FRANKFURT. At least five million euros – this is the sum that Goethe University and the
University Hospital want to collect to better meet the challenges of the Corona
pandemic. Anyone can help: the money is to be raised through the donation
platform betterplace.org and will go primarily toward researching the
coronavirus, the urgent training of employees, and patient care at the
University Hospital. Direct donations are also possible (please see link and
donation account at the end of this press release).
The Johanna Quandt University Foundation made the start:
non-bureaucratically, and within 24 hours, it provided a quarter million euros
for the corona researcher Professor Sandra Ciesek and her team. With this
money, the virologists from Goethe University and University Hospital want to
advance their search for effective treatment. But this is only a beginning. The
corona crisis requires a substantial degree of additional exertion – and
therefore a substantial amount of additional funding.
“Our call goes out to everyone who wants to not just marvel at the
incredible challenges, but to provide tangible help: donate to the
Goethe-Corona fund. Every contribution is important and welcome," says
University President Professor Birgitta Wolff, appealing to people's willingness
to help. “If we all want to weather this crisis well and perhaps even emerge
from it stronger than before, now is the time to set the course. If the city
and university communities close ranks – not physically, of course – we can
master even great challenges. This is precisely why the university was founded
over 100 years ago," Wolff adds. As Stiftungsuniversität (university
foundation under public law), Goethe University has the necessary leeway to
also take unorthodox paths to enable financing, says Wolff. In the name of the
University, the University Hospital, and the patients affected, she already
expresses thanks to everyone who with their donation contributes to an
improvement of the situation.
To master the crisis scientifically, clinically and organisationally, Goethe
University and the Frankfurt University Hospital require additional personnel
in the short term, and financial means. For this reason, the Goethe Corona Fund
was established with the intention that it will quickly increase to at least
five million euros – with the help of donations from the general public,
foundations, and other private sponsors. Toward this end, a donation page was
set up on the platform Betterplace; direct transfers are also possible, and
both provide a donation receipt. First commitments have already been made from
the circle of researchers: a professor has already announced a donation
of 40,000 euros.
“The growing pandemic entails a growing financial need in many areas: for
example, we need money for specific equipment and experts, training for
additional helpers in the crisis, and also to equip our medical personnel with
protective clothing, goggles and face masks," says Professor Jürgen Graf,
medical director of the University Hospital. In research, particular focus is
placed on the patient-oriented research conducted by Professor Sandra Ciesek
and her team: the goal is to find a vaccine and medical treatment for the
aggressive virus, and to improve the diagnosis procedure. “With the aid of the
additional funds we can emphatically expedite this research," explains
virologist Ciesek. To do so, employees with biostatistical or biomedical
training need to be hired in order to process and analyse the generated
clinical data. In addition, additional equipment is urgently needed in
virological and intensive care research and development in order to carry out
experiments and studies more quickly and efficiently.
But in teaching as well, financial support is urgently needed: students
should have the opportunity to participate in training and simulation classes
to prepare them for the difficult situations in clinical daily routine. For
this, additional medical simulation mannequins are required. “We are quick to
reach the limits of our capacity in this area, although there is tremendous
interest and commitment on the part of the students," says Professor Josef
Pfeilschifter, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at Goethe University. Teaching,
education and training also depend on realistic simulations.
Donations via our donation project on www.betterplace.org:
https://www.betterplace.org/p78009
Or as wire transfer to the donation account:
Landesbank Hessen-Thüringen
IBAN: DE95 5005 0000 0001 0064 10
Purpose: Goethe-Corona-Fonds
Further information: Contact to Prof.
Sandra Ciesek through the Frankfurt University Hospital: Christoph
Lunkenheimer, University Hospital press officer, telephone: +49 69 6301-86442,
christoph.lunkenheimer@kgu.de.