LHUB-ULB - Royal Academy of Medicine of Belgium
" "The purpose of this study is to map the healthcare workers exposure risk in Saint-Pierre University Hospital by combining molecular methods with serological assays. In summary, the short-term objective is threefold: (1) Provide an estimate of the sero-prevalence at baseline among high-risk health care workers (2) Determine prospectively the incidence of new SARS-CoV-2 infections among high-risk health care workers (3) Estimate the healthcare worker exposure to the virus by serological data to help our five partner hospitals in their day-to-day management of the ongoing pandemic The mid-term objectives are: (1) Establish an accurate mapping of the spread of the virus among our population allowing to identify the chain of transmission, (2) Identify predictive immunological markers of susceptibility to infection and disease severity to inform vaccine strategies and, (3) Establish solid diagnosis algorithm that will help adequate lockdown...

Read more: O. Vandenberg, Pr. - N. Clumeck, Pr. - C. Montesinos, Pr. - N. Dauby, MD, PhD - C. Gilles, MD - C....

ULB/ERASME
" Severe COVID-19 patients have a greater risk of long-term health issues and sometimes develop permanent lung damage or fibrosis needing a long treatment to enhance their quality of life. The project aims to better quantify the breathing parameters of a patient to assess his revalidation evolution. A 3D image acquisition based system, provides contacless and non invasive measure. The system can be used as a complementary diagnosis tools as well for a quantitative follow up. "
Funding: So far the project is supported by volunteering inside the ULB/Laboratory of Image Synthesis and Analysis (LISA) and the Erasme Hospital
Contact: Olivier Debeir < This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.> & Olivier Van Hove < This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>

ULB
" We are developing a prototype, upon the request of Médecins Sans Frontières | MSF Belgique, with aim to monitor key parameters of a patient's health - levels of oxygen saturation in the blood, heart rate and temperature - in order to detect a potential covid19 infection, and to adapt the patient care accordingly. The prototype is wearable, battery powered, and send its data wirelessly. In this regard, the patient can be remotely monitored. "
Funding: Own funds
Publication References: None.
Contact: Primary contact: Antoine Nonclercq - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ULB BEAMS (Oriane Bastin - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. & Ken Hasselmann - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. & Antoine Nonclercq - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. & Michel Osée - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. & François Quitin - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) ULB LISA (Olivier Debeir - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. & Rudy Ercek - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) ULB Smart Campus (Jean Landercy - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)

ULiège, CHU - Royal Academy of Medicine of Belgium
" Nous faisons face à une pandémie d'infection COVID-19. Ce virus pathogène est source de complications pulmonaires aggravant fortement le pronostic de nos patients. De nos jours, tant les mécanismes physiopathologiques en cause que les marqueurs de sévérité de l'atteinte restent indéterminés. Il apparaît donc comme urgent de pouvoir identifier des marqueurs diagnostiques, pronostiques et prédictifs pour nos patients. Dans ce contexte, plusieurs voies rapidement explorables nous apparaissent comme critiques. Le but final de cette étude est de contribuer à une prise en charge plus ciblée des patients porteurs d'une infection au SRAS-Cov-2. "
Funding: Fonds Léon Frederic
Publication References: Dix publications représentatives : 1) Prevention of murine radiogenic thymic lymphomas by tumor necrosis factor or by marrow grafting. HUMBLET C, GREIMERS R, DELVENNE P, DEMAN J, BONIVER J, DEFRESNE MP. J Natl Cancer Inst 88 (1996), 824-831. IF...

Read more: Ph. DELVENNE, FNRS Research Director / Chef de service Anatomie pathologique - J. GUIOT, Chef de...

ULB, UR2NF - Neuropsychology and Functional Neuroimaging Research Unit affiliated at CRCN - Center for Research in Cognition and Neurosciences and UNI - ULB Neurosciences Institute - FNRS - Royal Academy of Sciences, Letters and Fine Arts of Belgium
" The aim of the study is to examine day-to-day associations between subjective sleep quality and daytime functioning during the large-scale confinement measures taken in Belgium given the current Covid-19 pandemic in Europe. In particular, we are interested in assessing the interplay between altered patterns of sleep timing, duration and quality, and daytime behaviour, cognition, and affect for 2 weeks during the confinement period. Longitudinal data are obtained in Belgium, Hungary and Spain "
Funding: internal resources
Publication References: ongoing project
Contact: Project : This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., Peter Simor: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Philippe Peigneux : This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

HUDERF and ULB
" Role of Children in Sars-Cov-2 transmission, Heath Care Worker protection, Paediatric epidemiology and disease burden "
Funding: FNRS funding under assessment.
Contact: Prof Pierre Smeesters Academic Children Hospital Queen Fabiola Molecular Bacteriology Laboratory, ULB This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

UCLouvain 
"Des données récentes suggèrent qu'une réponse exacerbée du système immunitaire face au SARS-CoV-2 pourrait contribuer à l'aggravation des symptômes des patients placés en soins intensifs. Ce phénomène est bien connu des immunobiologistes. En effet, certains traitements d'immunothérapie du cancer visant à inhiber PD-1 et/ou CTL-4 ou à administrer des lymphocytes T autologues porteurs de récepteur chimérique (CAR-T cells) peuvent avoir des effets secondaires similaires à cet emballement de la réponse immunitaire, tels qu'une tempête cytokinique. Ces thérapies visent à restimuler les lymphocytes T CD8 dits « épuisés », qui se développent à la suite de la persistance d'un pathogène et de l'inflammation qu'il provoque, lors d'une infection virale chronique ou lors d'un cancer. Vu cette similitude entre les effets secondaires des traitements réactivateurs du système immunitaire et de la réaction de certains patients à l'infection par le SARS-CoV2, une identification du phénotype...

Read more: Pierre VAN DER BRUGGEN, Professor

ULiège 
" My main research interest is the development of complete analytical solutions for biomedical applications. I mostly focus on breath and other volatile matrices characterization. "
Publication References: Zanella, D., HENKET, M., SCHLEICH, F., Louis, R., Focant, J.-F., & Stefanuto, P.-H. (2019). Multi-matrices screening for untargeted volatilomics by GC×GC-TOFMS. European Respiratory Journal. Supplement, 54, 4272. Purcaro, G.* , Stefanuto, P.-H.* , Flavio, F., Marco, B., Wieland-Alter, W., Wright, P., & Hill, J. (2018, March). SPME-GC×GC-TOF MS fingerprint of virally-infected cell culture: Sample preparation optimization and data processing evaluation. Analytica Chimica Acta. SCHLEICH, F., Zanella, D., Stefanuto, P.-H., Dallinga, J., HENKET, M., Wouters, E. F. M., Van Steen, K., Van Schooten, F., Focant, J.-F., & Louis, R. (2019). Exhaled Volatile Organic Compounds Are Able to Discriminate Between Neutrophilic and Eosinophilic Asthma. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF...

Read more: Pierre-Hugues Stefanuto, PhD

UMONS
" In emergency departments, 40 to 50 medical masks are currently used per day and per patient. When considering the current shortage faced by healthcare staff, it is essential to study the possibility of decontaminating this equipment in order to reuse it. In recent years, plasma technologies, developed in symbiosis in Mons by UMONS and MATERIA NOVA, one of the UMONS Innovation Centers, have often been highlighted for their ability to modify and improve the properties of surfaces of materials of all types. In the context of the current health crisis and the glaring problem of a shortage of medical equipment, a working group has been set up the Walloon Region to study ways of producing masks and reusing used ones. Regarding the reuse of masks, the expertise of Mons helps on the evaluation of the capacity of plasmas to efficiently decontaminate the masks in plasma systems that would be installed in hospitals. If this strategy has been studied for several years around the world, it...

Read more: Rony Snyders, Professor UMons - Thomas Godfroid, Scientific Leader, Materia Nova

CMMI
" The Center of Microscopy and Molecular Imaging (CMMI) is currently involved in establishing an accurate SARS-CoV-2 virus distribution topography in the organs and various cells of patients who died in COVID-19 units by providing immunohistochemistry and electron microscopy services (study director Pr. Isabelle Salmon). We have also developed and are currently offering preclinical multimodal quantitative imaging - of lung inflammation - of bacterial population (pathogen or no pathogen) - and of viral infection by isotopic imaging. All these models enable the understanding of pulmonary pathological features caused by SARS-viruses such as CoVID-19. From molecular to humanized animal models, the CMMI provides customized imaging solutions to research projects on Coronavirus The CMMI is also a proud partner of the ULB diagnostic platform set-up in Gosselies to face the epidemic of SARS-CoV2. "
Contact: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Comment: The CMMI was co-founded by ULB et UMons and is supported...

Read more: Serge Goldman, Scientific Director

ULiège
" The Centre Spatial de Liege is developing a process for mask recycling by cleaning, decontamination and dehydradation. The process combines ethanol/water mix cleaning with an innovative outgassing step under vacuum. The decontamination is already proven thanks to the collaboration with the Veterinary Faculty . The outgassing step aims to retrieve mask performance (mainly filtration efficiency) close to original. "
Funding: No, internal ULiege project
Contact: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

ULB, Hôpital Erasme - FNRS
Lung injury, endothelial dysfunction and the role of RAAS during SARS-CoV-2 invection. " The first case of a person infected with SARS-Cov-2 virus can be tracked back on November the 17th, 2019, in China. On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic. On April 13, COVID-19 is affecting 210 countries and territories worldwide, about 2 million positive cases have been officially declared along with 115.000 deaths. The real number of infected and deaths is scarily higher, considering that up to 65% people are asymptomatic and thus, not tested. The percentage of patients with COVID-19 needed for intensive care unit (ICU) varied from 5 to 32% in Wuhan, China. It was up to 9% in Lombardy, Italy. According to available data from Lombardy, 99% of patients admitted to the ICU needed respiratory support (88% invasive ventilation, 11% non invasive ventilation). In this unprecedented time, while SARS-Cov-2 virus is halting...

Read more: Sofia Morra, FNRS Research Fellow

GIGA-Institute, ULiège - FNRS - Royal Academy of Sciences, Letters and Fine Arts of Belgium
" The main objective of our research program is the identification of human genetic factors impacting the COVID19 pandemic. Within the COVID-19 host genetics initiative (https://www.covid19hg.org/), we will establish a shared set of phenotypes to be combined with genomic data for standard GWAS and further meta-analysis. Field of expertise of our laboratory : genetics, genomics, bioinformatics, immune-response related diseases. In addition, the GIGA Institute is an interdisciplinary research institute from the ULiege devoted to academic excellence in the biomedical sciences to foster ground-breaking medical innovation. It comprises 583 members attached to six faculties (Medicine, Science, Veterinary Medicine, Engineering, Agbiotech, Psychology) that are organized in four disease-based (neuroscience, cancer, infection-inflammation-immunity, cardiovascular) and two method-based thematic units...

Read more: Souad Rahmouni, Doctor

UCLouvain - Royal Academy of Medicine of Belgium

Determination of Germ-Line Variations and Pathological Gene Expression that May Contribute to Immunopathology in COVID-19." The SARS-CoV-2 infection (1, 2), can be followed by a severe evolution with severe respiratory distress. We hypothesize that germline variants in genes involved in innate immunity, especially type I interferon induction and actions, predispose to delayed pathological response/cytokine storm. Our aims are to identify: i) such germ-line variants and ii) peripheral leukocyte gene expression that can predict unfavorable SARS-CoV2 infections. A group of SARS-CoV2 patients with unfavorable evolution, young and without co-morbidities (25) will be compared with an aged matched group of 25 SARS-CoV2 individuals with absence or a minimum of symptoms. Germ line DNA obtained from peripheral blood (PB) will be whole exome sequenced (WES) and analyzed with bioinformatics tools that are used for rare disease germline...

Read more: Stefan Constantinescu, Professor

UMONS and Ambroise-Paré Hospital Mons
" Predictive plasma signature of the clinical behavior of COVID-19 patients. The clinical presentation of COVID-19 infection varies from mild to asymptomatic to pneumonia, which can be complicated by severe respiratory failure and/or cardiovascular, renal, hepatic and cutaneous involvement. The understanding of such a polymorphism is very incomplete and the prognosis is difficult. Several tracks involving inflammatory reactions are currently favored to better explain this disease. In particular, the significant increase in plasma cytokines IL2, IL7, IL10, GSCF, IP10, MCP1, MIP1A and TNFα, known as "cytokine storm", seems to be significantly associated with the ARDS and multi-organ onsets. In this context, IL6 seems to play an important role and targeted treatments against this cytokine seem promising. Also, the infection of endothelial cells by the coronavirus causing endothelium inflammation have been suggested as one of the fundamental...

Read more: Stéphane CARLIER, Prof - Jean-Marie COLET, Prof - Fabrice JOURNE, Dr - Sven SAUSSEZ, Prof- Vincent...