Translational cohorts in HIV research
The working group of Prof. Jörg Janne Vehreschild in Köln cooperates with the Robert Koch Institute. To pave the way for the upcoming challenges in HIV research, the Translational Platform was founded in 2015. It supports clinical and epidemiological cohort studies in HIV. The Platform provides protocols, software, databases, biobanking concepts, ethics votes, regulatory authorization, accounting, data management, and statistical analysis for seamless integration of patients from different sites. The Platform gives access to over 10,000 active HIV patients at the different partner sites in the DZIF. Standardisation of data collection and a common cohort architecture allows for easy exchange of data and biomaterials between the DZIF partner sites and external partners.
The TP-HIV provides protocols, software, databases, biobanking concepts, ethics votes, regulatory authorization, accounting, data management, and statistical analysis for seamless integration of patients from TTU partner sites and acute HIV patients from collaborating specialized HIV clinics. This gives access to over 10,000 active HIV patients at the primary DZIF sites with biobanking capabilities plus patients with acute HIV infection from the Top-HIV group. The cohorts are fully compatible with the ClinSurv and seroconverter cohorts of the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), as well as the international HIV Cohorts Data Exchange Protocol (HICDEP), allowing large-scale analyses. Based on the TP-HIV, multicentre projects will be more effective due to a smooth exchange of biomaterial samples and medical data within national and international projects. By active surveillance, rapid access to individual patient groups, and feasibility assessment, the TP-HIV makes the research area HIV an ideal partner for clinical trials.
In addition, the TP-HIV offers support in designing and coordinating potential clinical trials for drug candidates developed within DZIF. It actively screens results of experimental and translational research and performs epidemiological studies for early hypothesis testing. This unique platform structure allows expedited translational research by structural harmonisation and centralised services, reducing project overheads and regulatory burden for investigators.
Jörg Janne Vehreschild (left side) and his team: Bernd Franke, Annika Löhnet, Shanthiya Sathiyanantharajah, Nick Schulze, Carolin Jakob, Sebastian Heimann, Justine Uhe, Melanie Stecher, Angelina Lagodny.
