»Vienna Researches Corona«

The WWTF funds data collection: WWTF COVID-19 Rapid Response Call

In times of the global corona crisis, science is highly active: It helps to develop diagnostic tests, therapies and vaccinations, to make prognoses about the future course of the pandemic, and how to deal with the societal consequences. In order to be able to react quickly to the challenges of the crisis and to collect research-relevant data in a timely manner, within one week WWTF launched the "COVID-19 Rapid Response Funding", endowed with funds from the private non-profit WWTF and two private sponsors, including the MEGA Bildungsstiftung.

Today's research is the key to tomorrow - more than ever in times of the Corona crisis, but with your support, the possibilities are endless. Your donation will pay off twice: every euro donated to the WWTF is tax-deductible in Austria and will be doubled by the City of Vienna. If you would like to support these research projects with your donation, you can do so via our donation page.

24 research projects from various scientific disciplines were selected by revierwers(Thomas Dorner (MUW), Irene Fialka (iNiTS), Klemens Himpele (WWTF Kuratorium, Stadt Wien), Helga Nowotny (ERA Council Forum Austria, RFTE), Fritz Ohler (former technopolis), Rudolf Winter-Ebmer (JKU Linz)) from all submissions, which will be funded with up to € 50,000.

Information on the projects can be found below - for a better overview, they have been divided into six categories:

Understand and fight the virus
Expansion of test capacities
Epidemiology and public health
Understand society in the crisis
Education and school
Economy and logistics

If you have any questions about the Call and the WWTF, please contact Michael Stampfer.

Understand and Fight the Virus

Mutational dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 in Austria

Andreas Bergthaler | Center for Molecular Medicine (CeMM)

(in collaboration with: Medical University of Vienna; Austian Agency for Health and Food Safety Ltd. (AGES) and other Austrian universities)

Rene Geyeregger | Children's Cancer Research Institute

(in collaboration with: Oliver H. Robak, Medical Univeristy of Vienna; Christoph Steininger,Medical Univeristy of Vienna; Christof Jungbauer, Austrian Red Cross; Volker Witt, St. Anna Children's Hospital; Hedda Wardemann, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ); Florian Halbritter, Children's Cancer Research Insitute (CCRI); Matthias Farlik-Födinger, Medical Univeristy of Vienna)

Chris Oostenbrink | Universität für Bodenkultur Wien

(In collaboration with: Josef Penninger, University of British Columbia, IMBA & Apeiron; Johannes Stadlmann, IMBA & University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences)

Josef Penninger | Institute of Molecular Biotechnology (IMBA)

(in collaboration with: Ali Mirazimi, Karolinska Institutet; Nuria Montserrat, Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC), Apeiron Biologics)

The Penninger lab has made seminal discoveries in ACE2, its critical in vivo role as SARS receptor and its role in protecting multiple tissues from organ damage. RACE2 is also the critical receptor for SARS-CoV2, the cause of COVID19. Recently they have generated preliminary data that SARS-CoV2 can infect blood vessels organoids (which we can develop from human iPS cells; Wimmer et al. Nature 2019), a critical finding to understand viral spread into distant tissues. To fundamentally understand SARS-CoV2 infections of blood vessels, we now propose to generate large quantities of these vessels and study the cytotoxicity of the virus and gene expression profiles of infected blood vessels at the single cell resolution in vitro and in vivo, in the presence and absence of soluble ACE2, which is undergoing clinical testing for COVID19 patients.

Funding: € 50,000
Duration: 1 May 2020 - 31 April 2021

Contact and PI details: https://www.imba.oeaw.ac.at/research/josef-penninger/

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Expansion of test capacities

COVID-19 specific antibody tests to assess immunity in the population

Wilhem Gerner | Vetmeduni Vienna

(in Kooperation mit Miriam Klausberger, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences; Reingard Grabherr, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences; Florian Grebien, Vetmeduni Vienna; Heinz Burgmann, Medical University of Vienna)

Alwin Köhler | Max Perutz Labs (University of Vienna)

(in collaboration with: Max Perutz Labs, a Joint Venture of the Univeristy of Vienna and the Medical University of Vienna; University of Vienna; IMP; IMBA; GMI and other institutions in Vienna)

Johannes Zuber | Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP)

(in collaboration with: Julius Brennecke, IMBA; Andrea Pauli, IMP; Ulrich Elling, IMBA; Stefan Ameres, IMBA; Alwin Köhler, University of Vienna/VCDI; Manuela Födinger (KFJ/KAV))

Epidemiology and Public Health

COVID-19: Number of undetected cases and immunity in the Viennese population - data from the Vienna health study LEAD

Otto Chris Burghuber | Ludwig Boltzmann Gesellschaft (LBG)

(in collaboration with: Wiener Krankenanstaltenverbund, Sigmund Freud Universität)

Allan Hanbury | TU Wien

(in collaboration with: Complexity Science Hub; dwh GmbH; SpotOn Statistics GmbH, Statistik Austria)

Galateja Jordakieva | Medical University of Vienna
Ruth Kutalek | Medizinische Universität Wien

(in collaboration with: Richard Crevenna, Medical University of Vienna; Maren Jeleff, Medical University of Vienna; Elena Jirovsky, Medical University of Vienna)

Heinz Katschnig | IMEHPS.research

Peter Klimek | Complexity Science Hub

(in collaboration with: Medical University of Vienna)

Thomas Niederkrotenthaler | Medical University of Vienna

(in collaboration with: David Garcia, Complexity Science Hub (CSH) and Medical University of Vienna)

Tanja Stamm | Medical University of Vienna

(in collaboration with: Erika Mosor, Valentin Ritschl, Maisa Omara, Martin Posch, Franz König, Matthias Wielscher and Michael Hiesmayr, Medical University of Vienna; Susanne Perkhofer, FHG Innsbruck; Michael Schirmer, Medical University of Innsbruck; Angelika Rzepka, Bernhard Pfeifer, Peter Kastner and Anton Dunzendorfer, Austrian Institute of Technology; Florian Stigler and Martin Sprenger, Medical University of Graz; Siegfried Walch and Nils Mevenkamp, Management Center Innsbruck)

Understand Society in the Crisis

Panel survey in the Corona crisis

Bernhard Kittel | University of Vienna

(in collaboration with: Sylvia Kritzinger, University of Vienna; Hajo Boomgaarden, University of Vienna; Barbara Prainsack, University of Vienna)

Josef Kohlbacher | Austrian Academy of Sciences
Maria Six-Hohenbalken | Austrian Academy of Sciences

(in collaboration with: Institut for Socialanthropolog Austrian Academy of Sciences)

Katharina Mader | WU Wien

(in collaboration with: Arbeiterkammer Wien; Frauenabteilung)

Willems, Jurgen | WU Wien

Education and School

Learning in a state of emergency - risks and opportunities

Ursula Holtgrewe | Zentrum für Soziale Innovation (ZSI)

Barbara Schober | University of Vienna

(in collaboration with: Marko Lüftenegger, University of Vienna; Christiane Spiel, University of Vienna)

Mario Steiner | Institut für Höhere Studien (IHS)

Economy and Logistics

Forecasting models to ensure the provision of services of general interest

Fazel Ansari | TU Wien

(in collaboration with Fraunhofer Austria; Bundesministerium für Digitalisierung und Wirtschaftsstandort; Bundeministerium für Landwirtschaft, Regionen und Tourismus; Universität Salzburg; Universität Klagenfurt)

Jonas Puck | WU Wien

(in collaboration with: Thomas Lindner, Jakob Müllner, Michael Wolfesberger (WU Vienna); Andreas König, Universität Passau; Oesterreichische Nationalbank (OeNB); Wirtschaftskammer Österreich (WKO))

Stefan Thurner | Complexity Science Hub

(in cooperation with: Manfred Gronalt, Medical University of Vienna; Beate Pinior, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences; Vetmeduni Vienna)