Dr Bernd Blobel studied Mathematics Technical Cybernetics and Electronics Bio Cybernetics Physics Medicine and Informatics at the University of Magdeburg and other universities in the former GDR He received his PhD in Physics with a neurophysiological study Furthermore he completed his Habilitation qualification as a university professor in Medicine and Informatics He was Head of the Institute for Biometrics and Medical Informatics at the University of Magdeburg and later Head of the Health Telematics Project Group at the Fraunhofer IIS in Erlangen After that he served until his retirement as Head of the German National eHealth Competence Center at the University of Regensburg as well as Head of the International Interdisciplinary PhD and PostDoc College He has been actively involved in the digitalization of healthcare and electronic health record strategies in many countries He has published more than 600 papers edited many books and supervised numerous PhD students from around the world He served as the German Representative to many standards development organizations including HL7 ISO CEN OMG IEEE ASTM and SNOMED while also chairing the national mirror groups He continues to contribute to international higher education and has supervised many PhD students worldwide He has played a leading role in several national digital health programs and is a Fellow of several international academies He has also served in important roles with global organizations including the World Health Organization the European Commission and UNESCO.