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A network of German research institutes
from the Helmholtz Association, the Leibniz
Association, various universities and research
departments has taken the initiative for the
creation of a large-scale, nation-wide, long-
term prospective population study with the
aim of explaining the causes of widespread
diseases such as cardiovascular disease,
cancers, diabetes, dementia, and infectious
diseases, identifying risk factors, high-
lighting effective forms of prevention, and
identifying options for the early detection of
diseases.
In this cohort study, 200,000 people aged
between 20 and 69 from across Germany
will be medically examined and questioned
on their living habits (e.g. physical activity,
smoking, diet, occupation etc.). In additi-
on, all participants in the study will supply
blood samples which will be stored in a
central biobank for later research projects.
In the course of their observation over a
period of 10–20 years, some of the partici-
pants are bound to develop diseases, which
we will then be able to correlate with the
data collected. The study thus offers unique
potential for a wide range of scientific inves-
tigations. Researchers will therefore be able
to derive valuable findings on how
›› genetic factors,
›› environmental conditions,
›› social milieu, and
›› lifestyle
interact in the development of disease.
These findings, it is hoped, will greatly
facilitate the development of more effective
prevention and treatment strategies for the
most widespread diseases. It will also lead
to new approaches to the prevention of
chronic diseases.
In the last year, feasibility studies have
been performed to test various aspects of
the planned study. Our institute under the
leadership of Professor Becher was respon-
sible for evaluating methods to recruit
migrants for this cohort.
www.nationale-kohorte.de
National Cohort
DKFZ
German Cancer
Research Cente
r
The collaboration with the German Cancer
Research Center (DKFZ) is through a number
of large projects: The PhD program epide-
miology (Graduiertenkolleg, see page 74)
would not have existed without the contri-
bution of several departments of the DKFZ,
represented by the deputy speaker and
members of the council (Profs. Hermann
Brenner, Jenny Chang-Claude and Jürgen
Wahrendorf) and other thesis supervisors.
The case-control study on laryngeal cancer
(see page 24) was launched when the
principal investigator, Professor Becher, was
still at the DKFZ. The national cohort is a
new project, in which the DKFZ and the our
Institute have joint responsibility for local
recruitment (on the left side of this page).
www.dkfz.de