Paradigm shift in medicine: women and men fall ill differently
University Medicine Magdeburg fills Germany's first full-time university professorship for gender-sensitive medicine with clinical activity
On 1 March 2024, a new endowed professorship for the field of gender-sensitive medicine will be filled at the Faculty of Medicine at Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg by Professor Ute Seeland, MD, from Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin. The aim of this first full-time professorship with clinical affiliation in Germany is to raise awareness of gender-specific differences in medicine and to develop innovative approaches for fairer and more individualised healthcare. The endowed professorship is funded by the Margarete Ammon Foundation.
Photo: Prof Dr med Ute Seeland is moving to the University of Magdeburg and has held Germany's first full-time professorship with clinical affiliation in the field of gender-sensitive medicine since March 2024.
Photographer: Melitta Schubert/UMMD
How do the symptoms and treatment of diseases differ between women and men and why is it important to recognise and take these differences into account? Professor Seeland is addressing these and other key questions as part of her new endowed professorship for gender-sensitive medicine. "It is particularly important to me to bring the theoretical knowledge we have gained to date into clinical practice in order to be able to offer gender-sensitive personalised medicine for all genders and to promote the next generation of doctors," says Seeland. As part of this innovative concept, the gender medicine specialist will not only focus on teaching and research, but will also set up an outpatient clinic for prevention and gender-sensitive medicine. "Magdeburg offers me the unique opportunity to work on an interdisciplinary basis with colleagues from the basic sciences as well as with clinical practitioners and established research organisations, both scientifically and clinically. One focus of my work is research into the gender-specific causes of high blood pressure."
The scientist emphasises that the female sex is often underrepresented in studies, meaning that the effect of drugs and therapies on women is often insufficiently researched."Involving women is considered complicated, as their reactions to medication can vary due to hormonal factors.However, there is now a growing awareness of the importance of adapting diagnosis, treatment and prevention to the different hormonal phases."
Prof. Dr Daniela C. Dieterich, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine Magdeburg, emphasises: "We are extremely pleased that the Foundation has placed its trust in University Medicine Magdeburg.The appointment of the first full professorship of this kind in Germany enables us to make a sustainable contribution to improving healthcare and promoting equal opportunities. Professor Seeland's work will not only significantly advance the transfer of scientific findings into practice, but will also raise the awareness of our future doctors for the social relevance of this topic."
The opportunity to establish Magdeburg as a centre for gender-sensitive medicine and to develop innovative approaches for fairer and more individualised healthcare is due not least to the founder Margarete Ammon, who died in 2022 at the age of 100.She recognised the enormous importance of gender-sensitive medical research back in the 1980s.
"Mrs Ammon was convinced that we can only prevent illness and improve our quality of life by taking differences into account. She spent a lifetime campaigning for more justice in medical research and it was a great gift that she was able to live to see the approval from Magdeburg for the establishment of the Chair of Gender-Sensitive Medicine," explains Dr Andrea Hübner, Chair of the Margarete Ammon Foundation.
Saxony-Anhalt's Science Minister Prof. Dr Armin Willingmann emphasised: "Endowed professorships are a stroke of luck for research as well as a clear sign of supra-regional scientific reputation and visible potential. This is especially true in an area such as gender medicine, which will become even more important in the future. From risk factors and symptoms, to disease frequency and progression, to drug tolerance: there are major differences between the sexes in many areas of medicine.I am therefore delighted that the University Medical Centre Magdeburg, under Dean Daniela Dieterich, has been able to acquire an endowed professorship on this future topic. This will advance research and teaching on gender-sensitive medicine and also enable the targeted promotion of highly qualified young talent."
About the person
Prof Dr med Ute Seeland was born in Berlin. She studied human medicine at the Universities of Berlin, Marburg and Göttingen. She was then able to deepen her knowledge of basic sciences and clinical practice as a postdoc with a Lise Meitner scholarship at the Universities of Cologne and Saarland in Homburg/Saar. She completed her doctorate at the University of Marburg in 1999. She has received numerous awards for her research work, including the Science Prize of the German Medical Association, the German Society of Cardiology and recognition from the European Society of Cardiology for her work on the guidelines for cardiovascular diseases in pregnancy. Seeland is a specialist in internal medicine and habilitated in 2021 in internal medicine/gender-sensitive medicine at Charité- Universitätsmedizin Berlin. She is a member of several national and international specialist societies, including the German Society for Gender-Specific Medicine (DGesGM®), where she has been Chair since 2021. Dr Seeland will move from her position as a scientist and expert in the field of gender-sensitive medicine at the Institute of Social Medicine, Epidemiology and Health Economics at Charité- Universitätsmedizin Berlin to the University of Magdeburg in March 2024.
About the Margarete Ammon Foundation
Founded in 2002, the Margarete Ammon Foundation is dedicated to promoting the common good and supporting creativity and invention in the fields of science, technology, ecology and culture. The foundation supports selected charitable projects of third parties, but also realises its own projects. One of the focal points of its activities is the promotion of research in the field of human medicine, particularly with a focus on gender-sensitive medicine.
Endowed professorships are financed by third-party donors and help to promote innovative fields of research in a specific specialism.
Background
In order to obtain a professorship at a university in Saxony-Anhalt, an appointment procedure must be carried out in accordance with Section 36 of the Higher Education Act of the State of Saxony-Anhalt (HSG LSA). Suitable candidates undergo an extensive procedure. An appointment committee made up of several experts assesses the candidate's performance in research, teaching and patient care.