy centenarians including the honorary fellowship of the Royal College of Physicians of London. Her main research interest is innovation for healthy ageing, including digital solutions. She has a h-Index of 60.
Public Lectures in Heidelberg
“Short, Animated Storytelling for Communicating Health Messages”
MERLIN GREUEL
Mon 24 Nov 2025, 6.00-7.30 p.m., DKFZ Heidelberg
Merlin holds a BA in Psychology from Stanford University (USA), a Master of Global Health from the University of Barcelona (Spain), and an MD from Heidelberg University (Germany). He has been affiliated with the Heidelberg Institute of Global Health as a researcher since 2018. As part of his doctoral thesis, Merlin explored the use of digital tools for health promotion across the globe, with a particular focus on interventions using short, animated storytelling. The aim of his research has been to test the effect of short, animated storytelling videos on health knowledge and health behaviours in diverse audiences. Besides his role as a global health researcher, Merlin Greuel works in biotech. He is a Director at Bioscience Valuation, a boutique consulting company in the life sciences, and the CFO of Bioptamers, a Brazilian biotech startup developing personalised cancer therapies.
“Translational Medical Ethics”
EVA WINKLER
Wed 26 Nov 2025, 2.00-3.00 p.m., DKFZ Heidelberg
Eva Winkler is an oncologist and Professor for Translational Medical Ethics at Heidelberg University, where she leads the Section for Translational Medical Ethics. Her work addresses ethical issues in translating research into healthcare, with a focus on research ethics, clinical ethics, and public health ethics. She is also a senior physician in the Department of Medical Oncology at Heidelberg University Hospital (UKHD). Eva Winkler holds doctorates in cancer research (Heidelberg University/DKFZ) and in medical ethics (University of Basel). She trained further at Harvard Medical School and Harvard Kennedy School. She serves as Scientific Director of EURAT, Chair of the Central Ethics Committee (BÄK), Vice-President of the Academy for Ethics in Medicine, and Vice-Chair of the German Ethics Council.
Participation in the programme
In addition, interested scientists from the participating institutions are cordially invited to join individual elements of the programme on any day of the project week, even at short notice. In order to manage room capacity accordingly, we kindly request informal registration for the relevant part of the programme. Thank you very much.
Funded by
The project "Global Digital Health – Interdisciplinary Challenges from International Perspectives” is supported by the DAAD with funds from the Federal Foreign Office (AA) and the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).
