Research

In the recent pandemic years, we contributed, inter alia, extensive and timely research on Covid-19 mortality burden in Germany and the federal states in order to understand the pandemic profile and to provide results that can assist with political decision-makers.

Our expertise includes Occupational Medicine, Environmental Medicine, and Prevention Research with a focus on Chronobiology. Chronobiology refers to internal 24-clock (or circadian timing system) that is present in every bodily cell and provides temporal organisation to our physiology. Our team is trained in occupational and environmental medicine, physiology, epidemiology, and public health. We use Epidemiology and Literature-based research methods and we collaborate on various projects with researchers from across the globe. Our goal is to reduce the burden of ill health and disease, ideally by means of prevention.

Core areas of our diverse research include:

• Development of epidemiological methods for circadian biology.
• Sunlight, Chronobiology, Architecture.
• Chronobiological stress and strain of night- and shift-work.
• Environmental time cues than may contribute to/alleviate chronobiological stress and strain.
• The influence of perinatal light/photoperiod on health and disease in children, adolescents and adults.

Keywords

Shiftwork, cancer, sleep, chronotype, light, meal-timing, activity-timing, perinatal, PLICCS, neonatal intensive care, daylight savings time, urban light pollution, Circadian epidemiology, urbanisation.

Artificial Intelligence

Following the release of "game-changing" large language model "ChatGPT" for use in the public domain, we have explored its usage from ethical points of you in the domains of research, teaching, and medicine.”

Protection of workers

Erren TC, Lewis P. Secret hiding places in the eye and beyond: what about after SARS-CoV-2 infection? Graefes Arch Clin Exp Ophthalmol. 2021 Dec;259(12):3815-3816. doi: 10.1007/s00417-021-05323-9.

Gross JV, Fritschi L, Mohren J, Wild U, Erren TC. Contribution of Occupational Health to multidisciplinary team work for COVID-19 prevention and management. Med Lav. 2021 Apr 20;112(2):171-176. doi: 10.23749/mdl.v112i2.11056.

Gross JV, Mohren J, Erren TC. COVID-19 and healthcare workers: a rapid systematic review into risks and preventive measures. BMJ Open. 2021 Jan 20;11(1):e042270. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2020-042270.

Lewis P, Wild U, Erren TC. Working from home during and after COVID-19: watch out for erythema ab igne when using laptops. Br J Gen Pract. 2020 Jul 30;70(697):404. doi: 10.3399/bjgp20X712037.

Chronobiology, Ethics, and Public Health

Erren TC, Wild U, Lewis P. Christmas and New Year "Dietary Titbits" and Perspectives from Chronobiology. Nutrients. 2022 Aug 2;14(15):3177. doi: 10.3390/nu14153177.

Erren TC, Piekarski C, Reiter RJ. Chronodisruption: Origin, Roots, and Developments of an 18-Year-Old Concept. Comment on Desmet et al. Time-Restricted Feeding in Mice Prevents the Disruption of the Peripheral Circadian Clocks and Its Metabolic Impact during Chronic Jetlag. Nutrients 2021, 13, 3846. doi: 10.3390/nu14020315.

Wild U, Shaw DM, Erren TC. Avoiding a crisis at Christmas: a systematic review of adverse health effects or 'Chrishaps' caused by traditional hazard sources and COVID-19. Aust N Z J Public Health. 2022 Feb;46(1):32-35. doi: 10.1111/1753-6405.13207.

Erren TC, Lewis P. Comment on "COVID-19, the Built Environment, and Health". Environ Health Perspect. 2021 Sep;129(9):98001. doi: 10.1289/EHP10144. Epub 2021

Lewis P, Erren TC. COVID-19: science must not be the boy who cried wolf. J Epidemiol Community Health. 2020 Aug;74(8):676. doi: 10.1136/jech-2020-214448.

Erren TC, Lewis P. SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 and physical distancing: risk for circadian rhythm dysregulation, advice to alleviate it, and natural experiment research opportunities. Chronobiol Int. 2020 Jul;37(7):1106-1109. doi: 10.1080/07420528.2020.1772811.

Erren TC, Lewis P, Shaw DM. COVID-19 and "natural" experiments arising from physical distancing: a hypothetical case study from chronobiology. Chronobiol Int. 2020 Jul;37(7):1115-1117. doi: 10.1080/07420528.2020.1779993.

Erren TC, Lewis P, Shaw DM. The COVID-19 Pandemic: Ethical and Scientific Imperatives for "Natural" Experiments. Circulation. 2020 Jul 28;142(4):309-311. doi: 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.120.048671.