Research

Funding: BMBF, 114.582 EUR

Project Details:
Obwohl auf Genomebene in Fledertieren eine Vielzahl von Viren nachgewiesen wurden, gibt es nur eine geringe Zahl, die in Form infektiöser Virusisolate vorliegen. Da der Nachweis von Fledertierviren sehr häufig aus Kotproben erfolgt, sollten differenzierte Darmzellen die Zielzellen vieler dieser Viren sein, weshalb sie für die Isolierung von Fledertierviren aus Kotproben besonders geeignet erscheinen.
Ziel des Projektes ist die Etablierung eines Kultursystems bestehend aus intestinalen Organoiden von Fledermäusen, mit dem es ermöglicht werden soll, Fledermausviren zu isolieren und ihre Vermehrungseigenschaften sowie ihr zoonotisches Potential näher zu charakterisieren.

Results:

https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/spectrum.03098-22

Funding: MELUND, 56.077 EUR

Project Details:
Research on marine mammals started in Büsum after the first seal mortality in 1988/89. The aim of the scientists is to study the biology and ecology of marine mammals and to assess the impact of humans on the animals, their health and their population. The scientific focus is on studies of health (exposure to pollutants, underwater noise, stress, immune system, infectious diseases, etc.) as well as behaviour, habitat use, population densities and impacts of anthropogenic interventions. Among other lines of research, the scientists are currently investigating the effects of underwater noise (e.g. from explosions, offshore wind turbines, shipping) on the behaviour and health of seals and harbour porpoises, chemical pollution and waste, disturbances and fishing on marine mammals. The stranding network ensures that whales and seals found on the coasts of Schleswig-Holstein can be reported, recovered and necropsied. The state of health is determined by means of further histological, microbiological and parasitological examinations. In this project, the tissues of porpoises found dead in the North Sea and the Baltic Sea will be examined for specific pollutants and the auditory apparatus will be analysed.
The following pollutants will be investigated in the liver and fat of harbour porpoises from waters in Schleswig-Holstein: polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and derivatives, dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane (DDT), polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and mercury (Hg). The results of the toxicological investigation will be combined with the data on health status from the autopsies and an ecotoxicological assessment will be made. The results will be used for the development of further investigations for the various agreements, such as HELCOM, OSPAR, MSRL, and development of indicators.
For investigations of the auditory apparatus, dead harbour porpoises recovered within the framework of the small cetacean monitoring programme of the Land of Schleswig-Holstein should be collected immediately after reporting in order to remove and preserve the ears as fresh as possible for the investigation. In particular, harbour porpoises found dead after blasting and other impulse sound events as well as by-catches and live strandings shall be included. High-resolution computed tomography scans of the ear bones will be performed as well as confocal microscopic and histological examinations.
The studies on the auditory apparatus of harbour porpoises carried out in this project will be considered in the context of ongoing or completed studies at ITAW with similar questions. The results of this project will be used to assess whether changes in various structures of the auditory pathways may have been caused by exposure of harbour porpoises to explosions or other impulsive sound events.

Results:

Bericht an das Ministerium für Energiewende, Klimaschutz, Umwelt und Natur des Landes Schleswig-Holstein

https://www.schleswig-holstein.de/DE/fachinhalte/A/artenschutz/Downloads/untersuchungSchweinswale2021.pdf?__blob=publicationFile&v=1

Funding: This work was supported by COVID-19 Research Network of the State of Lower Saxony (COFONI) with funding from the Ministry of Science and Culture of Lower Saxony, Germany (14-76403-184) and by PRACTIS?Clinician Scientist Program of Hannover Medical School, funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG-ME3696/3-1)., 50.000 EUR

Project Details:
Vaccination is an important measure in controlling the COVID-19 pandemic. However, there were pharmocovigilance concerns as a very rare but potentially disastrous complication was identified after application with the ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 vaccine, i.e. cerebral sinus thrombosis, but also further thrombotic complications including ischemic stroke. Meanwhile, the most likely mechanism has been identified as platelet factor 4 (PF4) antibody mediated immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia, a mechanism which is already known from heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT). Interestingly NETs were suggested to be critical for thrombus formation in the HIT-pathophysiology as well. Markers of NETosis were observed in platelet-rich thrombi in the lungs of mice with HIT. Therefore, NETs might also be involved in vaccine-induced immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia (VITT) mediated thrombotic complications and might therefore be a common trunk in the pathogenesis of COVID-19 and vaccine-induced complications. Moreover, biomarkers reflecting NETs burden in the circulation and within tissue specimens (e.g. cerebral thrombi) may be suitable as diagnostic, therapeutic or prognostic targets in thrombotic diseases. Most importantly, there is a tremendous need to identify patients at risk for cerebrovascular complications due to both COVID-19 and VITT. The proposed project ISI-VITT is intended to contribute to addressing this issue.

Cooperation Partners:

Cerebrovascular Research Group (Head: Prof. Dr. Karin Weissenborn), Deptartment of Neurology, Medical School Hannover: Dr. Ramona Schuppner & Dr. Gerrit M. Grosse

Prof. Dr. Christine Falk, Institute for Transplantation Immunology, Medical School Hannover

Funding: MWK über UMG Göttingen, 29.847 EUR

Project Details:
SARS-CoV-2 (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus Type 2) is the causative agent of COVID-19. The course of the COVID-19 pandemic so far has emphatically shown that a coordinated bundling of interdisciplinary and complementary expertise is necessary in order to decode the diverse aspects of the biology, pathology and epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2 and to use the knowledge gained clinically for the treatment of patients as well as for modeling the course of infection in the population. In order to be able to provide and implement such a holistic approach, the federal state of Lower Saxony offers ideal conditions with its internationally renowned science locations. We are therefore applying for financial support for collaborative research to set up a COVID-19 research network in the state of Lower Saxony (COFONI).

Funding: MWK über UMG Göttingen, 34.750 EUR

Project Details:
SARS-CoV-2 (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus Type 2) is the causative agent of COVID-19. The course of the COVID-19 pandemic so far has emphatically shown that a coordinated bundling of interdisciplinary and complementary expertise is necessary in order to decode the diverse aspects of the biology, pathology and epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2 and to use the knowledge gained clinically for the treatment of patients as well as for modeling the course of infection in the population. In order to be able to provide and implement such a holistic approach, the federal state of Lower Saxony offers ideal conditions with its internationally renowned science locations. We are therefore applying for financial support for collaborative research to set up a COVID-19 research network in the state of Lower Saxony (COFONI).

Funding: MWK über UMG Göttingen, 41.000 EUR

Project Details:
SARS-CoV-2 (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus Type 2) is the causative agent of COVID-19. The course of the COVID-19 pandemic so far has emphatically shown that a coordinated bundling of interdisciplinary and complementary expertise is necessary in order to decode the diverse aspects of the biology, pathology and epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2 and to use the knowledge gained clinically for the treatment of patients as well as for modeling the course of infection in the population. In order to be able to provide and implement such a holistic approach, the federal state of Lower Saxony offers ideal conditions with its internationally renowned science locations. We are therefore applying for financial support for collaborative research to set up a COVID-19 research network in the state of Lower Saxony (COFONI).

Funding: MWK über UMG Göttingen, 44.446 EUR

Project Details:
SARS-CoV-2 (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus Type 2) is the causative agent of COVID-19. The course of the COVID-19 pandemic so far has emphatically shown that a coordinated bundling of interdisciplinary and complementary expertise is necessary in order to decode the diverse aspects of the biology, pathology and epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2 and to use the knowledge gained clinically for the treatment of patients as well as for modeling the course of infection in the population. In order to be able to provide and implement such a holistic approach, the federal state of Lower Saxony offers ideal conditions with its internationally renowned science locations. We are therefore applying for financial support for collaborative research to set up a COVID-19 research network in the state of Lower Saxony (COFONI).

Funding: Nationalparverwaltung "Nieders. Wattenmeer"" Wilhelmshaven", 39.080 EUR

Project Details:
The aim of the project is a survey of the local grey seal population in the entire Lower Saxony and Hamburg Wadden Sea during the birthing season (November-December) and at the time of the fur change (March-April).
On five trilaterally coordinated dates (three during the birthing season; two during the fur-change period), airborne surveys will be conducted with a single-engine aircraft. During the aerial surveys of the tidal flats, a high-resolution SLR camera will be used to photograph the haul-outs. In order to determine the number of young born as well as the total population, the photos taken are subsequently analyzed on the computer.

Results:

Schop J., Abel C., Brasseur S., Galatius A., Jeß A., Meise K., Meyer J., van Neer A., Stejskal O., Siebert U., Teilmann J., Thøstesen C. B. (2022) Grey Seal Numbers in the Wadden Sea and on Helgoland in 2021-2022. Common Wadden Sea Secretariat, Wilhelmshaven, Germany.

https://www.waddensea-worldheritage.org/resources/2021-2022-grey-seal-report

Project Details:
Frequencies of Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae isolates resistant against various antimicrobial substances will be compared in the years 2006-2021. Frequencies of coinfecting agents will be determined.

Results:

doi: 10.3389/fvets.2021.802570

Funding: EU, 8.320 EUR

Project Details:
The overall aim of the HELCOM BLUES project is to support regional capacity, coordination and cooperation with regards to developing effective measures to secure good status of the marine environment. This includes provisioning, and making available, necessary knowledge to advance the development and implementation of joint measures addressing common pressures, as well as to provide concrete support to the decision-making process within the Baltic Sea region.
The task carried out by TiHo focuses on highly mobile and under-reported groups (here: cetaceans), and considers several aspects identified in recent HELCOM review processes to be knowledge/assessment gaps and aspects of high regional priority. The harbour porpoise can be categorised as both a highly mobile and an under-reported species in the Baltic Sea region. At present, there are no functional regional HELCOM indicator(s) to assess status for abundance or distribution, which are two of the primary Marine Strategy Framework Directive criteria under MSFD D1. This clear gap was identified as a high priority for the HELCOM region. This task will provide support for the HELCOM indicator team and focus on improving methods and operational assessments of harbour porpoise abundance by HOLAS III, and on harmonising methods of assessment with other EU regions (i.e. OSPAR and HELCOM). The main aspects addressed by TiHo are:
1) Establishment of a harmonised approach to indicator development for harbour porpoises between HELCOM and OSPAR (of particular relevance to shared marine areas);
2) Assessing trend in abundance for assessment of the Belt Sea population;

Results:

final report of the EU project "HELCOM BLUES"""

https://blues.helcom.fi/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/HELCOM-BLUES_Activity_2.4-Harbour-porpoise-Main-report.pdf

Cooperation Partners:

Project coordinator

Helsinki Commission (HELCOM), Finland

Partners

Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW), Germany

University of Hamburg, Germany

Natural Resources Institute Finland (LUKE), Finland

Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE), Finland

Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Aquatic Resources (SLU Aqua), Sweden

Stockholm University (SU), Sweden

Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute (SMHI), Sweden

Swedish Agency for Marine and Water Management (SwAM), Sweden

Tallinn University of Technology (TalTech), Estonia

University of Tartu (UT), Estonia

Center for Environmental Policy (AAPC), Lithuania

Latvian Institute of Aquatic Ecology, Latvia