On March 1, 2022, Prof. Dr. Matthias Richter accepted the call of TUM to the new Chair of Social Determinants of Health. Previously, he held the Chair of Medical Sociology and was Director of the Institute of the same name at the Medical Faculty of Martin Luther University (MLU) Halle-Wittenberg.
After studying sociology, psychology and economics at the Bielefeld University, he was a Research Associate at the State Institute for the Public Health Service in Bielefeld and then at the Faculty of Health Sciences at the Bielefeld University. In 2004, he completed his doctorate at the Faculty of Sociology at Bielefeld University. From 2005 to 2008, he was a Research Associate and executive director of the WHO Collaborating Center for Child and Adolescent Health Promotion at the Faculty of Health Sciences at Bielefeld University. Subsequently, he took over the substitution of the Professorship for prevention and health promotion there. In 2009, he habilitated at the Faculty of Health Sciences at Bielefeld University. From 2009 to 2011, he was Assistant Professor of Medical Sociology and Social Epidemiology at the Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine at the University of Bern in Switzerland, before moving to Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg in March 2011.
Prof. Richter was spokesperson of the Medical and Health Sociology Section in the German Sociological Association (DGS) from 2006 to 2012 and has been vice-chairman of the German Society for Medical Sociology (DGMS) since 2014. From 2012 to 2016, Prof. Richter was speaker of the Profile Center Health Sciences at MLU Halle-Wittenberg. Since 2012, he has also been an appointed member of the expert committee "Care Measures and Research" of the German Cancer Aid. Since 2019, he is also the spokesperson of the DFG research group FOR 2723.
Dear Prof. Richter, what was the decisive factor in your decision to move from Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg to TUM?
"One of the decisive reasons was that this is the first Professorship for Social Determinants of Health ever in Germany. That was, of course, very appealing to me. Since one of the Department focuses is in the area of child and adolescent health and this is also to be a focus of the professorship, it was clear to me that I would apply for it and I was happy when I got the call. Another aspect was that I grew up academically in the health sciences at Bielefeld University and was able to return to the health sciences. In addition, I find it interesting that our Department is being merged with the TUM School of Medicine. I can thus combine the best of both worlds. There may be completely new opportunities here, especially in the areas of research and teaching."
What does the call to the TU Munich mean to you?
"It's a great honor to be appointed as a full professor at a university of excellence. It encourages you in what you've been doing for the last few years. TUM is one of the leading universities in Germany and Europe, so it's an honour, but at the same time it's also an opportunity to shape something new, especially in light of the fact that the Department has grown so much in recent years. To be able to proactively contribute there is a great opportunity that you very rarely get in this form. On the other hand, it is also a nice new challenge for me privately. I turned 50 last year and have naturally been thinking about what I want to do in the coming years. I hope that a new phase of my life will develop from this. So it's a great opportunity both professionally and personally that I've been given."
What is your impression of the Department of Sport and Health Sciences so far?
"I've been really impressed with how smoothly and professionally everything has gone so far. It's been fantastic how I've been received. I could turn to the Department at any time. I have been particularly impressed by the family atmosphere and the sense of togetherness within the Department. I particularly like the fact that so much emphasis is placed on internationality. And last but not least, I immediately got the feeling that everyone is looking forward to the completion of the new campus. The new lecture halls and seminar rooms are great."
Looking ahead to your work with the Department of Sport and Health Sciences, what are you most looking forward to?
"I'm totally looking forward to getting to know everyone. I've worked a lot with Department management so far, which has worked out great. And now, of course, I want to get into exchanges on a professorial level. I've already been able to talk to various colleagues, and the conversations have all been very positive. Of course, it would be nice if in the near future we could also exchange ideas in person and not just via Zoom conferences, and have the opportunity to learn from each other. I am also particularly looking forward to the freedom in teaching, which is greater in the health sciences than in medicine. And last but not least, I'm looking forward to building my team so that we can initiate research projects together, both within the Chair and across Chairs."
What will be your research focus areas with our Department?
"Two major areas of focus under the umbrella of social determinants of health are child and adolescent health research and health disparities research. This is about education, occupation, income, and also migration and gender as major determinants at the social level and how they affect health and health care. A third area is strengthening prevention and health care research at the Department. For example, I work with Prof. Sundmacher in a DFG research group, which is why we have known each other for a long time. The main point here is to do more application-oriented research in the area of prevention and health promotion."
What topics will you focus on in teaching? What courses will your Chair offer?
"We will start our teaching in time for the start of lectures in the summer semester of 2022. The bachelor's program in health science is characterized by the application of a bio-(medical)-psycho-social model. Here, we serve the social view of health, i.e., what are, for example, social influences on health and health care. We want to expand on this in the coming semesters and address specific topics, such as diversity and intersectionality, but we also want to strengthen prevention and behavioral prevention. Since the Department has a strong focus on behavioral prevention, we want to take a closer look at the structures and ratios of that. Another big area is in the master's program. Our department stands out in particular for doing both quantitative and qualitative research."
And one last question: do you do any sports yourself? And if so, which ones?
"I like to go running and also really enjoy hiking in the mountains. In Munich, of course, you have a lot more opportunities to go hiking than was the case in Halle."
Thank you for the interview!
Contact:
Prof. Dr. Matthias Richter
Chair of Social Determinants of Health
Georg-Brauchle-Ring 60/62
80992 München
e-mail: richter.matthias(at)tum.de
Text/Interview: Romy Schwaiger
Photo: private