In a series of insightful video-interviews from the partner meeting, leaders of the ORCHESTRA WPs and an EMA representative shared their project highlights and lessons learned from the ORCHESTRA project and discussed strategies for tackling future pandemics. The experts emphasized not only the significant research findings generated through ORCHESTRA but also highlighted the project’s enduring impact through scientific collaboration and the establishment of a secure and interoperable infrastructure that extend beyond its nearing conclusion. The following experts were interviewed on these key topics: • Marco Cavaleri, EMA – “Long COVID and the need for evidence-based treatments: EMA’s strategic vision for future preparedness” https://orchestra-cohort.eu/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Cavaleri-HD_1080p.mp4 • Paolo Boffetta, University of Bologna – “Healthcare workers as a `healthy control´ in COVID-19 research: insights from an 80,000-strong European cohort” https://orchestra-cohort.eu/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Boffetta-HD_1080p.mp4 • Elisa Sicuri, Barcelona Institute for Global Health – “Global inequities and fragile populations: lessons from COVID-19 on vaccine access and healthcare challenges” https://orchestra-cohort.eu/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Sicuri-HD_1080p.mp4 • Surbhi Malhotra, University Antwerpen – “Viral evolution and therapy resistance: ORCHESTRA’s contributions to research on COVID-19 variants and quasi-species” https://orchestra-cohort.eu/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Malhotra-HD_1080p.mp4 • Elisa Rossi, CINECA and Eugenia Rinaldi, Berlin Institute of Health at Charité – “Creating a secure and interoperable data network for COVID-19 research across Europe” https://orchestra-cohort.eu/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Rossi_Rinaldi-HD_1080p.mp4 • Evelina Tacconelli, University of Verona – “ORCHESTRA: advancing long COVID understanding and building a European data infrastructure for future pandemics” https://orchestra-cohort.eu/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Tacconelli-HD_1080p_-_Kopie.mp4

The European Commission, DG Health and Food Safety, hosted an online conference with over 800 participants to highlight the latest news and developments on long COVID in the EU and the US. Health experts, researchers, as well as representatives of patient organizations and policymakers from around the world exchanged their insights and knowledge to better understand and manage the condition and to identify key challenges and knowledge gaps. The insights and collaborations fostered during this conference, which was held on 13 December 2022, continue to hold exceptional value. As one of the speakers for current research evidence, Evelina Tacconelli, leader and coordinator of ORCHESTRA, shared valuable insights from the ORCHESTRA project. Recent research findings Evelina shared were: 💡 There are more than 60 documented symptoms of long COVID, and women are at a threefold higher risk of developing the condition than men. 💡 People who were not hospitalized with COVID-19 can still develop long COVID, regardless of the severity of their initial infection. 💡 The incidence and prevalence of long COVID have been impacted by the introduction of vaccines, with vaccinated individuals having a reduced risk of long COVID and death compared to unvaccinated individuals. 💡 The risk of long COVID varies depending on the circulating variant of the virus. 💡 There is a high level of stigma associated with long COVID. In clonclusion, she highlighted the need for greater public awareness and support for patients with Long COVID, with a need of a consensus on the definition of Long COVID not only including symptoms as the only factor in the definition and the need for more research on vulnerable populations. International collaboration, she argued, remains crucial for addressing this persistent and complex condition. Find the full report of the European Commission here: https://health.ec.europa.eu/system/files/2023-03/ncd_20221213_mi_en.pdf

The Orchestra Project - Connecting European Cohorts to Increase Common and Effective Response to the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic - is successfully concluding with its final partner meeting taking place today at the beautiful Palazzo Giusti in Verona, on 7 and 8 October. The final meeting provides an opportunity for project participants to reflect on their achievements, discuss key findings, and explore the impact of the project on ongoing pandemic response efforts. It is also an opportunity to celebrate the collaborative spirit and scientific achievements that have made this project a success. Coordinated by the Department of Infectious Diseases at the University of Verona, the project brings together scientists from 37 partner institutions in 14 countries. Over the course of four years, this remarkable collaboration has generated vital data to support the management of the COVID-19 pandemic, providing key insights into the virus and shaping public health responses across Europe. The shared knowledge and scientific achievements will leave a lasting legacy and continue to influence future global health strategies and pandemic preparedness. ORCHESTRA has provided key insights into the virus, shaping public health responses across Europe. This shared knowledge and scientific work will leave a lasting legacy, influencing future global health strategies and pandemic preparedness. Thank you to all the valuable contributions of all project participants!

At this year’s Medical Informatics Europe Conference (MIE 2024), the paper “Privacy-Preserving Workflow for the Cross-Border Federated Analysis of Clinical Data” from our ORCHESTRA partners was accepted as a full paper. Miroslav Puškarić presented the research, highlighting a privacy-preserving data analysis workflow that ensures sensitive patient information remains secure while enabling valuable cross-border research. 💡

At this year's ESCMIDGlobal Conference in Barcelona, ORCHESTRA presented two new videos created in cooperation with the communication creatives at Zadig. The first video gives an overview of ORCHESTRA, the second of the Cohort Coordination Board (CCB)

ORCHESTRA proudly presents a vast variety of research results at the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ECCMID), held from April 27-30 2024 in Barcelona, Spain.

A recent study of our ORCHESTRA partners has explored early and long-term immune response to mRNA vaccines in children. mRNA vaccination triggered a higher production of specific anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies along with increased levels of regulatory cells in children with previous SARS-CoV-2 infection up to the following 6 months.

ORCHESTRA has now launched a new infographic shedding light on ORCHESTRA´s Data Management strategy, building on previous infographics covering an ORCHESTRA project overview and Data Protection.

Dr. Noemi Castelletti and Dr. Ana Lucia Mayen-Chacon introduce ORCHESTRA in the EU Horizon project EUGLOHRIA and talk about the relevance of Enhancing Global Collaborative Research "Having such connections could give access to a larger amount of data for international results and also for the mobility of students or researchers that can come and have access to this data"

A new infographic delves into the journey of patient data in ORCHESTRA, starting with the research's design and continuing through the informed consent process to the protection of privacy, all under the vigilant eyes of Ethics Committees aligned with National and European Regulations.

Researchers, including ORCHESTRA researchers from the University of Bonn and the Helmholtz Association, delved into enhancing the security of federated learning (FL). FL aims to allow for analyzing data in a privacy-safe manner while ensuring large sample sizes, hence it maintains high statistical power as a potent method for collaborative data analysis, especially in sensitive fields like healthcare.

The ORCHESTRA science challenge allows external scientists to research their COVID-19 related questions with ORCHESTRA data using federated learning. After looking carefully at the applications, we are happy to now announce the two winners of the challenge.

We have just released our new Cohort Explorer. This webtool lets you explore the data of the ORCHESTRA Public Use File. You can configure feasibility requests and view descriptive population characteristics. It is designed to accommodate both external researchers and individuals unfamiliar with the data structure.

A new analysis in ORCHESTRA  looks at composition, outcomes, risk of bias, and validation of COVID-19 prognostic scores. The objective was to identify COVID-19 scores for daily clinical care, provide an effective overview for decision-makers, and pave the way for future pandemic preparedness.

CD4 cell counts remain the most solid marker to guide vaccination campaigns in PLWH.  Considering the higher risk of worse outcomes after infection, PLWH with more severe immunosuppression should be always prioritized for vaccination – and booster – campaigns. The 3rd booster dose proved to be essential to overcome waning of humoral response and to push this response back to a level associated with protection from infection.

ORCHESTRA has evolved into a robust multinational network, led by University of Verona with 37 partners from 15 countries collaborating closely. This year's annual partner meeting on November 7th, 2023, reaffirmed the profound impact of collective endeavors, with a review of its accomplishments and prospects in a collaborative meeting that highlighted the dedication of its participants.

In a new ORCHESTRA study, researchers explored the post-acute phase experiences of SARS-CoV-2 infection in the Emilia-Romagna and Veneto Regions of Italy. Specifically, the study aimed to investigate the incidence and risk factors of access to specific healthcare services (outpatient visits and diagnostics, drug prescriptions) during the post-acute phase, in a healthy population at low risk of severe acute COVID-19.

Working together with the Milan-based communication experts of Zadig, we are happy to present new graphic materials on our research. A new infographic gives an overview of what our project is all about. We also worked with them to create a video on the most important findings of a recent ORCHESTRA-publication.

In a recent study, ORCHESTRA researchers within the KoCo19 Study of the LMU University Hospital Munich and partners, looked at how our immune systems respond to COVID-19 in different situations: after getting infected, after being vaccinated, or if someone got infected even after vaccination (called “breakthrough infections”).

In the world of pandemic research, understanding the intricate dance between infections, prevention measures, and their consequences on public health is of paramount importance. Within ORCHESTRA, the WP3 team has been ardently focused on unraveling these complexities through an ambitious set of tasks grounded in population-based cohorts.