Scientific Concept of the National Cohort (status ... - Nationale Kohorte

Description of the study center Berlin-Center
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C.1 Annex: Description of the study centers
The study center will be located in Berlin-Center in rooms of the Charité, Campus Center.
Together with the study centers Berlin-North and Berlin-South this study center will cover
the metropolitan area Berlin-Brandenburg (see above). These three study centers will help
to minimize costs and time for the study participants to travel to the centers and increase
their willingness to participate.
Study center Berlin-South/Brandenburg
Table 1: Overview of participating institutions and investigators/scientists
Table 18: Overview of participating institutions and investigators/scientists
Institution
Town
Principal investigator
Institute/department/division
e-mail
Associated scientist
e-mail
German Institute of Human Nutrition Potsdam-Rehbruecke
(DIfE)
Potsdam-Rehbruecke, 14558 Nuthetal
Prof. Dr. Heiner Boeing, MSPH
Department of Epidemiology
boeing@dife.de
Dr. Cornelia Weikert, MPH
Department of Epidemiology
weikert@dife.de
Description of the institution responsible for establishing and operating the study
center
The German Institute of human Nutrition at Potsdam-rehbruecke (dIfE) is conducting
studies in the field of nutrition and health with the aim of understanding the molecular basis
of nutrition-dependent diseases and to develop new strategies for prevention, treatment,
and nutritional recommendations. It is a member of the Leibniz Association, an alliance of
scientific institutions in Germany. The Department of Epidemiology, headed by H. Boeing,
established from 1994 to 1998 the ongoing EPIC-Potsdam Cohort which has been followed
prospectively since recruitment. The cohort consists of initially 27,548 population-based
participants from the Potsdam area (south of Berlin) and is part of the EU-wide European
Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) with a total of 519,000 subjects.
The EPIC-Potsdam study is the largest prospective study so far in Germany on life style and
risk of chronic diseases. The local EPIC-Potsdam study has a record of 12 years of followup
of the cohort for diseases such as type 2 diabetes, MI, stroke, hypertension, heart failure,
and cancer. The follow-up procedure includes biannual questionnaires sent to the study
participants, record linkage with the local hospitals and cancer registries, and validation of
potential diagnoses by medical records and treating physicians. Within the framework of the
EPIC-Potsdam study, blood samples have been collected from more than 26,000 participants
and are stored in a cryobank that is located at DIfE and maintained by the principal
investigator. The publications of investigators from this cohort have mainly addressed the
effects of diet, anthropometry, metabolic and genetic factors, and physical activity on endpoints
such as mortality, cancer, type 2 diabetes, and CVD.
As mentioned above, DIfE has jointly established with MDC, Charité, and RKI the epidemiologic
research network for the metropolitan area Berlin-Brandenburg (EPI2B) to support
the National Cohort.
C.1