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Four new projects have been approved as part of the FWF’s “SARS-CoV-2 acute funding”.
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Scientists at the Medical University of Vienna want to use so-called biomarkers to make a reliable prognosis of the course of a Covid 19 disease.
Alice Assinger from the Vascular Biology and Thrombosis Research Institute receives 290,000 euros from the FWF Scientific Fund for her research. His project is one of four being funded by FWF’s “SARS-CoV-2 acute funding,” the fund announced Thursday.
Understanding of individual diseases should be made possible
In his project, Assinger wants to investigate short segments of RNA (microRNA) that circulate in the blood as alternative biomarkers to predict the course of the disease. They are already being used to diagnose other diseases, but their role in Covid-19 is not completely clear yet. Together with colleagues from Austria and Sweden, the researchers want to find out which microRNAs are modified in severe courses of Covid-19. This should allow a deeper understanding of the individual disease process and a reliable prognosis of the course of the disease.
More projects are funded
A project by Andreas Bergthaler from the Research Center for Molecular Medicine (CeMM) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW) is also being funded. The molecular biologist leads the team that sequences SARS-CoV-2 viruses on a large scale in Austria and analyzes the spread of mutations. With a grant of 490,000 euros, Bergthaler now wants to deepen his research to better understand the spread of the virus and its mutations.
Educational scientist Oliver Koenig from the Bertha von Suttner Private University in St. Pölten wants to investigate the long-term effects of the pandemic on the situation of children, adolescents and adults with disabilities. To this end, data should not only be collected over the next three years to track the evolution of the pandemic to date and make the burdens understandable from the perspective of those affected. The objective of the project, which is financed with 398,000 euros, is also the development of a prototype of an inclusive crisis monitoring model to be able to face the aftermath and future challenges of crises in a sustainable way and on an equal footing.
Ulrike Zartler, from the Institute of Sociology at the University of Vienna, wants to investigate the short, medium and long-term effects of the pandemic on families in a qualitative longitudinal study across Austria and provide a detailed insight into their living environment throughout throughout the course. of the pandemic. The family sociologist has been conducting this study, for which she now receives 299,000 euros, since the first week of the first confinement in March 2020, asking parents with children of preschool or school age.
To date, 205 applications for funding have been submitted for researchers
As part of the “acute funding of SARS-CoV-2” initiated by the FWF in March of the previous year, 205 researchers have so far submitted applications for funding amounting to € 68 million. Of these, 23 projects have been approved so far that will receive a total of 7.7 million euros. This fast track procedure for investigative work related to SARS-CoV-2 expires at the end of March, requests on this topic will be dealt with in the future within the scope of the usual FWF portfolio, in accordance with the request of the APA.
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