COFONI is a research network consisting of five partners from Lower Saxony:

These partners would like to combine their core scientific competencies to research five key areas which are critically relevant to combat the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic and its long-term effects.

COFONI at a glance

18.700.000

€ support by the state of Lower Saxony

5

Key areas

Our objectives

    The objectives of the COFONI collaborative research project are to coordinate basic, clinical, and health services research as well as social sciences to

    • address fundamental and important questions on the virus,
    • on the molecular basis for drug and vaccine development,
    • on predicting and influencing the pandemic event, and
    • on how to cope with the long-term impacts on a medical, societal, social, and psychological level.

    The new findings will help to develop new therapies and provide the state of Lower Saxony with further tools to cope with the effects of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic.

    Key area 1

    Epidemiological modelling:
    pandemic intervention

    Key area 2

    Antiviral strategies:
    agents and vaccines,
    antibodies

    Key area 3

    Digital infectious medicine:
    individualised patient care

    Key area 4

    Pathophysiology:
    immunomodulation and control

    Key area 5

    Interdisciplinary research on the long-term effects of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic

    Technology platform

    Animal models and test systems, research biobanks, and research database

    Research projects

    Interdisciplinary cooperation projects on the five key areas

    Funding

    How we secure quality

    Various committees have been established to ensure the quality of the projects carried out in COFONI.

    Steering Committee

    The Steering Committee manages the COFONI research network and ensures that priorities and focal points are set in a needs-oriented and scientifically sound manner and that funds are used efficiently. It ensures the scientific quality of the funded project proposals through a competitive review process and assesses the achievement of the research projects' objectives. The Steering Committee is composed of two members from each of the founding institutions as follows:

    Prof. Dr. Jürgen Wienands
    Spokesman COFONI
    Universitätsmedizin Göttingen

    Copyright: umg/fskimmel

    Prof. Dr. Maren von Köckritz-Blickwede
    Deputy spokeswoman COFONI
    Stiftung Tierärztliche Hochschule Hannover

    Copyright: Prof. Dr. Maren von Köckritz-Blickwede

    Prof. Dr. Mark Brönstrup
    Helmholtz-Zentrum für Infektionsforschung

    Copyright: HZI/János Krüger

    Prof. Dr. Tim Friede
    Universitätsmedizin Göttingen

    Copyright: umg/fskimmel

    Prof. Dr. Thomas Illig 
    Medizinische Hochschule Hannover 

    Copyright: Karin Kaiser/MHH

    Prof. Dr. Dr. Michael Marschollek
    Peter L. Reichertz Institut für Medizinische Informatik
    Medizinische Hochschule Hannover

    Copyright: Prof. Dr. Dr. Michael Marschollek

    Prof. Dr. Thomas Pietschmann
    TWINCORE – Zentrum für Experimentelle und Klinische Infektionsforschung
    Helmholtz-Zentrum für Infektionsforschung

    Copyright: Prof. Dr. Thomas Pietschmann

    Prof. Dr. Stefan Pöhlmann
    Deutsches Primatenzentrum GmbH
    Leibniz-Institut für Primatenforschung

    Copyright: Karin Tilch, DPZ

    Prof. Dr. Asisa Volz
    Stiftung Tierärztliche Hochschule Hannover

    Copyright: Prof. Dr. Asisa Volz

    External Advisory Board

    The External Advisory Board ensures the superior quality of the projects and is invited to the meetings of the Steering Committee to be consulted in the decisions on the funded projects. The Advisory Board is composed of three renowned expert scientists* who are not involved in the COFONI network:

    Prof. Dr. Markus Bassler
    MWK-Expertenrat

    Prof. Dr. Sandra Ciesek
    Universitätsklinikum Frankfurt

    Prof. Dr. Dominique Schols
    KU Leuven, Belgien 

    Long/Post COVID Committee

    The Long/Post COVID Committee was established specifically to ensure the quality of the funded projects in the key area of "Interdisciplinary research on the long-term effects of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic”.

    Through the committee members' proven expertise in long/post COVID, health services research, and social sciences, the committee advises the Steering Committee to ensure that priorities are set in a scientifically sound manner that is relevant to health care.

    The composition of the Long/Post COVID Committee reflects a balance in the relationship between the scientific institutions involved in COFONI as well as an intersection between COFONI and the Long COVID-Expert Council of the Lower Saxony Ministry of Science and Culture.

    Contact

    COFONI spokesmen

    Spokesman

    Prof. Dr. Jürgen Wienands

    Prof. Dr. Jürgen Wienands

    contact information

    secretariat

    Deputy spokeswoman

    Prof. Dr. Maren von Köckritz-Blickwede

    Prof. Dr. Maren von Köckritz-Blickwede

    contact information

    COFONI Coordination Office

    Head COFONI Coordination Office

    Dr. Katja Lidschreiber

    Dr. Katja Lidschreiber

    contact information

    Referent "Research focus on the long-term effects of the pandemic"

    Dr. Ulrike Roßner

    contact information

    Organisation and partners

    The cross-location networking in the COFONI research network is centrally coordinated by the University Medical Center Göttingen (UMG). Prof. Dr. Jürgen Wienands, Dean of Research at UMG, heads the central coordination office together with Prof. Dr. Maren von Köckritz-Blickwede from the Foundation of the University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover (TiHo).







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