"I am very pleased about the further funding," says Prof. Dr. Hajo Zeeb, spokesperson of the Leibniz ScienceCampus Digital Public Health and head of the Department of Prevention and Evaluation at the Leibniz Institute for Prevention Research and Epidemiology - BIPS. "On the one hand, it confirms our successful work, and on the other hand, I am pleased that we can continue to investigate this important topic for the future. There are enough topics: from the influence of social networks on our health to topics of artificial intelligence."

The focus of the Campus is on the digitalization of health: whether it's exercise apps, nutrition and fitness programs via smartphone or telemedicine - state-of-the-art digital technologies make it possible to reach numerous people quickly and inexpensively and let them participate in health-promoting measures. Legal and ethical issues often fall by the wayside. How, for example, can the "digital divide" between individual population groups be overcome? How can privacy and data security be preserved? And how can science process the vast amounts of data for the benefit of all and make it usable?

"The Leibniz ScienceCampus Digital Public Health is tackling these problems," Zeeb explains further. He adds: "To this end, we are bringing together scientists from the health sciences, computer science, statistics, law, communication sciences, ethnology and philosophy. The pandemic in particular has shown that cooperation between different disciplines provides the best answers to many health issues. Together, we want to answer the questions of tomorrow."

The Leibniz Institute for Prevention Research and Epidemiology - BIPS, the Fraunhofer Institute for Digital Medicine MEVIS and the University of Bremen have been cooperating in the research network since the beginning of the funding. The University of Oldenburg and the OFFIS - Institute for Computer Science were won as new partners for the second funding phase.

The Leibniz Science Campus Digital Public Health in Bremen is one of a total of 19 science campuses with a thematic focus that serve to strategically network Leibniz institutes with universities and other regional partners. The aim is to create networks to further develop the respective research area and strengthen the scientific environment. Leibniz Science Campuses conduct strategic research, promote interdisciplinarity in topics, projects and methods, make the respective