News — Medical Faculty

From text to structured information securely with AI¹

Artificial intelligence (AI) and above all large language models (LLMs), which also form the basis for ChatGPT, are increasingly in demand in hospitals. However, patient data must always be protected. Researchers at the University Hospital Bonn (UKB) and the University of Bonn have now been able to show that local LLMs can help structure radiological findings in a privacy-safe manner, with all data remaining at the hospital. They compared various LLMs on public reports without data protection and on data-protected reports. Commercial models that require data transfer to external servers showed no advantage over local, data protection-compliant models. The results have now been published in the journal "Radiology".

Inflammatory diseases influence the course of hair loss²

Asthma, atopic dermatitis or Hashimoto's thyroiditis as concomitant diseases are risk factors for clinical features associated with a poor prognosis in circular hair loss, also known as alopecia areata (AA). In patients with three atopic diseases, namely atopic dermatitis, asthma and rhinitis, the average age of onset of AA is about ten years earlier than in patients without chronic inflammatory comorbidities. This has now been established by researchers from the University Hospital Bonn (UKB) and the University of Bonn in a large cohort study of affected patients. Their results have now been published in the journal "Allergy".

Colored nuclei reveal cellular key genes³

The identification of genes involved in diseases is one of the major challenges of biomedical research. Researchers at the University of Bonn and the University Hospital Bonn (UKB) have developed a method that makes their identification much easier and faster: they light up genome sequences in the cell nucleus. In contrast to complex screenings using established methods, the NIS-Seq method can be used to investigate the genetic determinants of almost any biological process in human cells. The study has now been published in Nature Biotechnology.

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New findings on blood clotting⁴

A deficiency in blood plasma coagulation factor XIII leads to a disruption in the cross-linking of fibrin, the "glue" in blood coagulation. The enzyme therefore plays an essential role in blood clotting. Researchers at the University Hospital Bonn (UKB) and the University of Bonn, together with Thermo Fisher Scientific in the Netherlands, deciphered the previously unknown structure of the Factor XIII complex using cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM), even at the atomic level. This enabled them to visualize the effects of disease-causing, clinically relevant factor XIII mutations in the structure of the coagulation complex. Their results have now been published in the print edition of the journal “Blood”.

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Two ERC Consolidator Grants in Medicine⁵

Not one but two researchers at the University of Bonn and the University Hospital Bonn are to receive much-sought-after Consolidator Grants. Awarded by the European Research Council (ERC), they provide millions of euros in funding for outstanding research projects. Professor Philipp Vollmuth is developing an AI foundation model that is expected to set new benchmarks for the use of AI in radiology, while Privatdozent Dr. med. Michael Sommerauer—who recently swapped the University of Cologne for Bonn—is researching the early detection of Parkinson’s disease.

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DFG Funding Atlas 2024: Giant Leap Forward Puts University of Bonn Among Leading Pack⁶

In the Funding Atlas 2024, recently published by the German Research Foundation (DFG), the University of Bonn has improved its standing significantly, surging from 15th out of all universities in 2021 to now stand 6th. The DFG’s Funding Atlas provides a clear yet detailed record of the funding provided by public-sector donors to Germany’s higher-education and research institutions between 2020 and 2022.

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Bonn in the TOP 50 Worldwide in Multiple Subjects⁷

The University of Bonn has once again demonstrated its excellence as a research institution in the latest Global Ranking of Academic Subjects 2024—part of the high-profile Shanghai Ranking. Mathematics and Economics held on to their respective first-place rankings in Germany, enjoyed for several years now. Agricultural Sciences now ranks third nationally.

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How Immune Cells “Sniff Out” Pathogens⁸

Immune cells are capable of detecting infections just like a sniffer dog, using special sensors known as Toll-like receptors, or TLRs for short. But what signals activate TLRs, and what is the relationship between the scale and nature of this activation and the substance being detected? In a recent study, researchers from the University of Bonn and the University Hospital Bonn (UKB) used an innovative method to answer these questions. The approach that they took might help to speed up the search for drugs to combat infectious diseases, cancer, diabetes or dementia. Their findings have been published in the journal “Nature Communications.”

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