Recognition of the Academic Achievements of Our Students at the DMEA Sparks Award 2026
Our Students Excel at the DMEA Sparks Award 2026 Finale
The DMEA Sparks Award honors innovative academic theses in medical informatics and health IT that offer practical approaches to improving digital healthcare. Finalists presented their research results in live pitches to an audience of experts.
In the Bachelor category our student Kian Hinke won second place. His thesis “Exploring Methods to Assess Scanner Induced Domain Shifts in Medical Imaging” investigated how variations in image acquisition affect model performance. He compared approaches such as BBSD, MMD, and PAD under the use of various models including ResNet18 and foundation models such as DINO. His results showed that task specific methods serve as useful indicators for the effects of domain shifts and he concluded that these methods are best used as complementary tools rather than definitive measures. Kian faced strong competition from other universities. First place went to Fabian Bürki from Bern University of Applied Sciences for his work on an interoperable openEHR prototype and third place went to Christian Franke also from Bern University of Applied Sciences for his research on data integration of high cost medicines. The other finalists were Sara Müller and Nicola Streit from Bern University of Applied Sciences with their work on the exchange of structured vaccination and immunization status data between HIS and EPD as well as Nikolas Rieger from the University of Potsdam and the Hasso Plattner Institute with his work on “GenIMU: Simulation of realistic IMU data using video generation models”.
In the Master category our student Dominic Liebel reached the top five. His research “Developing a comprehensive dataset and baseline model for classification and generalizability testing of gastric whole slide images in computational pathology” addressed the lack of comprehensive multiscanner datasets. He developed the Gastric Slide Database featuring 360 annotated whole slide images from 274 patients. By evaluating twelve deep learning models he demonstrated that tissue morphology features transfer well across scanners whereas inflammation detection suffers degradation on new devices. The Master category was equally competitive. Pascal Hansen from Heidelberg University won first place with his thesis on an online planning system for autonomous robotic surgery. Mona Irsfeld from the University of Lübeck took second place for her physically based modelling of glioblastoma growth and Laura Michnick from Friedrich Alexander University Erlangen Nuremberg secured third place by developing a functional electrical stimulation system. Marcel Mulorz from the University of Leipzig with his work on “Optimal Robot Placement using Reinforcement Learning” was the other finalist among the top five.
Insights into DMEA 2026
DMEA is Europe's leading digital health conference and trade fair. The 2026 event in Berlin concluded with a significant increase in visitor numbers, gathering 22000 attendees over three days, which is a 7 percent increase from the previous year. The event featured around 900 exhibitors from almost 30 countries and 550 speakers.
The program placed a clear focus on the pressing issues of the industry, including artificial intelligence in healthcare, digital patient care, interoperability, telemedicine, and cybersecurity. According to a visitor survey, the three most relevant areas of focus were Artificial Intelligence, Mobile Health, and Telemedicine Solutions.
Strong political support was evident at the start of the event. Federal Health Minister Nina Warken, who served as the patron, delivered a keynote speech emphasizing the need to resolutely put digital innovations into practice. Other notable keynote speakers included Judith Gerlach, Bavarian Minister of State for Health, Care and Prevention, Katharina Schenk, Thuringia's Minister for Social Affairs, Health, Labour and Family, and Professor Kristina Sinemus, Hesse's Minister for Digitalisation and Innovation. Bvitg Managing Director Sascha Raddatz and Messe Berlin CEO Mario Tobias both highlighted the dynamism of the sector and the role of DMEA as a central meeting place for shaping the healthcare of tomorrow.
Fostering Young Talent with DMEA Sparks
The DMEA Sparks brand combines the topics of careers and young talent. It offers a comprehensive program for students, graduates, and young professionals, consisting of lectures, discussion rounds, and networking opportunities to explore health IT as a career path. Attendees can expand their knowledge through keynotes, meet leading companies during career tours, and find job offers on the jobwall. The exhibition area allows human resources experts to connect directly with interested graduates, while universities showcase their academic programs. The associated DMEA Sparks Award gives students the chance to participate in the program by honoring the best theses in fields such as medical informatics and health management.
Looking Forward
We congratulate our two students on their achievements as well as all the other finalists and winners for their hard work and dedication. It is encouraging to see a venue like DMEA grow every year, demonstrating a shared focus and passion for improving health and patient care. The dedication shown by so many early career scientists at the DMEA Sparks Award proves that the future of the field is bright. We are impressed by the rapid developments and the challenging healthcare problems being tackled by researchers all around Europe. Our research group looks forward to continuing our contributions to these advancements in the coming years.
