CAPNETZ network of competence, foundation, study
3 activities – one goal: no chance for CAP
The purpose of the foundation CAPNETZ STIFTUNG (CAP, community-acquired pneumonia) is to advance academic research on community-acquired pneumonia and other lower respiratory tract infections. Through the CAPNETZ databases and networks fundamental, microbiological, and clinical research are facilitated to investigate prevention, diagnostics and therapy management on CAP.
AFROCAP PILOT - Studying Community-Acquired Pneumonia in Sub-Saharan Africa
The AFROCAP-PILOT project is a collaborative research initiative between the Else Kröner Center for Heart and Lung Diseases , Ifakara Health Institute and St Francis Regional Referral Hospital in Tanzania as well as Charité–Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany , Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Switzerland , and CAPNETZ STIFTUNG, Germany.
The goal of the AFROCAP-PILOT project is to systematically collect data to gain first insight into clinical and epidemiological features, risk factors, pathogens and host response of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) in patients treated in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Importance and Impact: Building on the existing formal collaboration between Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Swiss TPH, and the Ifakara Health Institute, this new partnership with CAPNETZ STIFTUNG will establish a pilot for extending CAPNETZ study protocol to Tanzania.
Study registration: https://drks.de/search/de/trial/DRKS00039580/details
If successfully implemented, the benefits of such an effort will enable building a multi-center research network in Africa, having a lasting impact on the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of CAP in sub-Saharan Africa. In addition, the systematic collection of data and storage of valuable biological material is expected to foster scientific research, collaboration and improve medical treatments for CAP.
Primary Sponsor: CAPNETZ STIFTUNG
Contact for scientific/general inquiries:
- PD Dr. Thomas Zoller, Department of Infectious Diseases, Respiratory Medicine and Critical Care Medicine with Sleep Medicine, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany
- Dr. Samuel Mutasingwa Salvatory, Head of Heart and Lung Clinic, Ifakara Health Institute, Ifakara, United Republic of Tanzania.
- PD Dr. Martin Rohacek, Ifakara Health Institute, Ifakara, United Republic of Tanzania; Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Allschwil, Switzerland; University of Basel, Switzerland.
CAPNETZ ACADEMY – Promoting Scientific Excellence in Respiratory Medicine and Infectious Disease Research
For more than 20 years, the CAPNETZ STIFTUNG has been committed to researching community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) and acute respiratory infections. With the CAPNETZ ACADEMY, it creates a unique support environment for doctors and researchers who aim to combine clinical and scientific excellence and thereby contribute to the advancement of modern, evidence-based medicine.
At the core of the Academy are two structured funding programs that specifically strengthen the scientific independence and career development of young talents.
The Clinician Scientist Program is the central funding program of the CAPNETZ ACADEMY. It is aimed at young physicians who wish to combine their clinical work with scientific research and gain new insights into respiratory infections, particularly community-acquired pneumonia.
Participants are given the opportunity to further develop within the CAPNETZ network in an interdisciplinary environment and to conduct their own research projects with access to the extensive CAPNETZ data and biomaterials.
The program supports protected research time and enables the development of long-term scientific career perspectives.
With the Clinical Data Scientist Program, the CAPNETZ ACADEMY is launching a new funding format for the first time in 2025, responding to the growing importance of data science and artificial intelligence in medicine.
The program is aimed at young medical doctors as well as researchers from STEM fields (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) who wish to work at the intersection of clinical research and data science. Its goal is to develop data-based methods that contribute to improved analysis, modeling, and personalized treatment of patients with respiratory infections.
In close collaboration with the CAPNETZ network, the program supports projects that build a bridge between medical practice, large clinical cohort data, machine learning or artificial intelligence-based data analysis, thus laying foundation for digital health.
A shared mission
Both programs combine scientific curiosity and data-driven innovation with the goal of sustainably improving the care of patients with acute respiratory infection.
The CAPNETZ ACADEMY stands for interdisciplinary collaboration, scientific excellence, and top-level support for early-career researchers — in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.
COMPETENCE NETWORK
The competence network CAPNETZ was established in 2001 by the German ministry of education and research (BMBF, Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung) and has been expanding ever since. Physicians and researchers in Germany and Europe take part in this interdisciplinary collaboration towards new knowledge and inquiries on CAP and other acute respiratory infections. Improvements in disease management and better outcomes for patients and the healthcare system are brought about by the transfer of knowledge into medical practice.
CAPNETZ STUDY
The CAPNETZ study is a prospective multi-central observational study on community-acquired pneumonia. After two decades of patient recruitments the CAPNETZ study encompasses comprehensive data and biomaterials of over 14 000 CAP patients. These data and biomaterials form the basis for downstream research questions and constitute informative value for the national S3 guideline on CAP covering epidemiology, diagnosis, therapy and management of the disease.
RESEARCH FUNDING
The CAPNETZ STIFTUNG acts as a foundation which supports clinical and fundamental research as well as applied biomedical research on community-acquired pneumonia and other infections of the lower respiratory tract. Furthermore, every form of observational as well as clinical study (prevention, vaccination, diagnostic and therapeutic studies) can be conducted using the well established study project infrastructure of the foundation.
Interested researchers can formally request access to patient data and biomaterials, or collaborate with CAPNETZ STIFTUNG in implementation and data management of novel study projects.
The CAPNETZ STIFTUNG is associated partner of the German centre for lung research (DZL). The DZL was founded in 2011 as one of six German national centres for health research which are carried by BMBF and the federal state they are located in. Within the multi-disciplinary collaborative framework of the DZL innovative therapies and solutions for lung diseases are developed by leading researchers and physicians. As part of this collaborative effort CAPNETZ STIFTUNG contributes and receives support in terms of research and study infrastructure and public funding.