Research Associate Joachim Prackwieser
Joachim Prackwieser has been a research associate at Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin for many years and a doctoral researcher since 2024. He works at the intersection of the history of medicine, data science, and pharmaceutical research. His research examines the potential of constructing and analyzing large-scale datasets of pharmaceutical recipes from historical Chinese medical collections and explores how the experiential knowledge preserved in these sources can serve as an informed preselection mechanism for modern drug development.
Since 2017, he has been one of the principal developers of the Chinese Historical Healthcare Manuscripts Database (CHHM-DB) at the Institute of Chinese Life Sciences. CHHM-DB comprises more than 41,000 pharmaceutical recipes digitized from 227 handwritten volumes. These manuscripts document vernacular medical practices from the sixteenth to the mid-twentieth century that have largely been marginalized within modern formulations of Chinese medicine. Through a series of research projects, Joachim has used CHHM-DB to investigate questions relevant to contemporary applications.
As principal investigator, he recently completed an industry-funded project entitled Salty and Umami Modulating Compounds Leveraging Ancient Prescriptions. The forthcoming CARELEAP project focuses on skin irritation, particularly pruritus. In the ongoing Vernacular Knowledge project, his primary interest lies in foregrounding historical perspectives, particularly the circulation and transformation of knowledge between handwritten and printed medical recipe collections over time.
Joachim holds a BA in Sinology and Political Economics from Heidelberg University and an MA in Chinese Studies from Freie Universität Berlin. In addition to his academic training, he is a professionally trained web developer and data analyst.