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.

This ORCHESTA study “Using machine learning to predict antibody response to SARS-CoV-2 vaccination in solid organ transplant recipients: the multicenter ORCHESTRA cohort”, lead by Prof. Maddalena Gianella, University of Bologna, was presented the European Congress of Microbiology (ECCMID) 2023 in Copenhagen and published here: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cmi.2023.04.027. Carried out by the ORCHESTRA partners University of Bologna, University of Antwerp, University of Verona, and Helmholtz Munich, the study researched the question if good level of protection can be reached in solid organ recipients after a booster-doses. Machine learning models were developed to predict the individual risk of negative antibody response using various factors as covariates, including age, type of transplant, time between transplant and vaccination, immunosuppressive drugs, type of vaccine, and functioning of the organ transplant (“graft function”). Please find out more about the study and its outcome in the interview with Prof. Maddalena Gianella.

The '10 Questions to ORCHESTRA Initiative`' is designed to facilitate communication with our researchers and to enable public participation in the research process. The patient perspective is key to understand the true objectives of our research. The idea is to collect important questions from patients and individuals affected by COVID and seek answers using our data.

The ORCHESTRA General Assembly took place on 9 May. The work package leaders presented and discussed work in progress, achievements and further steps. Over 80 members of the ORCHESTRA Consortium Partners joined the Assembly, as well as representatives from the project's Stakeholders, the Advisory Panel, and the Ethics Board, who actively participated by sharing their valuable feedback and suggestions.

The ORCHESTRA General Assembly took place on 9 May. The work package leaders presented and discussed work in progress, achievements and further steps. Over 80 members of the ORCHESTRA Consortium Partners joined the Assembly, as well as representatives from the project's Stakeholders, the Advisory Panel, and the Ethics Board, who actively participated by sharing their valuable feedback and suggestions.

ORCHESTRA proudly presents a vast variety of research results at the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ECCMID), held from April 15-18, 2023, in Copenhagen, Denmark. The project's contributions cover a broad range of topics related to COVID-19, reflecting the project's wide scope of research.

“Integrative modelling of reported case numbers and seroprevalence reveals time-dependent test efficiency and infectious contacts” is a Work Package 8 study conducted under the lead of Helmholtz Center Munich for the modelling and LMU Munich for the data collection. First author Dr. Lorenzo Contento, postdoctoral researcher at the University of Bonn, gives answers about the study.

“SARS-CoV-2 Breakthrough Infections: Incidence and Risk Factors in a Large European Multicentric Cohort of Health Workers” is a study conducted within Work Package 5 (WP5), which is led by Prof. Paolo Bofetta, Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, University of Bologna. The answers were given by his team Mahsa Abedini, Giulia Collatuzzo, Giorgia Ditano, Ludovica Leomanni, Marika D’Agostini, Shuffield Seyram Asafo and Adelajda Matuka.

“Temporal trends of COVID-19 antibodies in vaccinated healthcare workers undergoing repeated serological sampling: An individual-level analysis within 13 months in the ORCHESTRA cohort” is a study conducted within Work Package 5 (WP5), which is led by Prof. Paolo Bofetta, Department of...

We are excited to share that our team for Work Package 8 - "Statistic Modelling and Analysis" recently had an amazing in-person scientific retreat in Paris. This was an opportunity for us to connect and collaborate face-to-face after months of remote work.

“Determinants of Anti-S Immune Response at 9 Months after COVID-19 Vaccination in a Multicentric European Cohort of Healthcare Workers—ORCHESTRA Project” is a study conducted by ORCHESTRA partner University of Bologna and was performed within Work Package 5 “The Healthcare Workers Cohort”.

ORCHESTRA study „Impact of Omicron Variant Infection on Assessment of Spike-Specific Immune Responses Using the EUROIMMUN Quan-T-Cell SARS-CoV-2 Assay and Roche Elecsys Anti-SARS-CoV-2-S“ shows that different tests perform differently with different variants. The publication was performed by Work Package 3 under the lead of ORCHESTRA partner Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (LMU). Christina Reinkemeyer, LMU project manager and co-author of the study gives answers.

Antwerp, 09.02.2023, "Host immunological responses facilitate development of SARS-CoV-2 mutations in patients receiving monoclonal antibody treatments" is a study showing several significant immunological findings: patients treated with various monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) develop escape spike mutations in SARS-CoV-2 where an anti-inflammatory and pro-healing host milieu facilitates development of such mutations...

Host immunological responses facilitate development of SARS-CoV-2 mutations in patients receiving monoclonal antibody treatments" is a study showing several remarkable findings: Patients receiving monoclonal antibody (mAb) treatments for COVID-19 can develop mutations in the virus, and an anti-inflammatory and pro-healing environment in the body can also cause mutations. Furthermore, the scientists developed a score…

The Partners Meeting in Verona, Palazzo Verità-Poet,a on 21 and 22 November 2022 was a wonderful opportunity to discuss first results of the project and to meet for the first time in person. More than 150 researchers and experts from all over Europe and beyond, as well as representatives from the European Commission (EC), the European Centre for the Prevention and Control of Communicable Diseases (ECDC) and the European Medicines Agency (EMA) attended the Partner Meeting.

Healthacare workers usually represent the working group of society – yet they are highly exposed. ORCHESTRA is researching on how they can be better protected. At the same time research on healthcare workers provides scientists with important information on immunity and immune status. “SARS-CoV-2 and Its Variants in Thrice-Infected Health Workers: A Case Series from an Italian University Hospital” is a study that ...

Finding the threshold value in antibody assay after SARS-CoV-2 breakthrough infection in fully vaccinated healthcare workers Knowing the trend of the antibody level in the human blood to SARS-CoV-2 is particularly significant in understanding the immune response against the virus. The ORCHESTRA study “Usefulness and Limitations of Anti-S IgG Assay in Detecting Previous SARS-CoV-2 Breakthrough Infection in Fully Vaccinated Healthcare Workers” investigated if the anti-S IgG assay can be used as indicator for previous SARS-CoV-2 infection.  Gianluca Spiteri and Maria Grazia Lourdes Monaco, occupational physicians of Occupational Medicine Unit at the University Hospital of Verona, are first authors of the study and explain what the team - associated with ORCHESTRA Work Package 5 (WP5 – the Healthcare Workers Cohort) – researched.

This publication has been performed by Work Package 2. This publication was produced by Work Package 2. The responses were given by Maria Giulia Caponcello, Clinical Research Associate, Servicio Andaluz de Salud, SAS.

The “ORCHESTRA Core Data elements for COVID-19" (OcDeC), which is a core data set of standardised variables for use and future use with the goal to simplify the merging of data and to increase metadata quality, is the result of the joint efforts undertaken by the ORCHESTRA team lead by BIH_Charité Home - Berlin Institute of Health at Charité (bihealth.org).The "Development of OcDeC within ORCHESTRA" has now been shortlisted for the Interoperability Award 2022: Interoperability Award 2022 - X-eHealth. The Interoperability Award is part of the European Union project X-eHealth (X-eHealth - Exchanging Electronic Health Records) that aims to bring forward e-Health in Europe for an international benefit. After the evaluation by an international jury, and out of a total of 19 applications from 10 countries (Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark, France, Germany, Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia and Switzerland), 13 projects were chosen to be candidates fort the award. All 13 projects have achieved significant work in the field of health digitalisation.

The ORCHESTRA podcast is intended to contribute to highlighting different aspects in research. Each podcast will have different guests from different professional backgrounds, each sharing experience, learnings and knowledge from their specific perspective. Episode 1 gives an overview of ORCHESTRA - with a quick run through the different work packages - and its mission . Prof. Evelina Tacconelli, head of ORCHESTRA, talks about benefits, challenges and how her team from the University of Verona convinced her to apply for the E.U. Horizon2020 research project on COVID-19 - which has become ORCHESTRA: a multidisciplinary European and international research infrastructure sharing tasks, expertise and efforts for the benefit of COVID-19 patients.