What's BEready?

“Bern, get ready” (BEready) is a so called cohort study representing the population of the Canton of Bern to collect essential longitudinal data to improve knowledge about existing infectious diseases and preparedness for emerging health threats. BEready plans to enrol approximately 1,500 households, including adults, children and pets, into a population-based cohort. Participants will be monitored for circulating infectious diseases.  

BEReady

BEready is a core activity of the Multidisciplinary Center for Infectious Diseases (MCID) at the University of Bern. The MCID was founded in January 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic with the generous support of the Vinetum Foundation. The aim of the MCID is to identify the causes of infectious risks, promote interdisciplinary research of future epidemics and pandemics, prepare for and manage these risks.  

Preparedness

Prof. Dr. med. Nicola Low, Principal Investigator BEready

«Preparedness means being ready for the next pandemic. Research studies take a long time to set up from scratch. We want to start a study now, and build it up. When there is a new pandemic threat, we will be ready to get in touch with the study participants to find out how they are being affected.»

Bernese households

Prof. Dr. med. Gilles Wandeler, Co-Principal Investigator BEready

«BEready will collect essential data from Bernese households to improve our knowledge about infectious diseases and prepare for emerging health threats.»

Blog

In our blog we have posts on topics related to BEready.