People with cardiovascular diseases are among those with an increased risk of severe disease progression when infected with SARS-CoV-2. For many Covid-19 patients, the consequences for the heart and other organs are severe, up to long-term damage to heart and lung function. Therefore, the German Heart Foundation provides 940,000 euros in research funding to fight against SARS-CoV-2 in an ad hoc initiative. The aim is to contribute as quickly as possible to the answering of the most urgent questions on the novel coronavirus in connection with cardiovascular diseases and congenital heart defects. From a total of 60 research proposals, 14 were selected. Among them are five projects by DZHK scientists:
Prof. Dr. med. Eike Nagel
Institute for Experimental and Translational Cardiovascular Imaging, University Hospital Frankfurt a. M.
Assessment of cardiac involvement in COVID-19 survivors
110,000 Euro
Dr. Sebastian Cremer
Medical Clinic III/Cardiology and Institute for Cardiovascular Regeneration, University Hospital Frankfurt a. M.
Defining an immune cell signature of COVID-19 infections in patients with atherosclerosis
70,000 Euro
Dr. Katharina Lechner
Clinic for Cardiovascular Diseases, German Heart Centre Munich
Metabolic-inflammatory phenotype and clinical course in COVID-19
53,900 Euro
Dr. Leo Nicolai
Medical Clinic and Polyclinic I, LMU Clinic of the University of Munich, Campus Großhadern
HEART Immunophenotyping in COVID-19 - Analysis of blood leukocytes in COVID-19 patients with CHD, heart failure, and cardiovascular risk profile
130,000 Euro
Dr. rer. nat. Diana Lindner, PhD
University Heart and Vascular Center Hamburg, Clinic for Cardiology, Experimental and Molecular Cardiology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE)
Cardiac inflammation due to direct virus infection in deceased COVID-19 patients
80,000 Euro
Overview of all research projects: www.herzstiftung.de/COVID-19-Projektfoerderung.html
Source: Press release of the German Heart Foundation