HUB is involved in the fight against SARS-CoV-2 and the establishing of a COVID-19 cohort

In the past 18 years, new emerging corona viruses caused two epidemics and recently a severe pandemic, which thousands of people have fallen victim to. The severity of the current pandemic is unforeseeable. In order to mitigate the consequences of the current pandemic and to be prepared for future corona viruses, measures need to be adopted quickly.

A consortium of scientists and physicians from the MHH as well as the Helmholtz Center for Infectious Disease is planning the establishment of a COVID-19 patient cohort and subsequent thorough molecular characterization of the cohort. The cohort enables the elucidation of the pathophysiology of the disease as well as the detection of biomarkers for disease severity, the corresponding metabolic pathways and therapy options.

The COVID-19 cohort will encompass a total of 1000 patients with different disease severities and healthy controls. Samples of blood, live blood cells, plasma, serum, saliva, and bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) will be collected and stored in the Hannover Unified Biobank (HUB). The collection and processing of samples in the HUB has already started.

An application for project funding was sent to the MWK (Lower Saxon Ministry for Science and Culture). Additional funding for the COVID-19 projects is pursued in close cooperation with the German Center for Infectious Disease (DZIF) and the DZIF-Tx cohort.