JOSHA – Table of Contents Volume 2 Issue 6

We are happy to present to you the Table of Contents for the next issue 2.6, with a number of articles and presentations by “bright minds at work”. Two artists are sharing their work and ideas with us, Jürgen Meyer-Isenmann with art on leather and wood, artistically transforming part of our industrial history. Dörte Oppermann presents a wonderful, unique description of her dreams in a series of poems and impressive paintings. A fascinating reading list on The Bayes Approach in Medical Statistics by Gerhard Nehmiz addresses the most important literature on the impact of Bayes' theorem on design and analysis of clinical trials. In probability theory and statistics, Bayes' theorem (alternatively Bayes' law or Bayes' rule, see also Wikipedia)) describes the probability of an event, based on conditions that might be related to the event. Especially in view of recent developments in the area of “evidence based personalized medicine” new strategies for clinical trials are urgently needed (“Innovation Pathway”, Sugarman 2012). In the area of Philosophy, Ethics and Law, several presentations by international experts address the relevance of societal, bioethical implications of the Life Sciences, especially genome research. These presentations were given during the important IMBS Summer School Workshop Bioethics (DOI: 10.17160/josha.2.4.47 ) Roland Mertelsmann stresses the obligations of scientists to society in his introduction, while Christoph Borner discusses chances, challenges and implications of prolonging human life. Felicitas Holzer, as well Ignacio Mastroleone, point out the post-trial obligations of doctors and scientists from a bioethical perspective. Their analysis demonstrates the importance of repeated cycles of communication with and counseling of trial participants and patients, the “Iterative Feedback Model”, which will be of great relevance also for the conduct of clinical medicine. In his presentation, Stefan Fröhling describes the approach of the German ”Nationales Tumorzentrum” to use Genome Sequencing in Cancer Research and Therapy. In this brilliant presentation chances and challenges of this approach for “evidence based personalized cancer medicine”, pointing out the urgent need for novel clinical trial concepts (“Innovation Pathway”, Sugarman 2012, see above) In her Bachelor Thesis, Verena Felicitas Wahl analyses the influence on communication of “challenging behavior” in people with mental handicaps. Her hypothesis that these factors are interrelated was substantiated by her empiric research, stressing the importance of the ability to communicate in the context of psychosocial behavior. Finally, two announcements by Cristina Arranz, University of Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Christoph Borner, Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, Germany were published in the latest issue of JOSHA, for the International Congress of Translational Medicine- Announcement: Buenos Aires, Argentina, Nov 24-25, 2015 and for the IMBS Class 2016-18: Inscription Open The 2nd Congress of Translational Medicine in Buenos Aires should provide a stimulating forum for international exchange of Physicians and Scientists from many different, diverse countries. However let us not forget, that Buenos Aires and Argentina are also worth seeing! The International Master in Biomedical Sciences (IMBS, www.biomwdmaster.org) was established in 2008 as a joint program between the Faculty of Medicine of the Albert-Ludwigs University of Freiburg (ALU) and the Faculties of Medicine and Pharmacy and Biochemistry of the University of Buenos Aires (UBA) in Argentina. It is a 2-year Master Program with lectures, seminars and wet lab experience in both countries. Students from more than 20 countries have successfully completed the program and are currently working in attractive positions in different institutions around the world. Enjoy!