Cohort studies

The IKC is a partner and the central laboratory for several major, long-term cohort studies.

The most prominent examples are:

  • Financed by the SNF, the SAPALIDIA (Swiss Study on Air Pollution and Lung Disease in Adults) cohort study is studying the effects of air pollution and other risk factors on various respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. It was initiated in 1991 (SAPALDIA 1, N = 9,000) and since then has had two follow-up studies in 2002 (SAPALDIA 2: N = 6,000) and 2012/13 (SAPALDIA 3: N = 4,000). The IKC analyzed the samples from SAPALDIA 2 and will also do this for SAPALDIA 3.
  • The IKC provides analytical support to the SNF-sponsored Special Program University Medicine’s acute coronary syndrome project SPUM-ACS, which has recruited and monitors more than 3,000 patients with ACS at the university hospitals of Zurich, Bern, Lausanne and Geneva.
  • The IKC is the central laboratory for the DO-HEALTH study financed by the European Commission. Since December 2012, a total of 2,152 men and women who are 70 and older have been recruited in seven European cities and randomized to interventions with vitamin D, omega-3 fatty acids and physical exercise. The effects of these interventions on chronic diseases and life expectancy are monitored over a four-year period. The IKC is measuring a broad spectrum of biomarkers in samples obtained at baseline and at annual follow-up visits.
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