Signing ceremony Prof. Kroemer and Dr. Montag. Photo Credit: Charité | Anja Danneberg
Joint press release by Charité and Siemens Healthineers
Berlin, 07.07.2025
Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin and Siemens Healthineers will work more closely together in the field of preventive medicine. As part of a cooperation agreement, they will develop innovative measures to prevent diseases and promote health. With their respective expertise, the partners will jointly strengthen research and the clinical translation of patient-oriented preventive measures.
Prof. Heyo K. Kroemer, Chairman of the Executive Board of Charité, explains: “Prevention is a central component of our Strategy 2030 ‘Rethinking Health’. Charité’s aim is to help identify health risks at an early stage and prevent illness as far as possible in order to enable forward-looking and sustainable care. The existing partnership between Charité and Siemens Healthineers is now being expanded to include the area of prevention – a forward-looking step towards joint research and further development of innovative care concepts.”
“We are delighted to further deepen our decades-long partnership with Charité and to extend it to the field of disease prevention. Together, we want to raise awareness of preventive medicine in Germany, improve access to the best possible care and prevent disease wherever possible,” says Dr. Bernd Montag, CEO of Siemens Healthineers.
As part of the cooperation, the partners initially want to investigate the potential of modern prevention in the area of heart disease. Cardiovascular diseases are the most common cause of death in Germany and, according to studies, up to 80 percent of them are probably preventable. At present, routine clinical examinations often only identify advanced pathological changes in the cardiovascular system. Screening programs as well as risk scores and profiles for identifying risk groups and developing precision therapies are to be developed and put into practice as quickly as possible. New imaging techniques can also generate more detailed and precise images, for example. In addition, advanced image processing and AI-based tools will be automatically applied to these images. In this way, incipient high-risk but still reversible changes in the vessels can be made visible and medical interventions can be initiated at an early stage.
Charité and Siemens Healthineers will now set up joint research projects, for example to treat patients faster and more specifically with the help of AI through new examination and treatment protocols. In addition, AI-supported imaging procedures, risk profiles of patient groups and personalized care approaches will be investigated and further developed and underpinned by scientific studies. Targeted prevention strategies and research that can significantly improve public health, increase quality of life and reduce healthcare costs are necessary for better prevention.
The research projects also include the development of so-called “digital twins”. These involve creating a digital copy that reflects relevant data and characteristics of the “real” person. With the help of this digital twin, individual health conditions and therapies can be simulated, preventive approaches and treatment options can be tested and disease progression can be better understood.
Siemens Healthineers is doing pioneering work in the healthcare sector. For every person. Everywhere. Sustainably. The company is a global provider of healthcare devices, solutions and services. Siemens Healthineers operates in more than 180 countries and is directly represented in more than 70 countries. The Group consists of Siemens Healthineers AG, listed in Frankfurt am Main under SHL, and its subsidiaries. As a leading medical technology company, Siemens Healthineers is committed to improving access to healthcare for underserved populations worldwide and overcoming the most serious diseases. The company is primarily active in the fields of imaging, diagnostics, cancer treatment and minimally invasive therapies, complemented by digital technology and artificial intelligence. In fiscal year 2024, which ended on September 30, 2024, Siemens Healthineers had around 72,000 employees worldwide and generated revenue of around 22.4 billion euros.
Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin is one of the largest university hospitals in Europe. Doctors and scientists research, heal and teach here at the highest international level. More than half of Germany’s Nobel Prize winners for medicine and physiology come from Charité, including Emil von Behring, Robert Koch and Paul Ehrlich. The Charité is also the joint medical faculty of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and is recognized worldwide as an excellent educational institution. Berlin University Medicine is spread over a total of four campuses and includes more than 100 clinics and institutes, which are bundled into 17 Charité Centers. With more than 24,000 employees across the group, Charité is one of the largest employers in the capital. www.charite.de