ISIDORe Case Study: BBMRI-ERIC Latvia – biobanking enabling pandemic preparedness research

The ISIDORe project is a major European initiative focusing on studying infectious diseases and improving Europe’s ability to respond to future epidemics and pandemics.

The project brought together the largest and most diverse set of research infrastructure provided facilities and services that cover areas from structural biology to clinical trials.

Throughout its duration, ISIDORe facilitated scientists with access to state-of-the-art equipment, advanced expertise and integrated services, which has helped accelerate the development of new solutions to fight infectious diseases, particularly in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Investigating long-term effects of COVID-19

Dr. Philipp Hohensinner, Principal Investigator at the Medical University Vienna, and his team had been studying Covid-19 infections for some time and developed a mouse model to track the progression of the virus.

Their goal was to explore whether there were any lasting effects after the virus was cleared. Upon investigating, the team discovered that even after the virus was fully cleared from the mice, signs of inflammation and prolonged immune system activation persisted. This led the team to question whether these effects were specific to their mouse model or if they could be observed in other species, including humans.

Connecting researchers with biobanks

To confirm their findings, they decided to investigate the same patterns in a human population sample, which led them to the ISIDORe project.

The ISIDORe team plays a crucial role as a bridge between researchers and biobanks, facilitating access to valuable clinical samples and data stored in biobanks, understanding their needs and requirements and ensuring that the samples and data provided align with the research objectives.

In this specific case, the ISIDORe team successfully matched Dr. Hohensinner’s research needs with samples available in the Genome Database of Latvian Population (LGDB), the Latvian National Node of BBMRI-ERIC.

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