English 
Deutsch 
Prof. Dr. Louisa Specht-Riemenschneider was officially appointed as the successor to Ulrich Kelber on 3 September 2024. Her core objectives – the protection of sensitive health data through high standards, the promotion of research and innovation, and the meaningful integration of data protection and digitalisation through constructive dialogue – are welcomed by NFDI4Health. In her opening statement, which she gave at the Federal Press Conference, Specht-Riemenschneider emphasised the relevance of data protection in the healthcare sector. She stressed that the protection of sensitive health data must meet particularly high standards in order to ensure the trust of the public. At the same time, it is crucial to enable research and innovation in the healthcare sector. Specht-Riemenschneider made it clear that data protection and digitalisation are not opposites, but should instead be considered together. Constructive dialogue between the authorities, research institutions, and civil society is particularly important to her in order to develop functional digital solutions that are sensitive to fundamental rights.
NFDI4Health is looking forward to a productive and close collaboration to achieve these important goals. As part of our work to build a national infrastructure for health data, the dialogue with the Federal Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information will be of great importance in order to find secure and data protection-preserving solutions for the extremely sensitive data of health research.
We look forward to working together to find ways of making health data more usable for research and healthcare without compromising the protection of personal rights.
Press Release | Opening Statement | Federal Press Conference on YouTube
