Unit 22: Epidemiology Laboratory

Head:

Martin Schlaud

Deputy:

Antje Kneuer

This unit is structured into two sub-units in order to cover the broad range of content-related duties. The laboratory, which has been accredited since 2012, is responsible for analyses in the fields of clinical chemistry, haematology, immunology and infection epidemiology within the scope of the monitoring of the health of children and adults in Germany (examination studies).

The employees involved in laboratory-assisted epidemiology evaluate the measured laboratory parameters and coordinate their epidemiological use and interpretation within and outside of the RKI. They strive to create a network between the laboratory and other relevant epidemiological studies.

Tasks

Laboratory

• Laboratory analysis incl. clinical laboratory advice on the selection of laboratory parameters in the context of health monitoring
• Participation in national and international standardisation programmes for laboratory parameters
• Continuous adaptation to standard requirements (international standards and RILI-BÄK – Guidelines of the German Medical Board for Quality Assurance of Quantitative Medical Laboratory Tests)
• Creation of age-dependent, method-specific reference ranges
• Identification of current trends in laboratory diagnosis, checking relevance for the RKI, cost-benefit analyses
• Expansion and further development of a computer-based biological sample bank (samples from all current and previous surveys)

Laboratory-assisted epidemiology

• Coordination and conceptual design of the selection of measured values and determination procedures for health monitoring that are relevant to health policy
• Conducting and coordination of the evaluation of laboratory data in cooperation with the other units
• Networking of laboratory-assisted epidemiology with external national and international working groups