Irish Chief Medical Officer visits the Robert Koch Institute
Date: 24/02/2025
On 20 February 2025, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) hosted a high-level Irish delegation for an exchange on current public health topics and strategic priorities in global health.
Dr Ute Teichert (Federal Ministry of Health), Dr Elke Jakubowski (WHO Regional Office for Europe) and the Irish delegation consisting of Dr Mary Horgan, Keith Lyons and Robert Glennon with the team of the RKI ZKI-PH around managing director Dr Katharina Ladewig.
The visiting delegation included Dr. Mary Horgan (Chief Medical Officer, Ireland), Keith Lyons (Principal Officer), and Robert Glennon (Assistant Principal Officer – Immunisation and Infectious Diseases). They were accompanied by Dr. Ute Teichert (Head of the Department for Health Protection, Health Security and Sustainability at the Federal Ministry of Health) from the German Federal Ministry of Health (BMG) and Dr. Elke Jakubowski (Health policy and public health consultant for the WHO Regional Office for Europe, placed with the Directorate General for Public Health at the Federal Ministry of Health).
The president of RKI during the meeting in Seestr.
The visit started at the premises in Berlin Seestraße, where participants were welcomed and introduced to the RKI and its work by Lars Schaade, President of the RKI, and Johanna Hanefeld, Head of the Centre for International Health Protection (ZIG).
Ute Rexroth presented in more detail Department 3’s work on infectious disease surveillance and research as well as pandemic preparedness, highlighting RKI’s work in monitoring emerging health threats and strengthening Germany’s public health response capacities.
Another discussion point was the development of the panel "Health in Germany", introduced by Patrick Schmich (FG21). Launched in early 2024, this initiative gathers regularly and frequently information on the health status of people in Germany through periodic surveys. The panel currently includes around 47,000 participants. Areas of study include physical and mental health, social determinants, health behavior, and healthcare access.
Dr. Mary Horgan (Chief Medical Officer, Ireland) during the meeting in Seestr.
The visit at premises in Seetraße Ended with a guided tour of the Biosafety Level 4 (BSL-4) laboratory, led by Andreas Kurth (ZBS5).
After lunch, the delegation traveled to the RKI’s premises in Wildau. The afternoon session focused on the role and work of the RKI’s Centre for Artificial Intelligence in Public Health Research (ZKI-PH). The ZKI-PH team led by managing director Dr. Katharina Ladewig provided a brief overview of the Centre’s ongoing projects and the application of AI-driven methodologies in public health research. As part of the session, PhD candidates from ZKI-PH presented their research in a poster session, covering various aspects of AI-assisted public health research, including machine learning in diagnostics, public health data analysis, climate change modelling, and innovative approaches to infectious disease surveillance.
Dr Mary Horgan and Keith Lyons at the poster session at the RKI ZKI-PH.
The visit fostered the partnership between Irish and German public health actors and valuable strategic and technical exchange. It underscored the importance of scientific collaboration, evidence-based public health policy, and strengthening national and international public health structures.