Naam Verantwoordelijke Activiteit "Aerts Lab" "Stein Aerts" "Research on decoding the genomic regulatory code and understanding how genomic regulatory programs drive dynamic changes in cellular states, both in normal and disease processes." "Onderzoeksgroep Seksuele en Reproductieve Gezondheid" "We contribute to the improvement of sexual and reproductive health (SRH) through linking scientific research, advanced education, policy support and capacity-strengthening. We focus on the broader perspective of promoting sexual and reproductive health and rights through addressing one overarching research question: “How can we improve SRH focusing on disease prevention and health promotion  in a globalized world?”We believe that people in all parts of the world should be able to make informed choices about their SRH respecting sexual and reproductive rights in enabling environments, with equal access, built on scientific evidence. Our work is focused around several critical intersections between four key populations and SRH topics.We use quantitative, qualitative and mixed method inter-disciplinary approaches (e.g. epidemiology, sociology, anthropology, psychology, demography) that explain risk and vulnerability as evidence base for improving SRH outcomes.We contribute actively to teaching at ITM and externally, including on the following:Sexual & Reproductive Health and HIV: beyond SilosWrite your paper based on Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) data on reproductive and child healthFollow us on twitter @SRHGroup_ITM.The Sexual and Reproductive Health Group has been created by “merging” two research units (HIV and Sexual Health and Maternal and Reproductive Health). Current Research MATCOMATCO stands for Global Study of Maternal health Provision during the COVID-19 Pandemic. The study's objective is to understand the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on health care available to pregnant, labouring and postpartum women and their newborns, and to mitigate against the negative consequences by extracting and sharing solutions developed. The study has three separate sub-studies - a global online survey of health professionals, a case study of maternity wards in referral hospitals in sub-Saharan Africa, and a study of postnatal care provision in Belgium.Contact person: Lenka BenovaProject website: MATCOPROMISEPre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) has the potential to be a game-changer in controlling the HIV epidemic. Belgium adopted PrEP to strengthen the national HIV control strategy in 2017. However, important questions on whether and how the demonstrated clinical efficacy of PrEP will translate into population-level effectiveness are still unanswered. The overall objective of this project is to learn how PrEP roll-out can be optimized to result in maximum impact on HIV and sexual health. To reach the objective, the project is composed of 4 thematic Work Packages (WP). Uptake and use of PrEP in large-scale programs will depend on how individuals and communities engage this new prevention measure: men having sex with men (MSM) (WP 1)and people with migrand background (WP2). It also remains unclear which delivery models are most suited to provide and support PrEP use as part of combination prevention: PrEP user’s needs (WP3) and health care provider’s options (WP4). PROMISE is funded by FWO (Strategic Basic Research, SBO). It has a duration of four years, starting from 2019. The consortium consists of the team at ITM (coordinator) and the team of Dr. Edwin Wouters at the University of Antwerp. Contact person: Bea VuylstekeProject website: PROMISEAlso visit the website of the Be Prep-ared project.The ALERT intervention research projectIntrapartum care needs more attention: every day more than 7,000 women and their offspring could be saved if known evidence-based intervention were consistently implemented during the few hours surrounding birth. Hospitals care for about 40-50% of all births in Sub-Saharan Africa including complicated births. ALERT (Action Leveraging Evidence to reduce perinatal Mortality and morbidity in Sub-Saharan Africa) is a 5-year hospital maternity-based quality improvement and implementation science project in Benin, Malawi, Tanzania and Uganda. The project is coordinated at Karolinska Institutet, by the project coordinator Dr Claudia Hanson, and funded by the European Commission’s Horizon 2020. The aim of the project is to develop and evaluate a multifaceted intervention to strengthen the implementation of evidence-based interventions and responsive care and reduce in-facility perinatal mortality and morbidity through a multidisciplinary approach. Our team is a multi-disciplinary team of clinicians (obstetrics and midwifery), public health physicians, social scientists, health systems specialists, medical anthropologists, economists, and management scientists from leading universities and research institutions. The principal investigator (and ITM contact person) for this project at ITM is Dr. Lenka Benova, who works closely with Prof. Bruno Marchal and Prof. Wim Van Damme to deliver the realist and economic evaluation components of this project.Contact person: Lenka BenovaProject website: ALERT projectBelgian Development Cooperation (DGD) and Technical Cooperation (ENABEL) projectsIn Guinea the SRH Group provides scientific support to develop and implement jointly with the Centre National de Formation et de Recherche en Santé Rurale (CNFRSR) Maferinyah, e-learning modules on Management of Sexual and Reproductive Health programmes/services (eSSR course), Primary Health Care (eSSP course) and Methods Research (eMR course). In Cambodia the SRH Group has a long term collaboration with the National Center of HIV/AIDS, Dermatology and STD (NCHADS) and contributes to strengthening the capacity in conducting operational research (OR) (e.g. PMTCT cascade analysis; Follow-up of Congenital Syphilis) and implementing integrated and evidence-based HIV strategies.In Benin the SRH Group collaborates with le Centre de Recherche en Reproduction Humaine et Démographie (CERRHUD) to explore determinants of utilization of SRH services along the Continuum of care.In Burkina Faso the SRH Group collaborates with Centre Muraz to conduct operations research setting up and evaluating cervical cancer screening strategies for female sex workers. Contact person: Thérèse Delvaux Dynamics between sexual risk behaviour, social context and the use of PrEP among MSMPre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) - the preventive use of antiretroviral medication - is a novel and highly efficacious tool, which could have an important impact on the HIV epidemic among men who have sex with men (MSM). It has recently been made available in Belgium and other countries, and will soon be implemented in many countries throughout the world. But to maximise the impact of PrEP, we need better insights to optimise the roll-out of this novel tool. This project, funded by FWO to Dr Thijs Reyniers (as a junior postdoctoral fellow) and ANRS, aims to gain knowledge on PrEP use and sexual behaviour to provide better insights into PrEP users’ needs; to explore how PrEP use may be influenced by social context; and to explore barriers and facilitators for providing PrEP, using PrEP and reaching MSM in 4 West-African countries (Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Mali and Togo). In Belgium, we will use quantitative data (medical records and surveys) collected among PrEP users who have come forward in Antwerp since June 2017 and additionally conduct in-depth interviews to gain insights into their needs towards PrEP care. In Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Mali and Togo a local research team is set up to conduct interviews with PrEP users and providers, and focus group discussions with MSM. In both data collections, we will particularly focus on how social context may shape the use of PrEP. The results of this project will enable a better understanding of how to optimise the roll-out of PrEP, while taking into account the social context in which it is implemented.Contact person: Thijs ReyniersExamining barriers to providing good quality postnatal careMany women die during pregnancy and childbirth around the world and this problem is most urgent in low-resource contexts such as sub-Saharan Africa. Close monitoring of women and babies during the first hours and days after childbirth (the postnatal period) can save many lives. More than half of births in low-resource countries now occur in health facilities, which should make it easier to provide postnatal monitoring and treatment if necessary. However, many women are not receiving even basic postnatal care, such as staying long enough in the facility, or being checked before discharge. This project is funded by FWO under the Senior Postdoctoral Fellowship Scheme to Dr. Lenka Benova. Within it, she will explore the barriers and enablers to providing postnatal care monitoring to women before and after discharge from health facilities in Tanzania and Guinea. Quantitative data from patient records and qualitative data from interviews with clinicians and women will be used. The findings will better enable countries and health facilities to implement new WHO postnatal care recommendations (expected in 2020).Contact person: Lenka BenovaHIV-SAMPeople of sub-Saharan African descent are an important priority population for HIV prevention in Europe. In Belgium, they are the second largest group among newly reported HIV infections (28% in 2018), while constituting a small population minority (i.e. 1.6% of the Belgian population). Several factors account for this phenomenon, e.g. high HIV prevalence in small sexual networks, migration-related hardship and socio-economic precarity, HIV-related stigma and low HIV prevention demand. To account for this reality, HIV prevention and sexual health promotion for this population at higher risk of HIV acquisition must be tailored to their needs, requiring an in-depth understanding of epidemiological and social factors driving HV transmission dynamics. Against this background, the HIV-SAM project develops and implements HIV prevention and sexual health promotion for sub-Saharan African migrants living in Flanders for more than two decades. The project is commissioned by the Flemish Ministry of Welfare, Public Health, Family and Poverty Reduction. The project adopts an evidence-based and participatory approach to develop and implement HIV prevention and sexual health promotion. Implementation is strongly linked to research to inform evidence-based interventions in line with the HIV care continuum, i.e. primary HIV prevention, HIV testing and linkage to care, and supporting people living with HIV (PLHIV) in treatment adherence and achieving a good quality of life. The participatory approach allows for creating ownership of HIV prevention in the affected communities. The project closely collaborates with HIV prevention networks of African communities including socio-cultural associations, churches, patient associations, and committed individual volunteers. Important activities are the promotion and implementation of de-medicalised HIV testing activities to reach African migrants and newcomers with a migrant background with undiagnosed HIV. Recent research activities include a representative HIV prevalence study using community-based-participatory research (Loos et al., 2017) and a qualitative investigation of HIV-stigma, its manifestations and outcomes in the community and among HIV positive sub-Saharan African migrants currently under way. As migration is an increasing global public health priority with considerable health impact, we are currently widening the scope of our research interest in migration and health: we are collaborating with CeMIS by organizing an annual symposium on migration and health, and developing research proposals on broader health promotion topics relevant for people with a migrant background. Contact persons: Christiana Nöstlinger, Lazare ManirankundaWebsite: HIV-SAMProjects examining SRH among adolescentsAdolescents and young people (10-24 years) are an important key population in global efforts to eliminate HIV, but also more widely for supporting them in achieving good SRH. AIDS is still the leading cause of death among young people in Africa, and the second leading cause globally, and in many parts of the world adolescents have worse treatment outcomes compared to children and adults. In addressing these challenges, the groups’ research focus is on drivers of HIV transmission among adolescents and young people, and on the systematic development and evaluation of interventions to improve their SRH. A current PhD project conducted by Okikiolu Badejo in Nigeria aims at unpacking what constitutes “youth-friendly” services, and at a better understanding of what may constitute a minimum package of care considering substantial differences among adolescents and young adults in terms of their HIV service needs. Using mixed methods research, the study will characterize patterns of care engagement and virologic suppression among adolescent and young people living with HIV, as well factors driving the observed patterns across the spectrum of adolescents and young people living with HIV.In Zimbabwe, in collaboration with CeSHHAR, we are implementing and evaluating a project on second chance education among highly-vulnerable adolescent girls.Contact persons: Christiana Nöstlinger, Marie LagaCo-MSM-PrEPCohMSM-PrEP is a Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) demonstration project in 4 West African countries: Mali, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire and Togo. The objective is to assess the acceptability and feasibility of PrEP for men who have sex with men (MSM) as part of a comprehensive HIV prevention package in community-based clinics in West Africa. The SRH group is coordinating the Sexually Transmitted Infections diagnostics and quality control, and the qualitative substudy. ITM is collaborating in this project with partners from France (IRD Montpellier & Marseille, Coalition Plus) and from 4 countries in West Africa (ARCAD-SIDA, Bamako, Mali; AAS, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso; Espace Confiance, Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire; Espoir Vie Togo, Lomé, Togo). The project started in 2017, for four years, and a follow-up project is correctly being planned. Contact person: Bea VuylstekeWebsite: Access to Pre-exposure Prophylaxis for Men Who Have Sex With Men Previous projects Unmet need for obstetric careArchived websiteModules and scientific papers (zip file)" Gezondheidsbeleid "Introduction The Unit of Health Policy belongs to the Public Health Department at ITM. The Unit, established in 2013, is led by Professor Wim Van Damme and consists of a multidisciplinary team (medicine, public health, political science, law).The unit is developing a strong institutional collaboration with the School of Public Health, University of the Western Cape (Cape Town, South Africa), where Wim Van Damme held a SARChI chair focusing on comparative health systems research. The unit is starting new institutional collaborations with Cambodia’s National Institute of Public Health, Phnom Penh, and with Centre de Recherche et Formation en Santé Rurale, Maferinyah, Guinea. The unit collaborates with many other institutions in Europe, such as Institute for Development Studies (IDS), Brighton; Karolinska Institute, Stockholm; Sciences-Po, Paris; London School; Maastricht University. Within Belgium it collaborates with the Health Sociology unit at UA and with the Gerontology unit at VUB, and with other Units of Public Health at ITM (Health Financing, Health Economics, Health Systems).At present the main fields of work of this unit are focusing on:SDGs & global health governance (rights-based approach), especially the Global Fund and other global health initiatives, WHO reform, global health workforce governance.Health policy and health systems strengthening, with particular focus on ‘fragile states’, and how to overcome the traditional divide between health systems strengthening and disease-specific approaches.Publishing the weekly International Health Policies Newsletter (http://www.internationalhealthpolicies.org/).Supporting the Emerging Voices for Global Health initiative (http://www.ev4gh.net/), created by the health policy unit, now coordinated by Institute of Public Health, Bangalore, India. Research areas The health policy unit currently focuses on the following research lines:Health workforce policies (globally and in Guinea and Ethiopia)Global Health Initiatives and global health policies, in a rights-based perspectiveART scale-up (Ethiopia) and diabetes treatment (as chronic lifelong conditions)Relation between disease control programs & health systems strengtheningFinancial access for the poor (especially Health Equity Funds in Cambodia)Antimicrobial resistance (AMR): global and national policies" "Departement Natuurkunde en Sterrenkunde" "Het Department Natuurkunde en Sterrenkunde bestaat uit 6 afdelingen: de Afdeling Vaste-stoffysica en Magnetisme; de Afdeling Halfgeleiderfysica; de Afdeling Kern- en Stralingsfysica; de Afdeling Theoretische Fysica; de Afdeling Fysica van Zachte Materie en Biofysica; de Afdeling Sterrenkunde." "Gevaert Lab" "Kris Gevaert" "Research on the introduction of proteomic technologies to address challenging questions in life sciences, understanding why proteins are N-terminally acetylated, study the function of N-terminal proteoforms, and develop technologies to identify cytolysis proteins as disease proxies." "Instituties en Meerlagige Politiek (ACIM)" "Jan Beyers" "Het studiegebied van ACIM's betreft de gevolgen van het meerlagig karakter van hedendaagse institutionele configuraties voor politiek, bestuur en beleid, alsook de relaties tussen overheid en samenleving. Kenmerkend voor hedendaagse politiek is de meerlagigheid van politieke processen. Daarmee wordt verwezen naar het feit dat belangenvertegenwoordiging, beleidsvorming, verantwoordingsprocessen, politieke legitimiteit niet uitsluitend betrekking hebben op één jurisdictie, bijvoorbeeld de klassieke natiestaat, maar dat vele beleidskwesties op meerdere niveaus hun beslag krijgen. Gedurende de laatste decennia hebben diverse transformaties plaatsgevonden die tot gevolg hebben dat institutionele arrangementen bijna permanent in staat van verandering verkeren, met als gevolg dat betrokken actoren zich constant dienen aan te passen aan nieuwe omstandigheden. Begrippen zoals Europeanisering, federalisering, devolutie, governance, privatisering, globalisering verwijzen allemaal naar een breed scala van institutionele veranderingen die plaatsvinden in het politieke domein. Het groeiend belang van de EU als supranationaal niveau, de regionalisering van België alsook devolutie in andere Europese landen, de toenemende invloed van internationale organisaties zijn concrete manifestaties van deze trends. ACIM ziet deze meerlagige institutionele context als een omgeving waarin een grote variëteit aan actoren trachten het overheidsbeleid te beïnvloeden en waarbij deze actoren, in functie van hun doelstellingen, strategisch gebruik kunnen maken van opportuniteiten die zich situeren op meerdere niveaus. De wijze waarop deze meerlagige institutionele context gevolgen genereert voor de aard van de politiek vorm het centrale aandachtspunt van ons onderzoeksprogramma. Inzake disciplinaire focus combineert ACIM de diverse gebieden binnen de politieke wetenschappen, waaronder comparative politics, internationale betrekkingen en politieke economie. Voor de komende vijf jaar concentreert ACIM zijn onderzoeksprojecten binnen drie onderzoekslijnen, namelijk a) het functioneren van een meerlagige overheid, b) belangenvertegenwoordiging, en c) reguleringsvraagstukken en judiciële politiek." "Ontwikkeling: processen, actoren en beleid" "Danny Cassimon" "In deze geglobaliseerde wereld is ontwikkeling een meerlagig multi-actor proces. Ontwikkeling is een complexe aangelegenheid, met vele tegengestelde bewegingen, een proces ook dat zich afspeelt met verschillende snelheden. Ontwikkelingsbeleid is zowel een deel van dit proces als een determinant ervan. De onderzoeksgroep bestudeert het geheel van actoren en dynamieken dat samenhangt met politieke processen, om op deze manier concrete kansen te identificeren voor een rechtvaardigere en meer duurzame ontwikkeling." Entomologie "The research portfolio of the Unit of Entomology is fully in line with three “ITM Priority Research Themes 2020-2024 ”:  Challenge  1:  Emerging  infections  and  outbreaks;  Challenge  3.  Disease  Elimination;  and  Challenge  5. Sustaining health in a rapidly changing world.IntroductionThe Unit of Entomology, led by Prof Ruth Müller, aims to better understand the relationships between biodiversity, climate change and human health and to use this knowledge to control vector-borne diseases.Our guiding questions are simple: Our research lines  Vector ecology: The understanding of vector ecology is fundamental for successful vector surveillance, vector prevention and vector control. We are using a multi-disciplinary approach to study the interaction of vector species and the environment in different regions of the world, and with a special focus on climate change.Vector biology: This interdisciplinary research line will generate a new understanding of the functional biology of larval competition, swarming & mating behavior, arboviral infections, and provide crucial knowledge about the mechanisms that underlie the fecundity and vector competence of vector species.Innovative vector control: Vector control is the applied part of our research portfolio and comprises trap development, development and assessment of biological, chemical and genetic vector control tools and the assessment of intervention studies. We test multiple approaches for vector control and test their usefulness for application, efficiency and social acceptance.   Main activities Our research encompasses the monitoring of (exotic) mosquitoes in Belgium and abroad, vector biological and vector ecological studies in the field and laboratory, testing and assessment of vector control tools, and contributing to intervention studies.We are looking in depth at the link between environment and mosquito-borne disease risks at ecological and social level in order to develop ecoregion specific vector control strategies and specific communication tools.We inform the government, private companies and citizens on exotic mosquitoes in Belgium and Germany, and insect-borne mosquitoes in Europe, Africa, and Asia.In the South, we collaborate with governmental and academic stakeholders and specifically provide training and expertise on entomological surveillance, integrative vector control strategies and assessment of the efficiency of vector-borne disease interventions.We inform governmental, private and academic stakeholders and citizens about the link of biodiversity and health and advise them on the link of vector-pathogen-host interactions and the environment and social factors in the special context of climate change.Have a closer look to our projectsDiscover our research on the ecology of mosquitoesOur insectaryLarval competition of mosquitoesThe swarming behavior of mosquitoesPlant-mosquito interactionsHelp us to find exotic mosquitoes in BelgiumMonitoring projects in Belgium Citizen ScienceMosquito identificationMosquito monitoring - trapsLearn about the complexity of vector controlBiological vector control - Mosquito predatorsChemical vector control / Insecticide resistanceGenetic vector controlIntervention studiesExplore our entomological research in the Global SouthNepalPeruDRCBurundiMoroccoOutbreak Research TeamOur infection studies and pathogen screening in insectsArboviral infections of mosquitoesPlasmodium infections of mosquitoesPathogen screening in sandflies & mosquitoesLearn more about the infection studies with sandflies and tsetse flies of the Insectary Core Group at ITMFamiliarize with projects aiming for harmonized monitoring of vector-borne diseases in Europe and around the worldVectorNetMOOD ContactPlease do not hesitate to mail to: entomology@itg.be for more information. " "Vakgroep Maatschappelijke Gezondheidkunde" "De vakgroep Maatschappelijke gezondheidskunde behoort tot de faculteit Geneeskunde en Gezondheidswetenschappen. Hun activiteiten richten zich op onderwijs en onderzoek binnen het gebied van epidemiologie en preventieve geneeskunde, voedsel en voedselveiligheid, gezondheidsbevordering en onderwijs, gezondheidseconomie, medische informatica en statistiek, verpleegwetenschappen en arbeids- en milieugezondheid." "Gelijkwaardigheid en Gezondheid"