PD Dr. med. Silke Schwarz delivered her inaugural lecture as part of her habilitation in the Department of Medicine and Education at Witten/Herdecke University

On Friday 26 June 2026, PD Dr Silke Schwarz delivered her public inaugural lecture to mark her postdoctoral university lecturing qualification in the new building at Witten/Herdecke University. The event focused on the topic of ‘Digitalisation and Child and Adolescent Health’. In addition to colleagues and students from the university, cooperation partners and interested guests also attended the event.
 

PD Dr Silke Schwarz is the consortium leader of the current Innovation Fund study “Screen-free – Join in!” and head of the Department of Medicine and Education at the Gerhard Kienle Chair of Medical Theory, Integrative and Anthroposophical Medicine at UW/H. In addition, she is the AWMF guidelines representative for the German Society for Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, as well as managing director of the Free Institute for Child and Adolescent Health.
 

Benefits and risks of screen-based media and AI for the development of children and young people

In her lecture entitled ‘Between Screen and Tree – Childhood, Health and Development in the Age of Social Media and AI’, she presented her translational multi-study programme and scientific findings from clinical practice, guideline development and intervention research. The focus was on the major challenges posed by digital developments to the healthy growth of children and young people. A new research specialisation is seen in the impact of AI on childhood and adolescence.

It became clear that digitalisation in child and adolescent health must be viewed in a nuanced way: alongside the risks of excessive screen time, the presentation highlighted the role that prevention, health promotion and an academically sound approach to digital media play in ensuring children grow up healthily.

We warmly congratulate PD Dr Silke Schwarz on this important academic milestone and look forward to continuing our collaboration to support the healthy development of children and young people in an increasingly digital world.

Further information on the projects mentioned

• https://www.uni-wh.de/en/screen-free-be-part-of-it 
• https://www.uni-wh.de/en/awmf-guideline-on-the-prevention-of-dysregulated-screen-use-in-childhood-and-adolescence