Austrian Cohort Initiative (ATCI)

What is the Austrian Cohort Initiative?

The Austrian Cohort Initiative (ATCI) is a strategic effort, initiated by the Medical University of Vienna (MUW), Department of Epidemiology, BBMRI.at, and EIRENE, in collaboration with research and public health stakeholders across Austria, to strengthen, coordinate, and expand cohort-based research.

Recognising the pivotal role that both cohort studies (longitudinal collections of participants, their samples, health data, environmental exposures, lifestyle information, etc.) and biobanks play in advancing understanding of health, disease, prevention and policy, the initiative aims to bring together and leverage the synergies of existing and planned cohort activities in Austria to maximise their scientific impact.

The ATCI is jointly led by Eva Schernhammer from the Department of Epidemiology at the Medical University of Vienna, Cornelia Stumptner from BBMRI.at, and Benedikt Warth from the Austrian EIRENE node ‘Exposome Austria’, with additional support from Maria Uhl, representing the Austrian Human Biomonitoring Platform.

Why is it needed?

Cohorts and biobank collections are an essential basis for addressing health-related questions and supporting innovative research and policy developments. They allow scientists for example to

– Assess the influence of biological and environmental, or lifestyle on health and disease.

– Better understand health as well as the development of diseases.

– Monitor the spread and impact of infectious diseases.

– Developing new concepts for chronic disease prevention as well as healthy aging.

Cohorts also help identify and reduce exposure to harmful substances and promote preventive behaviours and healthy lifestyles. These efforts strengthen public health literacy, promote sustainable living, and ultimately help reduce healthcare costs and burdens.

Many biobanks contribute to the biospecimen collections of cohort studies through their professional facilities, services and expertise – e.g., in sample storage, quality management, and pre-analytics.

ATCI’s key focus areas

Synergies & efficiency

Bringing together Austrian cohorts to explore their potential contribution to the Austrian Health Targets (Österreichische Gesundheitsziele), and facilitating exchange of expertise in sample, data, and quality management as well as participant questionnaires and ELSI (ethical, legal, and social implications) topics.

Modern cohort concepts

Incorporating new technologies, exposure measurements, digital health tools, omics data, and data integration approaches.

Enhancing impact

Strengthening the synergies, visibility, accessibility, and usability of cohort resources (samples, data, metadata) for both academic and industry research.

Addressing gaps and unmet needs

Identifying areas where cohorts can be optimized or are lacking (e.g. in specific regions, age groups, disease domains, or environmental monitoring) and promoting their development accordingly.

What is the aim of ATCI?

Austria already hosts numerous cohort studies —both human and non-human, covering a wide range of health-related areas. Many of these studies collaborate with BBMRI.at biobanks, drawing on their professional infrastructure and expertise.

The overarching goal of the Austrian Cohort Initiative (ATCI) is to consolidate and harness synergies among existing and newly planned cohort activities in Austria. By bringing together researchers and biobanks, ATCI represents a joint effort by BBMRI.at and the wider research community to strengthen coordination, enhance quality, and promote harmonisation.

A central vision of the ATCI is to support the establishment of new cohorts and facilitate harmonization across existing ones, thereby enabling future data integration and streamlined access to cohort data for a broad spectrum of research questions.

What has been done so far?

April 2023 Austrian Cohort Research Days (Vienna)

Organized by BBMRI.at, this event brought together researchers, cohort operators, biobankers and other stakeholders to present existing and planned cohorts, share experiences, and identify future needs.

Discussions covered harmonisation, quality, legal, ethical, technical, funding, and data access issues.

Follow-up activities

A report was prepared to raise awareness among policy makers of the importance of cohorts and biobanks. Based on these efforts, a project proposal was submitted and subsequently funded.

Ministries support an ATCI project

A three-year project of ATCI is now funded by the Austrian Federal Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs, Health, Care and Consumer Protection (BMASGPK) and the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Climate and Environmental Protection, Regions and Water Management (BMLUK) (GZ: 2025-0.678.605).

Project aim:

The project assesses the potential of existing Austrian cohorts for health-related decisions, political measures, and research, particularly related to the Austrian Health Targets with a special focus on Health Target #4 “Protecting air, water, ground and all living environment for future generations”.

It aims to consolidate existing knowledge and structures of existing and planned cohort studies under the ATCI framework.

By end of the three-year project, the goal is to create a harmonized data infrastructure with the potential to enable integrated access to data from participating cohorts, supporting the exploration of key scientific questions and contributing to the advancement of national health strategies. In addition, a prototypical example will be presented demonstrating how the data and samples can be utilized for a relevant scientific research question, including the associated requirements.

Key measures:

The following measures will help achieve the project’s objectives:

Present an overview of participating Austrian cohorts, including key metadata (e.g. size, purpose, sampling frequency)
Communicate findings to stakeholders on the added value of cohorts for advancing the Austrian Health Targets.
Prepare a report on the potential of ATCI to advance the Austrian Health Target #4

Cohorts currently participating: