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Project

SRP-Groeifinanciering: Unravelling host-pathogen-immune interactions in infectious diseases: the good, the bad and the ugly (SRP86)

Since the dawn of mankind, infectious diseases have put a heavy burden on the general health and life expectancy of the human race. Even in modern times, during the First World war, when wartime casualties reached astronomical levels, the number of people dying from infectious diseases such as typhus and influenza still far exceeded this number. Thanks to the combined successes of sanitation, antibiotics and vaccination, which were based on a number of fundamental scientific discoveries between the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, over the last century the contribution of infectious diseases to mortality has dramatically declined in developed countries. This is in contrast with the situation in developing countries, where access to these resources remains limited to this day. However, the current COVID-19 pandemic demonstrates that even developed countries are not immune to the emergence of new infections and that there is no room for complacency. Therefore, fundamental and clinical research into infectious disease mechanisms and immunity should remain an integral part of the research expertise of every self-respecting academic institution. The current project aims to build and expand the knowledge base and expertise in infectious disease, immunology research and host-commensal-pathogen interactions that we have obtained over the last decades. On the one hand, we seek for taking advantage of the momentum created by the current COVID-19 pandemic, but on the other hand, we want to tackle other existing challenges in infectious disease research as well as to anticipate new challenges. In this context, the COVEMUZ- study will analyse in depth blood samples collected from a large number of UZ Brussel employees during the first COVID-19 waves, before vaccines were available. In a later stage, samples were collected after hospital employees received either an mRNA (Pfizer)-based (COVEMUZ-2) or an adenovirus-based vaccine (AstraZeneca) (COVEMUZ-3). As such, we will investigate both virus and vaccine-induced immune responses in a large prospective cohort of volunteers. We will also gain new insights into the mechanisms and interactions of these vaccines with the host microbiome by testing them in vivo in mouse models. In parallel, taking advantage of our longstanding expertise, we will continue to generate improved RNA-based vaccines, on the one hand by developing better carriers and on the other hand by exploring novel antigen formulations. Taken together, we want to build a comprehensive and broad expertise level in state-of-the-art infectious disease and immunology-related technologies that can be used, not only for current but also for future pandemics..
Date:1 Oct 2022 →  Today
Keywords:Clinical sciences
Disciplines:Other clinical sciences not elsewhere classified