diff --git a/src/main/java/eu/hbp/mip/StartupTasks.java b/src/main/java/eu/hbp/mip/StartupTasks.java
index acbf8f0c9d1ccd557c0ffe4e118d841eab8f2b03..598e05b178d6964e37879acac0c50a2acf81864e 100644
--- a/src/main/java/eu/hbp/mip/StartupTasks.java
+++ b/src/main/java/eu/hbp/mip/StartupTasks.java
@@ -46,8 +46,10 @@ public class StartupTasks implements ApplicationListener<ApplicationReadyEvent>
         LOGGER.info("Prefill variable repository with datasets...");
         for (int i = 0; i < 5; i++) {
             try {
+                StringBuilder fetchedDatasets = new StringBuilder();
                 for (Dataset dataset : datasetsApi.fetchDatasets()) {
                     final String code = dataset.id().code();
+                    fetchedDatasets.append(code).append(' ');
                     Variable v = variableRepository.findOne(code);
                     if (v == null) {
                         LOGGER.info("Store additional variable {}", code);
@@ -55,7 +57,7 @@ public class StartupTasks implements ApplicationListener<ApplicationReadyEvent>
                         variableRepository.save(v);
                     }
                 }
-                LOGGER.info("Datasets fetched from Woken");
+                LOGGER.info("Datasets fetched from Woken: " + fetchedDatasets.toString());
                 variablesRepositoryOk = true;
                 break;
             } catch (Exception e) {
@@ -80,7 +82,7 @@ public class StartupTasks implements ApplicationListener<ApplicationReadyEvent>
         }
         */
 
-        LOGGER.info("MIP Portal backend is ready!");
+        LOGGER.info("[OK] MIP Portal backend is ready!");
     }
 
 }
diff --git a/src/main/java/eu/hbp/mip/akka/AkkaClusterHealthCheck.java b/src/main/java/eu/hbp/mip/akka/AkkaClusterHealthCheck.java
index 8f4b05f99c871469534d1bb66b0f8fb2a86e0906..1af3fdafcbd0ac8347079c66e75a172ee1ed0a6b 100644
--- a/src/main/java/eu/hbp/mip/akka/AkkaClusterHealthCheck.java
+++ b/src/main/java/eu/hbp/mip/akka/AkkaClusterHealthCheck.java
@@ -1,14 +1,16 @@
 package eu.hbp.mip.akka;
 
 import akka.cluster.Cluster;
+import ch.chuv.lren.woken.messages.Ping;
 import org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Autowired;
 import org.springframework.boot.actuate.health.Health;
 import org.springframework.boot.actuate.health.HealthIndicator;
 import org.springframework.stereotype.Component;
+import scala.Option;
 
 
 @Component
-public class AkkaClusterHealthCheck implements HealthIndicator {
+public class AkkaClusterHealthCheck extends WokenClientController implements HealthIndicator {
 
     @Autowired
     private Cluster wokenCluster;
@@ -20,7 +22,12 @@ public class AkkaClusterHealthCheck implements HealthIndicator {
         } else if (!wokenCluster.state().allRoles().contains("woken")) {
             return Health.down().withDetail("Error", "Woken server cannot be seen in the cluster").build();
         }
-        return Health.up().build();
+        try {
+            askWoken(new Ping(Option.apply("woken")), 5);
+            return Health.up().build();
+        } catch (Exception e) {
+            return Health.down().withDetail("Error", "Cannot reach Woken: " + e.toString()).build();
+        }
     }
 
 }
diff --git a/src/main/java/eu/hbp/mip/akka/WokenClientController.java b/src/main/java/eu/hbp/mip/akka/WokenClientController.java
index a8bab66fa94264130cdb4821138617145ebc0f6e..e6ef3cdd79e7c0a6eaafdf2d72350f55e8f8e8f2 100644
--- a/src/main/java/eu/hbp/mip/akka/WokenClientController.java
+++ b/src/main/java/eu/hbp/mip/akka/WokenClientController.java
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import akka.cluster.pubsub.DistributedPubSub;
 import akka.cluster.pubsub.DistributedPubSubMediator;
 import akka.pattern.Patterns;
 import akka.util.Timeout;
+import ch.chuv.lren.woken.messages.RemoteMessage;
 import ch.chuv.lren.woken.messages.query.Query;
 import ch.chuv.lren.woken.messages.query.QueryResult;
 import org.slf4j.Logger;
@@ -36,18 +37,20 @@ public abstract class WokenClientController {
     private String wokenPath;
 
     @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
-    protected <A, B> B askWoken(A message, int waitInSeconds) throws Exception {
-        LOGGER.info("Akka is trying to reach remote " + wokenPath);
+    protected <A extends RemoteMessage, B> B askWoken(A message, int waitInSeconds) throws Exception {
+        LOGGER.info("Trying to reach remote Akka actor " + wokenPath + "...");
 
         DistributedPubSubMediator.Send queryMessage = new DistributedPubSubMediator.Send(wokenPath, message, false);
         Timeout timeout = new Timeout(Duration.create(waitInSeconds, "seconds"));
 
         Future<Object> future = Patterns.ask(wokenMediator(), queryMessage, timeout);
 
-        return (B) Await.result(future, timeout.duration());
+        B result = (B) Await.result(future, timeout.duration());
+        LOGGER.info("Akka actor returned a result for message of class " + message.getClass());
+        return result;
     }
 
-    protected <A, B> ResponseEntity requestWoken(A message, int waitInSeconds, Function<B, ResponseEntity> handleResponse) {
+    protected <A extends RemoteMessage, B> ResponseEntity requestWoken(A message, int waitInSeconds, Function<B, ResponseEntity> handleResponse) {
         try {
             B result = askWoken(message, waitInSeconds);
             return handleResponse.apply(result);
diff --git a/src/main/java/eu/hbp/mip/controllers/DatasetsApi.java b/src/main/java/eu/hbp/mip/controllers/DatasetsApi.java
index 7798b0ab9069dedb526cc24d7e2e5849b19987c8..c7bd005aee68488280f16ec4ac079ef5c9756de4 100644
--- a/src/main/java/eu/hbp/mip/controllers/DatasetsApi.java
+++ b/src/main/java/eu/hbp/mip/controllers/DatasetsApi.java
@@ -8,8 +8,6 @@ package eu.hbp.mip.controllers;
 import ch.chuv.lren.woken.messages.datasets.Dataset;
 import ch.chuv.lren.woken.messages.datasets.DatasetsQuery;
 import ch.chuv.lren.woken.messages.datasets.DatasetsResponse;
-import com.google.gson.JsonArray;
-import com.google.gson.JsonObject;
 import eu.hbp.mip.akka.WokenClientController;
 import eu.hbp.mip.model.DatasetDescription;
 import io.swagger.annotations.*;
@@ -25,7 +23,6 @@ import scala.Option;
 
 import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.List;
-import java.util.Set;
 
 import static org.springframework.http.MediaType.APPLICATION_JSON_VALUE;