Core Activities

At the center of the MCID lie three Core Activities, each with active research lines and with links to MCID-funded research projects.

MCID BEready Cohort

Infectious disease monitoring of the Bern population

“Bern, get ready” (BEready) is a Canton of Bern-wide population cohort, designed to improve knowledge about existing infectious diseases and aid preparedness for emerging infection threats. The BEready Cohort team is lead by Prof. Dr. med. Nicola Low and Prof. Dr. med. Gilles Wandeler.

MCID BioPreparedness BioBank

Facilitating research on high consequence pathogens

The BioPreparedness Biobank enables the storage and the provision of highly pathogenic biologic agents, guaranteeing their quality, safety and traceability. It also provides a synthetic genomics pipeline enabling the safe and contained production of viral genomes and mutated derivatives. The BioPreparedness BioBank is lead by Prof. Dr. med. Stephen Leib and Prof. Dr. med. vet. Jörg Jores.

MCID Ethics and Policy Lab

Translating research into policy and advising on the ethical dimensions of research

The Ethics and Policy Lab (EPL) bridges the gap between science and public policy. As well as providing services to MCID Members and policymakers, the EPL conducts basic research on political and ethical aspects of infectious diseases, as well as applied research and policy evaluations on behalf of public administration. The EPL is lead by Prof. Dr. Fritz Sager and Prof. Dr. Dr. Claus Beisbart.