With 'MoReHealth – A Best Practice for Standardized Multi-omics Health Research in Personalized Medicine in Lower Saxony', a pioneering project for personalised healthcare is being launched in Lower Saxony. MoReHealth is coordinated by the Hannover Unified Biobank (HUB), a partner biobank of the German Biobank Alliance (GBA). HUB contributes its expertise in biosample management and is responsible for a large proportion of the biosamples used in the project. MoReHealth is funded by the Ministry of Science and Culture of Lower Saxony and the Volkswagen Foundation with three million euros.
Building on existing cohorts
The project builds on existing cohorts from the RESIST Cluster of Excellence: since 2019, around 650 healthy seniors and 150 patients with a herpes infection have been enrolled in studies. These biospecimens and data will form the basis for standardised multi-omics analyses that will use artificial intelligence to identify new predictive biomarkers – with the aim of gaining a better understanding of age-related infection risks.
Standardisation and quality control
"Only with consistent standardisation and quality control can high-quality, comparable data be generated, which is essential for the development of digital tools and modelable disease progression," emphasises Prof. Dr. Thomas Illig, head of the HUB and member of the GBN Steering Committee. "MoReHealth demonstrates the value of biomedical infrastructures such as the HUB for personalised medicine."
Interdisciplinary collaboration
The project brings together research, clinical and infrastructure partners – including Hannover Medical School (MHH), Göttingen University Medical Centre (UMG), Braunschweig Technical University and the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI). Dr. Sara Haag, Head of the Omics Division of the Translational Alliance in Lower Saxony (TRAIN Omics): "MoReHealth is an example of interdisciplinary collaboration and efficient use of existing resources." The project is expected to start in autumn 2025.
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