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.

We are thrilled to share that the European Commission has officially approved and signed an amendment for a 12-month, no-cost extension of the ORCHESTRA Grant Agreement. This pivotal development paves the way for an exciting extension of the project's duration, enhancing its potential impact and further solidifying the commitment of all partners involved.

The ORCHESTRA project has just published a new long COVID-19 syndrome study in the eClinical Medicine journal. The study will help the design of clinical trials to improve symptoms and the impact on quality of life for these patients.

The ORCHESTRA science challenge is designed to allow external scientists to research their pressing COVID-19 related questions with ORCHESTRA data. The application process is now open and will end on 30/09/2023. The accepted participants will be allowed to perform analysis of cohort data with the help of Federated Learning and our ORCHESTRA team. A publication of the results is part of the challenge under consideration of the ORCHESTRA consortium.