Virological and immunological determinants of COVID-19 pathogenesis - lessons to get prepared for future pandemics
The research consortium COVIPA (Corona Virus Pathogenesis) studies how infections with SARS-CoV-2 cause disease and extrapolates gained knowledge about conditions and mechanisms driving COVID-19 pathogenesis to other viruses with pandemic potential. This idea is based on the fact that these, mostly zoonotic infections, share common pathogenesis mechanisms such as induction of a cytokine storm and its prevention by an adequate immune response. To tackle this ambitious goal, we assembled a highly interdisciplinary consortium that comprises 21 Principal Investigators (PIs) from 7 Helmholtz Centers across the 4 Helmholtz Research Areas, 3 university partners a Research School called PREPARE, which aims to train the next generation of scientists in the field of pandemic preparedness. In addition, in line with the Transfer mission of the call, we established a Transfer project aiming to commercialize a fully automated biomarker assay platform and an automated robotic screening platform suitable for application under various conditions.