CK-CARE

In 2009, the Kühne Foundation established the non-profit “Christine Kühne – Center for Allergy Research and Education” (CK-CARE), with locations in Davos, Augsburg, Bonn, St. Gallen and Zurich. The main pillars of the initiative are highly qualified and well-networked research in the field of allergies, particularly atopic dermatitis, and the training of medical professionals to address the deficits in the areas of diagnosis and treatment of people with allergic diseases. 

CK-CARE is an innovative project for the research, therapy and prevention of allergies with a focus on atopic dermatitis and is currently the largest private initiative in Europe in the field of atopic diseases. CK-CARE works from its headquarters in Davos in cooperation with four university institutes. The three centralized CK-CARE research groups, the education department, the biobank with the database, and administration departments are located on the Medicine Campus Davos (MCD); also the SIAF (Swiss Institute for Allergy and Asthma Research), another scientific partner of CK-CARE, is based in a building on MCD. The projects of the network are characterized by the "medical translation" approach with results in research, transfer to the medical practice and various educational formats. CK-CARE uses two clinical observational studies conducted by the network and collected in a data- and biobank. This biobank currently contains information and biosamples from around 3,000 probands (diseased and non-diseased). This enables data analyses with the goal to further improve diagnosis, treatment and prevention of allergic diseases.

CK-CARE’s network comprises four renowned scientists:

•    Prof. Dr. med. Cezmi Akdis, Director of Swiss Institute of Allergy and Asthma Research (SIAF) Davos
•    Prof. Charlotte Brüggen, Head of Allergy Ward, Dermatological Clinic, University Hospital of Zurich
•    Prof. Dr. med. Roger Lauener, Physician-in-Chief, Children's Hospital of Eastern Switzerland, St. Gallen
•    Prof. Dr. med. Claudia Traidl-Hoffmann, Director, Institute for Environmental Medicine and Integrative Health, Medical Faculty University of Augsburg, University Hospital Augsburg; Institute of Environmental Medicine (IEM) Helmholtz Centre Munich