Interview of the month - Pr Katarina Stingl

Every month, ERN-EYE invites you to meet an active person within the network through a short interview. This month, it's Pr Katarina Stingl, from the University Hospital Tübingen in Germany, who accepted to answer our questions.

"The main contribution of a new network such as ERN-EYE network is to give these experts a structural support and to contribute to the health care improvement equally in all European countries. This can be done by possibilities of discussions, financial support, cross-border consultation, research exchange."

I am the HCP representative of HCP University Hospital Tübingen (Germany), as well as one of the chairs of the ERN-EYE transversal work group for Research. In my professional career I specialized in diagnostics, health care and clinical research of inherited retinal diseases.

In your opinion, what is the most important issue ERN-EYE could overcome?

Experts working in Europe in the area of rare eye diseases are – based on the rareness of the diseases – a group of medical doctors and researchers, who have been collaborating together since long time and exchanged their research and medical expertise. The main contribution of a new network such as ERN-EYE network is to give these experts a structural support and to contribute to the health care improvement equally in all European countries. This can be done by possibilities of discussions, financial support, cross-border consultation, research exchange.

What are the main challenges of the network?

In my opinion the main challenge is to find a “healthy” compromise between the load of formalism or administrative work on the one hand, and the benefits from common discussion and shared expertise in rare diseases, and of course support of clinical research as well as medical care over the European states’ borders on the other hand.

And the best advances?

To be able to provide a network for communication in Europe between experts and enable thus more medical understanding of rare eye diseases.

In your dreams, what would ERN-EYE look like in 10 years?

ERN-EYE should be considered as the best tool to create a communication network for health care providers and researchers despite of health care system differences. For the sake of time that can be invested in real medical care and research, I wish that the administration and formal requirements of these networks will be substantially lower in 10 years.