Cause of
Health

The Swiss «Cause of Health» Cohort (Swiss COHCOH)

Swiss COHCOH is a novel and unique type of health data cohort where participants, mainly scientists but also any interested citizen scientist, “walk the talk” by taking the lead of the health data sharing movement in Switzerland.

Participants joining the Swiss Cohort:

  • Pay for their own analysis (e.g. genome analysis, medical analysis)
  • Store their data in a personal account on the MIDATA platform, which provides the highest level of security and privacy, and full control over who can access the data.
  • Benefit from new data analyses and they can decide which personal feedback to receive (e.g. on their response to drugs - pharmacogenomics, ancestry, food-glucose patterns, etc.).
  • Decide themselves how to get involved. They may decide to receive as much information as possible, or to take a more passive role and simply contribute data to advance science.
  • Propose and initiate subprojects.

Who can Participate?

Many scientists have long recognized and promoted the concept of sharing personal data for research, especially to study the health triangle. Researchers from the ETH Zurich and the University of Zurich now step forward and walk the talk. They initiate and are at the same time participants in the “Swiss Cause of Health Cohort”. They share their own personal data to thereby encourage as many other people in Switzerland as possible to do the same.

Project Examples

Participants in the Swiss CohCoh will also help shaping the research process by selecting (or proposing) studies and projects for the platform. Here some examples of proposed projects:

Swiss Genetic Landscape

DNA analysis can be used to determine the historical origins of individuals and populations. For health, small genetic differences in population can contribute, for instance, to different sensitivities to medications and adverse drug reactions. A fine structure map of the Swiss population would help to better predict the efficacy and adverse side effects of drugs.

Nutrition

We all know that we react differently to the intake of food and drink. These differences are due to the complex and poorly understood connection between blood glucose levels, food intake and gut microbiome, and new data will help understand this particular aspect of the health triangle.

Activity, Food, Blood Glucose, Sleep and Stress

There is little evidence on how our physiology (e.g. blood glucose levels) responds to exercise, sleep and stress. But now we can record our activities constantly via our smartphone (steps, sleep patterns, etc.) and measure our blood glucose levels with using inexpensive sensors, making it possible to learn more about our wellbeing.

Do you have your own idea for a digital health study? You will be able to do it yourself and recruit your participants through the Swiss CohCoh platform. Swiss COHCOH and the Citizen Science Center Zürich will assist you in developing and setting up the study.

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