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BeLOVE launches: First patients recruited for large study in Germany's capital city of Berlin
The pilot study for the Berlin Longterm Observation of Vascular Events — (BeLOVE) project has gotten off to a successful start with recruitment of its first patients. Only a few days after the official start of the pilot phase, the first patients with acute coronary syndrome, acute heart failure, and acute stroke have already been recruited for the study at the Virchow-Klinikum and Benjamin Franklin campuses of Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin.
BeLOVE is an observational study through which researchers are seeking to better understand the interactions and systemic medical factors that are responsible for the onset of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases such as acute coronary syndrome. Moreover, the study is intended to contribute to the identification of factors that can be used to detect and predict these diseases at an early stage.
Organization of logistics for the main phase is the first priority of the pilot study, which started on July 17, 2017. "We are very pleased that we were able to start directly with the first patients in the pilot phase," says Ulf Landmesser, spokesperson for the BeLOVE project and director of the Charité Medical Clinic for Cardiology. "With BeLOVE, we will be able to make significant contributions to understanding the links between cardiovascular, renal, and metabolic diseases." The pilot phase implements, tests, and optimizes the procedures required for this purpose. More than 10,000 patients are expected to be recruited for the study, which is the only one of its kind in the world.
It is a joint interdisciplinary research project of Berlin Institute of Health (BIH), Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association (MDC), and Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, with participation from the cardiology, neurology, endocrinology, and nephrology divisions. BeLOVE is a collaborative effort of the Clinical Research Unit (CRU) at BIH and the various clinical divisions at Charité. The project is funded by BIH and the Federal Ministry of Education and Research.