Professor Anselm Uebing is the chief of the Clinic for Congenital Heart Defects and Pediatric Cardiology at Christian Albrechts University in Kiel (CAU). As the new Chairman of the Board of the Competence Network for Congenital Heart Defects, he succeeds Professor Hashim Abdul-Khaliq, Director of the Clinic for Pediatric Cardiology at Saarland University Hospital. The renowned pediatric cardiologist remains active as a member of the steering committee of the research network. "We want to know that the future of congenital heart defect research in Germany is on a firm footing and we are delighted to have with our colleague Anselm Uebing at the top, an outstanding scientist of the next generation of physicians, who will in the coming years continue to drive the development of international research with the National Registry," says Hashim Abdul-Khaliq, who represented the Competence Network for Congenital Heart Defects for past 13 years.

A unique and reliable database for independent international and multicenter research has been created over the past twenty years through the National Registry, for which more than 55,000 patients have voluntarily provided their data and samples. Numerous results from basic genetic and molecular biological research, clinical research and health care research at the Competence Network Congenital Heart Defects have since found their way into practice and contributed to improved medical diagnostics and treatment both in congenital heart defects and in the field of acquired cardiovascular diseases.   

"For the quality of life of patients and optimal medical care over the entire lifespan, many scientific foundations still have yet to be established. This makes it all the more important to maintain and further develop the research infrastructure of the competence network," says Anselm Uebing. This infrastructure is unique internationally and offers a great opportunity for Germany as a research location, also in the field of acquired cardiovascular diseases, says the new board spokesman.