About CoroPan
"CoroPan"
The abbreviation "CoroPan" is based on a letter composition derived from the title of the research cluster:
"Human and Zoonotic Coronaviruses: Conserved Targets for New Therapeutic Options in Future Pandemics".
What is CoroPan?
A LOEWE funded Research Consortium
CoroPan is a consortium of renowned coronavirus researchers funded by "Funding line 2" of the Hessian State Offensive for the Development of Scientific and Economic Excellence (LOEWE).
A Work Alliance
At three universities, from 2023 to 2026, 35 directly funded researchers are involved in 16 working groups across 10 institutes from 5 departments within the research network.
What do the nine research projects aim to achieve together?
The funded CoroPan research projects aim to conduct comparative studies on the molecular foundations of the replication and pathogenesis of human and animal pathogenic coronaviruses.
The goal is to uncover conserved targets for new therapeutic approaches against coronaviruses.
Practical Relevance...
... Since 2003, there have been three outbreaks of coronaviruses that have jumped from animals to humans, causing severe respiratory diseases and leading to the deaths of a relatively high number of infected individuals. These viruses have significant pandemic potential when they encounter an immunologically unprotected global population, with dramatic consequences for human society. To counter this recurring threat, it is necessary to identify factors in the viral replication cycle that are similarly present in the already known representatives of the Coronaviridae family and could serve as therapeutic targets. Identifying such "conserved" vulnerabilities requires extensive knowledge of the molecular biology of different viruses in this virus family. This knowledge forms the foundation for the development of antiviral drugs that can effectively combat not only the already known but also future viruses of this family.
