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The foundation

The Foundation for Micronutrients — Prevention, Health, Quality of Life (SfMPGL) promotes research and teaching in micronutrient diagnostics and therapy. It is organised as a non-profit limited company under German law.

Establishment

Portrait of Prof. Dr. Elmar Wienecke

Prof. Dr. Elmar Wienecke

The foundation’s founder

In 2013, Prof. Dr. Elmar Wienecke established the Foundation for Micronutrients — Prevention, Health, Quality of Life (SfMPGL) as a non-profit limited company under German law.

The foundation’s aims are research and teaching in micronutrient diagnostics and therapy. Both were successfully put into practice within a short time.

The foundation pursues exclusively and directly charitable purposes.

In memory of Prof. Dr. Elmar Wienecke

For more than three decades, Prof. Dr. Elmar Wienecke helped shape micronutrient therapy and regulatory medicine. A qualified physical education teacher with a doctorate in sports science from the German Sport University Cologne, he founded SALUTO in Halle (Westfalen) in 1994. There, he and his team developed the concept Energie auf Rezept — Energy on Prescription.

His research focused on individual resilience and performance. Together with his team, he examined more than 60,000 people in studies and research projects, including executives, competitive and elite athletes, and people with a wide range of health backgrounds.

Through the foundation, he sought to provide lasting support for research and academic education in regulatory medicine. From 2015, he held an endowed professorship in sport, nutrition and regulatory medicine at FHM Bielefeld and initiated the first master’s programme in Micronutrient Therapy and Regulatory Medicine. He received numerous awards, including the Innovation Award of the Foundation for Health and the Environment.

Prof. Dr. Elmar Wienecke passed away unexpectedly in 2026. Health medicine has lost a visionary scientist. His life’s work continues in the spirit in which he began it.

The foundation’s aims

Four connected areas of work: sharing knowledge, generating knowledge, publishing knowledge and putting it to use in prevention.

  • Teaching

    Promoting education in micronutrient therapy by informing the public. Basic knowledge of micronutrients and how they work should form part of the education of doctors, dentists, pharmacists, sports scientists, therapists, physiotherapists and nutrition specialists.

    To achieve this, Prof. Dr. Elmar Wienecke initiated and developed the part-time master’s programme Micronutrient Therapy and Regulatory Medicine together with FHM Bielefeld.

    Following accreditation, the first cohort started in October 2017. Prof. Dr. Elmar Wienecke received his certificate as an honorary professor from the state of North Rhine-Westphalia and welcomed the first students as programme director.

    Explore the degree programme

  • Research

    Another area of work is conducting, implementing and supporting scientific studies, projects and publications, as well as analysing case reports.

    Master’s theses have already explored many interesting topics, including through evidence-based retrospective intervention studies. The source material describes their evaluation by medical professional societies as evidence level 1C .

    View studies and master’s theses

  • Publications and studies

    Supporting an endowed professorship with a wide range of research responsibilities in exercise and micronutrient therapy.

    The annual FHM publication series brings together contributions arising from master’s theses and academic work within the programme.

    Explore the publication series

  • Prevention

    Establishing micronutrient therapy in an ageing population, taking account of age, sex, lifestyle and pre-existing conditions.

Milestones

From the foundation’s establishment to the present: key moments in its development.

  1. The foundation is established

    Prof. Dr. Elmar Wienecke establishes SfMPGL as a non-profit limited company in Halle (Westfalen).

  2. Endowed professorship at FHM

    Prof. Dr. Elmar Wienecke takes up an endowed professorship in sport, nutrition and regulatory medicine at FHM Bielefeld.

  3. Studies of magnesium and pyridinium cross-links

    Publications in MMW – Fortschritte der Medizin and Sportärztezeitung 04/2016.

  4. The first master’s programme begins

    Following accreditation, Germany’s first master’s programme in Micronutrient Therapy and Regulatory Medicine begins at FHM Bielefeld. Prof. Dr. Elmar Wienecke becomes an honorary professor of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia.

  5. Second cohort

    The programme welcomes its second cohort. In the same year, the thyroid study involving almost 800 elite athletes is published in Sportärztezeitung 02/2018.

    Group photograph of students and lecturers at the start of the academic term in 2018
    Start of the academic term in 2018

  6. Study of dental implant longevity

    Findings on aMMP-8 technology in dentistry are published in Die Zahnarzt Woche.

  7. Ten years of teaching at FHM

    Prof. Dr. Elmar Wienecke is honoured for ten years of teaching at FHM Bielefeld.

  8. Remembering the founder

    The foundation mourns Prof. Dr. Elmar Wienecke, who passed away unexpectedly. His life’s work continues in the spirit in which he began it.

  9. Publication series and master’s theses

    The degree programme has produced numerous master’s theses and issues of the FHM publication series Meilensteine der Gesundheitsmedizin — Milestones in Health Medicine.

Support the foundation

If you are interested in supporting the ideas and work of the Foundation for Micronutrients, we would be pleased to hear from you.

Get in touch