National Autopsy Network

“From the community for the community” was the motto of this year’s Convention of the University Medicine Network held in Berlin, which attracted great interest: 500 participants had registered, and more than 200 additional ones were on a waiting list. For two exciting days, the focus of the event was on input from the infrastructures […]

A recent case study from the NATON consortium presents the occurrence of a fatal cerebral venous sinus thrombosis and thrombocytopenia, resembling vaccine-induced immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia syndrome (VITT). It was diagnosed in a three-year-old boy who developed antibodies against the chemokine Platelet Factor 4 (PF4) after an adenovirus infection. VITT is typically associated with prior SARS-CoV-2 […]

To learn about the concept of the National Autopsy Network (NATON), a delegation of legal medicine specialists from six different institutes in Japan traveled to Germany for a three-day workshop. Following presentations by NATON coordinator Prof. Dr. Benjamin Ondruschka and NATON project manager Dr. Kristina Allgoewer, we engaged in discussions at the Institute of Legal […]

A busy and eventful year is coming to an end. 2024 has been marked by intensive work on joint concepts and applications, as well as valuable progress for which we would like to express our heartfelt gratitude. During this thoughtful time of year, we would like to take a moment to pause and prepare together […]

In cases involving highly infectious deceased individuals, postmortem tissue sampling for research purposes can be conducted through the closed body bag using CT-guided robotic control. The NATON methods platform is currently collaborating with a team from Hamburg University of Technology (TU Hamburg) to develop a new prototype that allows for precise remote control of the […]

Researchers from Helmholtz Munich and LMU have identified a mechanism that may explain the neurological symptoms of Long COVID. The study, published in the journal Cell Host & Microbe under the title “Persistence of spike protein at the skull meningis-brain axis may contribute to the neurological sequelae of COVID-19,” reveals that the characteristic spike protein […]

The potential of postmortem minimally invasive tissue sampling (MITS) for specimen collection under infection control risk conditions has been demonstrated, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. Especially for highly contagious infectious diseases where autopsies are not feasible or only partially possible, this method will continue to be an important alternative to conventional tissue sampling in the […]

In his sixth documentary on COVID-19, Eckart von Hirschhausen investigates rumors and myths surrounding the disease. Regarding claims in numerous YouTube videos that the COVID vaccine is responsible for deadly blood clots, Hirschhausen spoke with NATON coordinator Prof. Benjamin Ondruschka, the Director of the Institute of Legal Medicine at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf. He […]

In the final NATON Quaterly Meeting of 2024, neuropathologist PD Dr. Josefine Radke from the University Medical Center Greifswald delivered an engaging presentation about her research on deciphering the epigenetic, cellular, and spatial mechanisms involved in the progression of brain metastases from melanoma. This example once again underscored the importance of interconnected autopsy research. During […]

How was our network established, what have we achieved so far, and what are the future tasks and perspectives for NATON? We are pleased to present our NATON video to you here. If the video does not display, please click on this link.