Projects
NonSurvivors: Childhood diet, disease, and death as telltale signs of the physical and social environment in post-medieval Aalst Ghent University
This project assesses the physical stress children in post-medieval Aalst faced, in relation to socio-economic status and living conditions. Historical sources show a low child survivor rate in poor families in this context, yet do not elucidate why. NonSurvivors will analyze the children’s skeletal remains for direct data on disease, diet, and death. The archaeological wealth of Aalst, with exceptional preservation of human remains of all ...
A quantitative analysis of varicella-zoster virus infection: from immunology to epidemiology. University of Antwerp
A quantitative analysis of varicella-zoster virus infection: from immunology to epidemiology. University of Antwerp
Improving the management of lower respiratory tract infections in general practice by means of etiological, prognostic and interventional studies. University of Antwerp
Resistance, tolerance and avoidance as strategies against multiple infections in Mastomys natalensis: a role of personality? University of Antwerp
Sensory signalling in the bladder during urinary tract infections: mechanisms of sensitisation and implications for bladder function. KU Leuven
Bacterial infections of the urinary tract are amongst the most
common infections in human. These infections cause significant
bother in affected patients and impose a high burden on our
healthcare system. Although these patients can successfully be
treated with antibiotics, a subset will develop recurrent infections,
without a clear underlying cause. Moreover, the bacteria causing
these infections have become ...
Lung-on-a-chip as a dynamic tool to capture interplay between airway and vascular cells in their microenvironment: a focus on the course of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease KU Leuven
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which is estimated to become the third leading cause of death worldwide by 2030, is actually the only major disease whose prevalence and mortality are increasing worldwide in all continents. Despite intensive research, there are still unmet medical needs for this disease. Abnormal responses of the airway epithelium to the environmental triggers are believed to contribute to the pathogenesis of ...
In vivo dynamics of T cell plasticity and elasticity KU Leuven
T cells are the immune cells that act as the main switch between inflammation (as a response to an infection) or immune tolerance (suppression of immune reactions to innocent components). An imbalance can result in autoimmune diseases (insufficient tolerance), inappropriate inflammation (no break on the immune reaction) or cancer (unwanted tolerance). CD4 T cells develop as naïve cells with the potential to give rise to effector T cells, ...
Development of a Multimodal Imaging Platform for the non-invasive assessment of the pathogenesis and antifungal treatment efficacy in experimental models of cryptococcus infection. KU Leuven
Cryptococcosis is a life-threatening fungal disease caused by the encapsulated yeast Cryptococcus neoformans or C. gattii. The main route of infection is by inhalation, whereby the lungs can be affected, but cryptococci can also spread from the lung to the brain, causing meningitis or brain lesions. The exact mechanism of cryptococci breaching through the blood-brain barrier and disseminating to the brain is still unknown. ...