Research

During the SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 pandemic, we expanded our research - see below on COVID-19.

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.

COVID-19

Since 2020, we placed special emphasis on applying our expertise to COVID-19. Our publications on COVID-19 are listed below.

Epidemiology of COVID-19 deaths

Morfeld P, Timmermann B, Lewis P, Erren T. Increased Mortality in Germany and in the Individual German States During the SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 Pandemic in 2020 and 2021. Dtsch Arztebl Int. 2022 Aug 22;119(33-34):560-561. doi: 10.53738/REVMED.2022.18.779.823.

Erren TC, Timmermann B, Lewis P, Morfeld P. Flying with High Visibility - Complex Mortality in Germany in Times of SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19. Rev Med Suisse. 2022 Apr 27;18(779):823-825. doi: 10.53738/REVMED.2022.18.779.823.

Erren TC, Lewis P, Morfeld P. Factoring in Coronavirus Disease 2019 Seasonality: Experiences from Germany. J Infect Dis. 2021 Sep 17;224(6):1096. doi: 10.1093/infdis/jiab232.

Morfeld P, Timmermann B, Groß JV, Lewis P, Erren TC. Before, During, and After the First Wave of COVID-19: Mortality Analyses Reveal Relevant Trends in Germany and its States until June 2020. Gesundheitswesen. 2021 Sep;83(8-09):e41-e48. English. doi: 10.1055/a-1531-5507.

Morfeld P, Timmermann B, Groß JV, Lewis P, Cocco P, Erren TC. COVID-19: Heterogeneous Excess Mortality and "Burden of Disease" in Germany and Italy and Their States and Regions, January-June 2020. Front Public Health. 2021 May 7;9:663259. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2021.663259.

Morfeld P, Timmermann B, Groß JV, Lewis P, Erren TC. COVID-19: Sterblichkeit in Deutschland 2020 – Antwort auf den Leserbrief [COVID-19: Mortality in Germany 2020 - Reply to the Letter]. Dtsch Med Wochenschr. 2021 Mar;146(6):427. German. doi: 10.1055/a-1385-7759.

Morfeld P, Timmermann B, Groß JV, DeMatteis S, Campagna M, Lewis P, Cocco P, Erren TC. COVID-19: Spatial resolution of excess mortality in Germany and Italy. J Infect. 2021 Mar;82(3):414-451. doi: 10.1016/j.jinf.2020.10.020.

Morfeld P, Timmermann B, Groß VJ, Lewis P, Erren TC. COVID-19: Wie änderte sich die Sterblichkeit? – Mortalität von Frauen und Männern in Deutschland und seinen Bundesländern bis Oktober 2020 [COVID-19: How did mortality change? - Mortality of women and men in Germany and its federal states until October 2020].Dtsch Med Wochenschr. 2021 Jan;146(2):129-131. German. doi: 10.1055/a-1334-0586. Epub 2020 Dec 16.

Morfeld P, Erren TC. Mortality and Attributable Fraction in COVID-19 Analysis: Avoiding Research Waste and Negligence. Am J Public Health. 2020 Nov;110(11):1644-1645. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2020.305887.

Morfeld P, Erren TC. Todesfälle in neun Regionen Italiens im Februar/März 2020: „Mortalitäts-Exzess-Lupe“ für SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19-Epidemiologie in Deutschland [Deaths in nine regions of Italy in February/March 2020: "Mortality Excess Loupe" for SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19-Epidemiology in Germany]. Gesundheitswesen. 2020 May;82(5):400-406. German. doi: 10.1055/a-1160-5859.

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.