The multidisciplinary centre at Rigshospitalet works from the hypothesis that across patient with impaired immune function, there is a common pattern of un-discovered risk factors explaining the variation in risk of infectious complications. Initially we aim at understanding the mechanisms explaining the variation in risk using a diverse set of methodologies, including pattern recognition from big data from routine care, studies of host and microbial genetics, imaging, and immunological characterization. The discovery phase will likely identify novel mechanisms of host defence, which will be used to characterize groups of immunocompromised patients and identify clusters of factors associated with comparable types of infectious complications. From this, we will formulate a series of immunodeficiency indices encapsulating the variation in risk for of infectious complications. The indices will be validated and used to personalise interventions aimed at reducing infectious complications.

Click here to open PERSIMUNE Introduction slides 26th of January 2015

Funding

Originally, PERSIMUNE received a 60 MDKK (8 MEUR) award from the DNRF over a six-year period starting February 1, 2015. An extension for four additional years was granted based on a successful five-year evaluation for an additional 40 MDKK (5 MEUR). The host institution (Rigshospitalet) provides co-financing of the CoE as does CHIP. The entire investment in the CoE during the full 10-year period is 200 MDKK (27 MEUR).

Location

PERSIMUNE headquarters are located at Rigshospitalet (Øster Allé 56, 5th floor) – a 440 m2 facility where researchers (Ph.D. students, post docs, guest researchers) work and network, and where meetings and symposia are held. The PERSIMUNE administration, IT, database managers, statisticians, bioinformaticians and cohort coordinators are also located at the headquarters. PERSIMUNE is also embedded in the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, Copenhagen University.

Structure

PERSIMUNE has a governance structure consisting of the centre leader being overall responsible for the center, an Executive Committee (ExCom) and a CORE group lead by the Deputy centre leader. The Executive Committee grew in 2021 and now has 15 members with diverse backgrounds. The ExCom has a focus on the strategic development of the centre. In addition, a scientific advisory committee consisting of experts in the different scientific and methodological focus areas of PERSIMUNE is involved in review of new projects as needed. The CORE group is responsible for the daily operations, the infrastructure and approving requests to use PERSIMUNE resources or data and involves expertise from IT, regulatory affairs, biobank and research. Different working groups are responsible for progress and coordination within their individual areas of expertise, which include data management, biobank, statistics and bioinformatics. PERSIMUNE has a number of active research areas, and all interested persons are invited to contact the lead researchers in these areas.

Researchers are encouraged to propose projects based on data and biological material contained at PERSIMUNE. Justification of the relevance of the proposed research question relative to the overall scope of PERSIMUNE should be outlined. Further instructions can be found in section How to get involved.

The conduct of the activities within the CoE is based on a set of core values. The leadership will ensure transparency in decision making, and full and open communication is hence vital. The tone in communication shall always be collegial, courteous, constructive and professional. The research needs to be conducted and reported by rigorous standards adhering to international best standards and norms. PERSIMUNE offers a platform for diverse research activities, and aims to be inclusive for anybody wanting to engage and ensure that proposers of research questions maintain ownership hereof.