
The future of pediatric cancer care: smart, personalized, and at home
At the first Sandpit workshop funded by the Wübben Stiftung Wissenschaft, an international, interdisciplinary team came together in Saarbrücken to explore how to develop an AI-powered monitoring system for children with cancer in their homes.
The energy, commitment and practical approach of the participants were impressive. Led by Dominik Schöndorf (Pediatric Oncology, Saarland University Medical Center), the participants developed a modular concept for an AI-based home monitoring system for children with cancer. The goal: to proactively identify medical needs before emergencies arise – and to improve both treatment quality and family life. Using data, artificial intelligence, and machine learning, the envisioned infrastructure is supposed to connect the child’s home environment with clinical expertise, detecting early warning signs such as changes in vital signs, behavior, or environmental factors.
We are very grateful for the commitment of the first sandpit participants, our moderators and the state secretary and are excited to see the results of this sandpit being carried forward into a pilot initiative making pediatric cancer care safer and smarter. Updates to follow.
- Jan Alexandersson, DFKI Competence Center for Ambient Assisted Living
- Michael Anton, Faculty of Law Continuing Education – Saarland University
- Mridul Agrawal, iuvando Health GmbH (Moderation)
- Ingo Besserdich-Noß, Health.AI Project – Saarland University
- Gabriela Gan, Ludwig Boltzmann Gesellschaft (Moderation)
- Florian Sören Gerts, Charité | MDC
- Norbert Graf, Professor emeritus for Pediatrics, Saarland University
- Kerstin Hildebrandt-Abdikarim, Children’s National Hospital USA
- Romeo Kunnakattu, Father of a UKS Pediatric Oncology Patient
- David Lindemann, state secretary and head of the state chancellery of the federal state of Saarland (welcome address)
- Donald Mabbott, Hospital for Sick Children, Canada
- Ahmad Osman, Saarland University of Applied Sciences
- Marc Remke, Pediatric Oncology and Hematology Clinic – Saarland University Medical Center
- Brian R. Rood, Brain Tumor Institute, Children’s National Hospital, USA
- Michael Schmitz, xm:lab, Hochschule der Bildenden Künste Saar
- Martina Schneider, Techniker Krankenkasse
- Ariane Serglhuber, Kepler University Hospital Linz
- Syed Zulkifil Haider Shah, Department of Innovation & Digitalisation in Law – University of Vienna
- Ankit Singh, Smart Connectivity Services, Siemens Healthineers AG
- Tim Walz, D4L data4life gGmbH
The idea behind the funding format: Inviting researchers and relevant stakeholders to work outside their comfort zone in unconventional constellations in order to generate unorthodox ideas for projects and solutions that set out to tackle highly relevant challenges in today’s society.