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

A.1
A.1 Introduction and overview
Time schedule:
� The preparatory phase is ongoing, which includes planning, the feasibility study, and
the pilot study (see figure 1.3).
� This application refers to the period of 10 years from mid-2012 to mid-2022 (Recruitment,
reexamination, and active follow-up).
� Thereafter, we anticipate a period of up to 20 years in which data and biosamples will
be made available for research projects.
� Research is possible after recruitment/baseline assessment is finished (except smaller
methodological studies which may start earlier). However, research on the cohortrelated
questions will be possible only after the reassessment and the first active
follow-ups are finished.
Funding:
� Funding for the preparatory phase is covered by Helmholtz association and BMBF.
� For the current application funding of 210 million Euros is needed for 10 years (for
details see Sect. B.6).
� For follow-up of study participants and for the supply of data and biosamples after
2022, additional funding of approx. 5 million Euros per year is needed (for details see
Sect. B.6).
� Funding of research: The National Cohort is a resource for epidemiologic and clinical
research. This means that for research projects based on this resource separate
funding must be found. Here, the state and governmental funding of universities and
Helmholtz Centers and standard funding organizations such as the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
(DFG), Federal Ministry of Research (BMBF), Federal Ministry
of Health (BMG), the Federal States within Germany, and international funders such
as the European Union (EU), US National Institutes of Health (NIH), etc, and industry
shall be mentioned. Experience with existing cohorts shows that there are realistic
opportunities to receive funding from these organizations for research as soon as the
National Cohort is established.
A.1.4 Scientific aims of the National Cohort
The National Cohort is designed to address research questions concerning a wide range of
possible causes of major chronic diseases. To this end, the collection of biomaterials in combination
with extensive information from questionnaires and medical examinations represents
one of the central components. Biomarker measurements will cover domains as diverse as
nutrition and metabolism, hormonal and other physiological effects of chronic psychological
stress, viral and bacterial infections, immune status, and genetics and epigenetics.
The objectives spanning the studies to be conducted within the National Cohort will provide
a sound basis for establishing improved and more targeted measures for the primary and
secondary prevention of major diseases, tailored to the German population. In the following,
we define general objectives of the National Cohort, and within their general scope we
emphasize more specific areas of research that will be of particular focus.
General objective 1: Identification of etiological pathways from lifestyle and environmental
risk factors to major chronic diseases and functional impairments.
Within the scope of this first general objective, one set of more specific aims is to increase
understanding of the role of particular risk factors in the development of the following major
forms of chronic diseases:
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