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.

ULiège
" The objective of this study is to better understand children's experiences and understanding of this coronavirus crisis. Our purpose is to approach this experience through a drawing. According to Romano (2010), the child's drawing shows the state of his defence mechanisms and the achievement of his elaboration capacities. Several studies have highlighted the stress felt, or even the symptoms of acute stress and post-traumatic stress, in cases of confinement (Qiu et al., 2020; Brooks et al., 2020). Within this framework, we aim to study children's perceptions of the coronavirus and what it means for them. The guideline is intended to be relatively broad in order to allow the child to let go of his or her imagination and give us access to his or her experiences. In previous research, children were asked to draw their perceptions of the September 11, 2001 attacks. What emerges from this study is that most of the children draw elements characteristic of this event, namely...

Read more: Adélaïde Blavier, Professor - Alicia Gallo, Researcher

ULiège
" As the coronavirus epidemic progresses throughout the country, it imposes exceptional sanitary measures on undertakers in order to slow down its spread. In the event of a patient's death, the federal government has issued strict instructions to funeral staff for the care of the body of a patient who died as a result of a coronavirus infection. The body of the deceased must automatically be placed in a double biodegradable body bag before being transferred to the mortuary (The Royal Federation of Funeral Directors of Belgium a.s.b.l., 2020). It is then impossible for families to proceed with the placing. The body must be placed in a single coffin without delay. The coffin will be closed definitively without the possibility of an act of thanatopraxy. In view of these important changes in the care of the deceased, it is likely that funeral workers will develop difficulties or disorders in connection with the performance of their work. It is therefore necessary to investigate...

Read more: Adélaïde Blavier, Professor - Laetitia Di Piazza, PhD Student- Researcher

ULiège
" The objective of this study is to better understand the situation of families during this period of confinement and to analyze the relationship between the parents' and children's reactions. More specifically, the goal is to learn about the anxiety factors and stress management techniques used by parents and children during this particular period and their influence on their sense of parental competence. Several studies have highlighted the stress felt, and even the symptoms of acute stress and post-traumatic stress, in cases of confinement (Qiu et al., 2020; Brooks et al., 2020). Moreover, in previous studies, we have already demonstrated links between the stress felt by parents and that developed by children through intergenerational transmission in the case of traumatic situations (Gallo et al., 2019). In this framework, we wish to study the links between the stress felt by the parent and that felt by the child in the current confinement situation that we are familiar...

Read more: Adélaïde Blavier, Professor - Stéphanie Chartier, PhD Student- Researcher

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

Protein Factory - ULiège
" At Protein Factory, the protein expression and purification facility of the Centre for Protein Engineering (CIP; ULiège), we have produced proteins for COVID-19 diagnostics. Thus, in a collaborative effort with the GIGA Institute at ULiège (Haruko Takeda, in particular), we have been involved in the implementation of alternative rapid and reliable tests, based on loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) and recombinase polymerase amplification (RPA) assays, which both appear as promising alternative to the standard quantitative reverse transcription (qRT) PCR procedure. In addition, for the sake of increased reliability, the CRISPR-Cas12 / Cas13 reporter detection systems have also been implemented. In order not to depend on commercial products, we produced at Protein Factory all the enzymes necessary to perform these tests internally, regardless of any supply shortage or price inflation. Thus, the following enzymes are now available at the CIP for...

Read more: Alain Brans, Fabrice Bouillenne, Iris Tham, Anne-Marie Matton, Moreno Galleni, André Matagne

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

UCLouvain
" Disaster events threaten our lives and economies. This paper focuses on the response of individuals and ventures to Covid-19 as an unexpected pandemic. Serious concerns about potential negative externalities are therefore making the front page of the newspapers every day: slowdown in activity, liquidity and solvency problems and bankruptcy. These risks exist. However, in addition to value destruction, such kind of unexpected event might also trigger value creation. In this study, we explore individuals and ventures' development of spontaneous initiatives as a response to Covid-19. Our findings suggest that the conditions of Covid-19 prompted individuals and ventures to show resilience. They adapt and develop initiatives able to create value from adversity. Our study identifies differences in the (a) magnitude, (b) timeline, and (c) kind of value that is created. It also describes specific activities allowing the quick response of these initiatives. Theoretical and...

Read more: Amélie Wuillaume

ULB - Royal Academy of Sciences, Letters and Fine Arts of Belgium
"The study is conducted within the framework of an international project on communication (production and reception of scientific, media, political discourse) on COVID-19. It aims to outline the role of semiotics in understanding the meaning of the social and cultural changeover the citizen is experiencing with the pandemic. A special attention is paid to the relationship between sign systems and axiologies.
Funding: Journal Degres ReSic (Research Center of ULB)."
Publication References: Special Issue of the journal DEGRES to be published in the summer 2020
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. 

Institut de Recherche Santé et Société (IRSS), UCLouvain
" In this period of confinement, the daily life of any parent who has to combine professional life and coordination of family life at home requires a whole reorganization. This reality is more intense when a parent accompanies a child with a serious illness or with a disability. The beginning of confinement rhymed with the end of the respite periods for these numerous families, since most of the institutions active in "Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles" cannot currently fully fulfill their mission or offer their home help services as they usually do. We hear it through the media, these parents are calling for help. A small group of pediatric professionals, experienced in respite care, is at the initiative of this approach: Répit-Solidaire, a platform intended for parents of sick or disabled children in French-speaking Belgium. It comes in the form of a website and a Facebook group. The main objectives are to provide information on...

Read more: Anne-Catherine Dubois, Infirmière pédiatrique et Doctorante en Santé Publique - Maëlle Boland,...

ULB 
" L'une des décisions majeures actées par le gouvernement fédéral en début de crise sanitaire a été l'annulation de toutes les activités récréatives, culturelles, folkloriques, privées ou publiques, pour une période indéterminée. Afin d'étudier la situation du secteur culturel à court, moyen et long termes, la filière de Gestion culturelle de l'Université libre de Bruxelles est à l'initiative d'une enquête auprès d'un ensemble d'intermédiaires de la culture (tous secteurs artistiques confondus), actifs en Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles, et avec lesquels elle a pour habitude de collaborer depuis de longues années. L'objectif de l'enquête est de collecter des données auprès de ces opérateurs, non seulement afin de faire remonter de l'information du terrain, mais plus important encore, de mener une réflexion critique à plus long terme sur les répercussions, les enjeux et les opportunités que cette crise va avoir sur le secteur culturel qui s'annonce d'ores et déjà comme l'un des plus...

Read more: Anne-Sophie Radermecker, Doctor - Emilie Garcia-Guillen, Research Assistant

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/ 

ULiège
" Study of the legal consequences of Covid 19 on the execution of construction contracts in Belgium "
Publication References: B. KOHL, "L'épidémie de Covid-19 et l'exécution des marchés de construction", Journal des Tribunaux, Brussels, Larcier, 2020, pp. 361-371
Contact: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.