ULB, UCLouvain, Université de Montréal
" OBJ: 1) Observe interprofessional and interorganisational collaboration "in the making" in crisis situation: how professional groups organize and collaborate (within and between professional groups) in different organizational contexts (liberal practice, primary care delivery services, hospitals, nursing homes, etc.) especially for vulnerable groups. 2) Analyse the role of regulatory bodies governmental agencies, professional associations) in managing healthcare professions and interprofessional collaboration in crisis situations 3)Improving future care and the resilience of health systems METH: Collection and analysis of documents (instructions, tools, etc.), qualitative interviews, in situ observations. Developing Grounded theory "
Funding: Research team is part of BeHive - Interdisciplinary primary care Chair, funded by the King Baudouin Foundation (Fund Dr. Daniel De Coninck)
Contact: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

ULB, CHU Saint-Pierre, Hôpital Erasme, ULiège - FNRS

" The project investigates the immune responses to SARS-CoV-2 infection in humans. Cohorts of patients and contacts are recruited and followed-up during several months following infection. Using systems serology and systems biology approaches, the quality and dynamics of antibody and cellular responses are analysed to identify correlates of protection against severe disease and to determine the duration of natural immunity to the virus. The project should provide insight in the host response to SARS-CoV-2 and should help define deconfinement strategies and develop prophylactic and therapeutic interventions against COVID-19. "
Funding: COVID 19 - ULB
Contact: Arnaud Marchant: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Stanislas Goriely: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

ULB

Sphère publique, sphère privée : Impact du port du masque sur la reconnaissance des personnes et de l'expression émotionnelle de leur visage. " Le déconfinement approche. Bientôt la population belge sillonnera à nouveau les rues, les transports et l'ensemble de l'espace public mais munie de masques. Quels retentissements sur la capacité des personnes à en reconnaître d'autres sur base de leur visage et à en extraire l'expression émotionnelle ? Sera-t-on toujours capable de juger, de manière efficace, de l'intention d'autrui à notre égard même si cette dernière porte un masque ? A tous les âges ? Ou, au contraire, a-t-on raison d'avoir la suspicion que le port du masque pourrait nous empêcher de reconnaître quelqu'un sur base de son visage et d'en lire les émotions de manière efficace ? "
Publication References: de Heering, A., & Rossion, B. (2008). Prolonged Visual Experience in Adulthood Modulates Holistic Face Perception. PlosOne, 3(5): e2317. de Heering, A., &amp...

Read more: Adélaïde de Heering, Post-doctoral Fellow

ULB, Bordet Institute and CHU Saint-Pierre
" The limited capacity of intensive care unit (ICU) beds and the high mortality of patients requiring ICU care after COVID-19 infection are major problems that urgently require solutions. Early evidence suggests that an individual patient's immune responses to this virus are a key factor in their disease pathogenesis. This response can be further compounded by underlying factors, which for patients at Bordet can be exacerbated by their cancer status. A recent study shows that some cancer patients (particularly lung, blood or metastatic cancer patients) are three times more likely to die from COVID-19 infection. Thus, there is an important need to understand and identify immune biomarker(s) that measure functionality of innate and/or adaptive immunity in the blood with rapid turnaround to provide much needed information for clinical decision making. The anticipated results of this collaborative research project include the identification of...

Read more: Ahmad Awada, Chef de Service, Medical Oncology - Karen Willard-Gallo, Laboratory Head, Molecular...

Xpress Biologics
" Xpress Biologics, a Belgian based CDMO, has several strategies to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic which includes: - The development of a serology assay to detect Covid-19 seroconversion in humans based on the manufacturing of 3 specific COVID-19 antigens ( full-length Spike protein, S1 subunit, RBD domain) using Pichia pastoris as expression system - Plasmid DNA manufacturing expertise for the development of anti-COVID DNA vaccines - Recombinant protein or antibody fragments manufacturing expertise for diagnostic and treatment of COVID-19 Xpress Biologics has adapted technological platforms that are available to meet the COVID-19 pandemic challenge. In particular our Molecular Biology solution can rapidly help us develop microbial strains for robust and efficient expression of several type of biologics such as viral antigens, neutralizing antibody fragments and DNA vaccines while through our Upstream Process platform we can rapidly engineer industrial processes for...

Read more: Alexandre Di Paolo, Business Development Manager

UMONS/ Haute école Condorcet/ UCLouvain/ Epicura/ Machine sight
" In view of the risk of a respirator shortage in intensive care units throughout the world following the COVID 19 epidemic, a simple solution based on existing means or means that are easy to implement is being sought by a consortium of respiratory physiotherapists, researchers of UMONS, physicians of the the intensive care unit of the Epicura hospital and a mechatronics engineering company. In view of the risk of a respirator shortage in intensive care units throughout the world following the COVID 19 epidemic, a simple solution based on existing means or means that are easy to implement is being sought by a consortium of respiratory physiotherapists, researchers of UMONS, physicians of the the intensive care unit of the Epicura hospital and a mechatronics engineering company. "
Funding: internal funding
Contact: Pr. Alexandre Legrand, head of the laboratory of Physiology and Respiratory Rehabilitation...

Read more: Alexandre Legrand, Professor

Comunicare Solutions
" Comunicare Solutions is a health technology startup, specializing in patient empowerment, self-management and digital therapy. In the context of Covid-19 sanitary crisis, we proposed our solution for the remote support to chronic patients, especially the most at risk patients who suffered from chronic systemic diseases of respiratory origin, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and heart disease like heart failure or complex hypertension. The application enables caregivers to inform those patients about additional precautions, to screen patients reported outcomes but also to keep in touch with them via video consultation"
Contact: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

ULiège - Royal Academy of Sciences, Letters and Fine Arts of Belgium
"The Centre for Protein Engineering (CIP, ULiège), through its two technological platforms, has been involved in the production of reagents (i.e. proteins) for diagnostic and analyses of SARSCoV-2 infection. In particular, Protein Factory has produced a pure and highly active enzyme (CAS12) for a CRISPR/CAS assay, which, in combination with classical PCR technology allows rapid detection of the virus. Automated screening is currently performed at Robotein for optimal formulation of CAS12. The production of complementary protein reagents for such tests is underway. Furthermore, in a collaborative effort with Dr Arnaud Marchant at Institut d'Immunologie Médicale (ULB), the CIP is involved in the design and production of recombinant SARS-COV-2 antigens towards the development of a platform for high dimensional systems serology analysis of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies."
Contact: André Matagne This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

UCLouvain
" Breath4Life is a voluntary, non-profit, and open source effort by a distributed team of engineers, doctors, industry players, to design, test and spread medical ventilators - low cost but as close as possible to existing medical devices. Starting from international standards and guidances, we designed and tested successfully functional prototypes with Volume Controlled Ventilation for intubated patients. We now focus on more advanced modes (including respiratory assistance for patients breathing spontaneously), on intensive testing, and on writing the documentation required for supporting partners around the world to adapt, build and validate their replica. "
Contact: http://breath4life.org/ 

CHU Liège
" Multicenter randomized trial to assess the efficacy of CONvalescent plasma therapy in patients with Invasive COVID-19 and acute respiratory failure treated with mechanical ventilation " 
Contact: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

ULiège, CIRM - Royal Academy of Medicine of Belgium
" The pandemic has highlighted a critical need of local production of essential drugs used in first-line emergency care of COVID-19 patients. The present consortium has developed a dedicated unit to address this need (both organic synthesis and quality control) following strict quality assurance rules observed by the pharmaceutical industry. The pandemic has highlighted a critical need of local production of essential drugs used in first-line emergency care of COVID-19 patients. The present consortium has developed a dedicated unit to address this need (both organic synthesis and quality control) following strict quality assurance rules observed by the pharmaceutical industry. "
Contact: Prof. Marianne FILLET, CIRM Director, University of Liège https://www.cirm.uliege.be This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

ULB
" The aim is to develop and validate a numerical model of a human lung to predict its degeneration over time, in order to provide better knowledge and further info for decision-making to the clinician, addressing both the treatment and the follow-up of the patients after the pathology. "
Contact: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

ULB
"Our objectives are: • To study maternal and neonate COVID-19 information in the Belgian-Obstetric Surveillance System database: clinical presentation and natural history of disease, pregnancy-related basic information, pregnancy outcomes, birth characteristics, infant morbidity and mortality. • To study the core socio-demographic information to potentially identify groups at higher risk of complications • Build a more informative dataset thanks to data mining of public databases This study will enable us to understand the impact of COVID-19 on pregnant women and their offspring in Belgium, and in the world via the contribution to the INOSS multicenter study. It might allow us to define an at-risk population among pregnant women and their offspring, and tailor epidemiologic and clinical interventions for these more vulnerable individuals."
Funding: Pending (FNRS)
Publication References: "1. The International Network of Obstetric Survey Systems study of uterine rupture: a...

Read more: Caroline Daelemans, Professor

ULB
" COVerT Our aim is to delineate more accurately the prevalence of the infection in the pregnant population and study vertical transmission in the cord blood of babies born to mothers with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection. Determination of prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infection in mothers by combined universal screening: presence of antibodies (IgG and IgM or IgA) in their blood and/or a positive RT-PCR in the nasopharyngeal swab. We intend to detect evidence of vertical transmission by the identification of SARS-CoV-2 specific IgM or IgA in cord blood samples. If there is evidence of vertical transmission, the analysis of the consequences depending on infection timing during pregnancy will enable us to guide management more precisely. "
Funding: pending FNRS
Publication References: "1. Delforge ML, Costa E, Brancart F, Goldman D, Montesinos I, Zaytouni S, Marchant A, Donner C Presence of cytomegalovirus in urine and blood of pregnant women with primary infection might be associated...

Read more: Caroline Daelemans, Professor

UCLouvain and Cliniques universitaires Saint-Luc - FNRS
" Anosmia has been reported to be a major symptom of COVID-19. Since high viral loads are found in the nasal cavity of patients and since single-cell analyses found that olfactory sustentacular and stem cells highly express ACE2 and TMPRSS2, it is suspected that cells of the olfactory neuroepithelium are a preferred target of the virus. Some COVID-19 patients present with neurological symptoms. Interestingly, it has been reported that the former SARS-CoV, can ascend intracranially, possibly via the olfactory nerves. Since olfactory receptor neurons form a direct connection between the nasal cavity and the brain, we hypothesize that these cells act as a gateway towards the brain in some patients. The main aims of the projects are (1) to investigate the pathophysiology of COVID-related olfactory dysfunction and (2) to investigate whether olfactory receptor neurons could be the entry site of SARS-CoV2 to the brain. "
Funding...

Read more: Caroline Huart, MD, PhD - Bernard Hanseeuw, MD, PhD - Valérie Hox, MD, PhD - Pascal...