"From reactive to preventive medicine"

Ms Zeggini, the newly founded Helmholtz Health Prevention Task Force has recently begun working under your leadership and that of Ute Mons from the German Cancer Research Centre. What is the task force's goal?

Prevention is the next big step in advancing medicine, as has been recognised for some time. Unfortunately, reactive medicine still prevails in most cases: people only go to the doctor when they are already ill. Our aim is to drive change from reactive to preventive medicine.

What exactly does the task force do?

Helmholtz has an incredible amount of knowledge about prevention. The task force essentially comprises a pool of over 10,000 highly qualified experts from a wide range of medical fields. All six Helmholtz centres specialising in health research and the NAKO health study are represented in the interdisciplinary task force, which consists of 22 people supported by many others. Members of the task force have expertise in areas including basic and clinical research, cancer, neurodegeneration, infections, cardiometabolic health, respiratory health, epidemiology, bioinformatics, research strategy and policymaking. The task force, or parts of it, meets virtually and in person every three to four months on average.

So, what exactly is preventive medicine?

Put simply, it takes several steps earlier than conventional medicine. Preventive medicine research aims to understand, mitigate and ultimately prevent the onset and progression of disease. Sticking with our example, you visit a doctor or use digital health services to find out which diseases you are susceptible to and how you can reduce your risk. At the same time, it is also important to identify protective factors. What keeps me healthy? And how can I strengthen them? The most important components of preventive medicine include analysing risk factors and the basic mechanisms of disease development, classifying people into different risk groups (which enables individualised prevention and treatment), and discovering, evaluating, and implementing preventive measures.

So, what would preventive medicine look like in practice?

There are countless examples of how prevention can stop diseases from developing and spreading. Much is already underway in Germany, but it often needs that decisive push to be implemented sustainably in everyday healthcare. For example, in the case of autoimmune diseases such as type 1 diabetes and coeliac disease, national programmes for early detection in the early stages of the disease — which can include screening in infancy — enable the introduction of disease-modifying therapies and preventive measures.

But let's take a step back: where could diseases be prevented in the first place?

Early detection and disease prevention are inextricably linked and mutually dependent. As well as introducing disease-modifying therapies, we can introduce preventive measures. If we identify that an infant is at an increased risk of developing type 1 diabetes, for example, and can reduce this risk through certain therapeutic measures, we can prevent the disease. This is why newborn screening is so important: it enables us to take early countermeasures.

So, is the focus of prevention primarily on children and young people?

No, because it is still possible to prevent the development of diseases even in advanced adulthood. This is because many diseases begin insidiously in a pre-stage that can cause various health problems, such as inflammation or accelerated ageing. There is an urgent need to conduct more research into these early stages and develop targeted treatments.

 In this context, we will prioritise a range of other preventive measures, including whole genome sequencing, reliable biomarkers, imaging techniques and lifestyle change programmes. These strategies are crucial for the early detection of diseases and identification of risk groups, paving the way for more targeted and effective preventive measures.

Which diseases do you consider to be high priority?

The main ones are diseases that affect a large proportion of the population. High blood pressure plays a central role here, as cardiovascular disease is the number one cause of death and high blood pressure is a decisive factor in this. It should be treated even if you are not experiencing any symptoms, as it can lead to a stroke or heart attack in the long term. However, existing prevention services are not evaluated sufficiently, and large amounts of health data are often not used effectively. We want to change that.

And beyond that?

Cancer, of course — the second leading cause of death. Here, too, we could prevent many cases of the disease by identifying particularly at-risk groups more effectively. Infectious diseases are also high on our agenda, particularly given that climate change is causing pathogens to spread more rapidly. Public health measures that offer the greatest benefits to the population include prevention strategies that reduce the risk of transmission from animals to humans, vaccination strategies, and the targeted use of preventive therapies in at-risk population groups.

So, how does the Task Force intend to incorporate these issues into daily healthcare practice so that prevention is implemented and promoted more effectively?

The Task Force's first project was to outline a strategic roadmap for strengthening prevention research and its implementation worldwide. To this end, we developed a detailed questionnaire covering important aspects of prevention research, such as gaps, opportunities and solutions. This was distributed to scientists at all Helmholtz Health centres. The results were summarised first for each research centre and then consolidated. The Task Force then drafted a position paper outlining its vision for a roadmap for prevention research and its global implementation. This paper has recently been published in Nature Medicine. The next steps include an in-person workshop featuring short presentations by scientists from across the Helmholtz Health network, aimed at promoting collaboration and the exchange of ideas on prevention research within the field. Finally, a white paper will be produced to serve as an initial basis for implementing prevention strategies.

How will these findings be incorporated into healthcare?

The task force already has the support of governments and professional associations, as well as the necessary expertise to ensure its white paper carries weight. For instance, with the backing of the Helmholtz Office in Brussels, we are collaborating with the EU to identify ways to integrate our findings into the healthcare system. This is precisely what we intended from the outset: our roadmap for prevention research and the implementation of research findings into healthcare will be implemented at national and international levels.

The position paper of the Helmholtz Health Prevention Task Force in Nature Medicine: Helmholtz Health Prevention Task Force. Helmholtz Health task force to strengthen prevention research and its translation globally. Nat Med 31, 1386–1387 (2025).