The BIH congratulates her warmly:
“The appointment is a great honor for her long-standing commitment towards digital-based medicine with uniform standards for health data and a strongly translational approach” (Christopher Baum)
The German Council of Science and Humanities plays a decisive role in shaping the scientific landscape in Germany. It advises the federal and state governments on all matters relating to science, research, and higher education policy and is committed to promoting excellence and innovation in all scientific disciplines.
Digital Mind
Sylvia Thun studied physical engineering/biomedical engineering (Dipl.-Ing.) and human medicine at RWTH Aachen University, where she also obtained her doctorate in radiological imaging in 2001. She also obtained the additional qualification 'Medical Informatics' from the North Rhine Medical Association and is a certificate holder of the German Society for Medical Informatics, Biometry and Epidemiology (GMDS). She initially took on research tasks at the Federal Ministry of Health and the German Institute for Medical Documentation and Information (DIMDI) in Cologne before being appointed professor for Information and Communication Technologies at the Niederrhein University of Applied Sciences (HSNR) in Krefeld in 2011. In 2014, Sylvia Thun was named one of Germany's “Digital Minds” by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research. During her work in setting up the Medical Informatics Initiative of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), Sylvia Thun was appointed Visiting Professor at the BIH in 2017. As Director of the Core Unit for Digital Medicine and Interoperability, she heads a research group with around 20 employees.
In March 2022, Sylvia Thun was awarded by Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier with the Federal Cross of Merit for her work.
She is particularly keen to promote the integration of digital technologies into medical research and practice to improve healthcare in Germany and make it ready for the future. Her aim is to share health data from various sources for better diagnoses and therapies.
More information about the Core Unit https://www.bihealth.org/en/research/scientific-infrastructure/core-units/interoperability/home