Institute for Prevention and Occupational Medicine of the German Statutory Accident Insurance
The Institute for Prevention and Occupational Medicine of the German Statutory Accident Insurance (IPA) is the institution of the German Statutory Accident Insurance (DGUV) for research tasks related to occupational medicine .
The IPA emerged from the Research Institute for Occupational Medicine of the German Social Accident Insurance (BGFA). In June 2007, the two umbrella associations of the employers' liability insurance associations and the accident insurance funds merged to form the German statutory accident insurance. This also had consequences for the BGFA. Not only has the group of insured persons for whom the institute conducts research has grown, the range of scientific questions has also expanded significantly. Classical occupational medicine continues to be the focus of the institute, but other research disciplines are also becoming increasingly important.
As an institute of the Ruhr University Bochum (RUB), the IPA is positioned at the interface between occupational medicine research and practice for safety and health. The purpose of the IPA is to research occupational diseases, work-related illnesses and their causes, and to develop methods for their prophylaxis , diagnosis and therapy .
The work of the institute focuses on diseases of the lungs and respiratory tract , skin and urogenital tract , especially with regard to allergies and tumor diseases of these organ systems. The organizational structure of the IPA consists of five closely interlinked competence centers: Medicine , Epidemiology , Allergology / Immunology , Toxicology and Molecular Medicine .
Around 50 percent of the institute's capacities are currently focused on occupational medicine research. Other main areas of activity are advising the employers' liability insurance associations , accident insurance funds and the German statutory accident insurance, working on committees and representing teaching in occupational medicine at the Medical Faculty of the Ruhr University in Bochum.
The institute is operated by the German Social Accident Insurance in Berlin and the employers' liability insurance association for the raw materials and chemical industry. The roots of the IPA go back to 1929 (Silicosis Research Institute).