Research on Developing Diagnostics for Infectious Diseases
RAPP-ID: Development of RApid Point-of-Care test Platforms for Infectious Diseases
RAPP-ID will develop a Point-of-Care Test (POCT) for rapid pathogen detection as well as to determine resistance to antimicrobial drugs. Novel specific probes, novel methods of sample preparation, and demonstrated ultra-high sensitive detection methods will be combined to provide clinicians with results in hospitalized patients in less than 2 hours and in outpatients in less than 30 minutes.
ROUTINE: ROutine diagnostic tool for Urinary Tract INfections caused by ESBL and carbapenamase- producing bacteria
R-Gnosis: Resistance in Gram-Negative Organisms: Studying Intervention Strategies.
ND'ID: New Diagnostics for Infectious Diseases
ND4ID is an international training program at PhD student level. A total of 15 early-stage researchers will be offered an extensive and holistic training programme where they will be exposed to the full breadth of disciplines spanning clinical, technological and market-oriented viewpoints, from both the academic and non-academic sector. This will result in a new ‘breed’ of IVD researchers capable of closing the gap between those perspectives and preparing them to be lead players in the future IVD field.
MIC-STRIP:
Development of a microfluidic strip and device for rapid and accurate determination of the minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) of antibiotics &
Optimization of a microfluidic strip and device through design and engineering of the diagnosis rate of the minimum inhibitory concentrations (mi) of antibiotics
STARCS:
Selection and transfer of antimicrobial resistance in complex systems.
Utilizing state-of-the-art techniques to address major infectious diseases threats
PREPARE: Platform for European Preparedness Against (Re-)emerging Epidemics is an EU funded network for harmonised large-scale clinical research studies on infectious diseases, prepared to rapidly respond to any severe ID outbreak, providing real-time evidence for clinical management of patients and for informing public health responses.
COMPARE: COllaborative Management Platform for detection and Analyses of (Re-) emerging and foodborne outbreaks in Europe.
COMPARE is a large EU project intending to speed up the detection of and response to disease outbreaks among humans and animals worldwide through the use of new genome technology. The aim is to reduce the impact and cost of disease outbreaks. COMPARE uniquely aims to establish a “One serves all” analytical framework and data exchange platform that will allow real time analysis and interpretation of sequence-based pathogen data in combination with associated data.
The project will also develop tools that can be used to diagnose and treat patients, investigate outbreaks and communicate the risks associated with various disease-causing microorganisms.”
EURIPHI: European wide Innovative procurement of health innovation
RESCEU: Respiratory Syncytial virus consortium in Europe
Hercules: Single molecule long-read sequencing technology: beyond state-of-the-art in biological and medical research
BactiVac: Asses the variation in lipopolysaccharide structure in circulating African invasive Salmonella Typhimurium isolates to predict vaccine coverage
Antibiotic Use and Its Impact on Human Pathogens and Commensal Flora
i-4-1-Health
Nine hospitals, 7 public health authorities, 7 knowledge institutions, and 3 companies in the borderregion Flanders-Netherlands are participating in the i-4-1-Health project. This project aims at the prevention of infectious diseases and the combat against antibiotic resistance in both humans and animals (One Health) by research and innovation. The project has started on 1st January 2017 and lasts until 31st December 2019.
ARNA
The objective of ARNA (Antimicrobial Resistance and Causes of Non-prudent Use of Antibiotics in the European Union) is to contribute to a more prudent use of antibiotics in the EU, with a special focus on the use of non-prescribed antibiotics. The project is funded by the EC for a period of two years (July 2014-June 2016).
Drive-AB
The project “Driving reinvestment in R&D for antibiotics and advocating their responsible use” aims at developing new economic models to incentivise antibiotic discovery and development activities while safeguarding the efficacy of antibiotics by researching and advocating their appropriate use. The LMM is involved in compiling and assessing definitions and metrics to express volumes of antibiotic use in outpatient settings across diverse socioeconomic, geographic and clinical settings. Through a systematically review, it is aimed to develop a conceptual framework for a standard of responsible antibiotic use.
NeoObs:NeoAMR Global Neonatal Sepsis Observational Study
NeoObs aimins to generate a robust evidence base for managing neonatal sepsis in settings with high resistance rates to the WHO first-line empiric therapy of ampicillin and gentamicin and for infections caused by MDR Gram-negative pathogens.
Genetic, Genomic and Microbiomic Studies to Understand the Dynamics and Mechanisms of Antibiotic Resistance
Dynamics of resistant bacteria in the human host under antibiotic therapy
Overall aim: To study temporal changes in the proportion of resistant bacteria after treatment with certain antibiotics (Azithromycin, clarithromycin, Amoxillin).
Study of the emergence of colistin resistance and elucidation of resistance mechanisms
Emergence of colistin resistance in Klebsiella pneumoniae in ICU patients under therapy. Analysis of consecutive sensitive and resistant K. pneumoniae using whole genome sequencing and whole genome mapping has identified 100 potential SNPs.
gastro-intestinal resistome
Overall aim: To develop a reference resistome of the European population but also investigate their differentiating factors through correlation analysis to host metadata (age, sex, antibiotic usage).
Presence of Antibiotic-Resistant Pathogenic Bacteria in the Community and Environment and Link with Disease
Overall aim: to elucidate the carriage of antibiotic-resistant and potentially pathogenic bacteria in the community and in the environment and also study their prevalence and link with community-acquired gastro-intestinal and respiratory infections.
Collaborating with National Institute of Vet. Research, Hanoi, Vietnam.
Analysis of the VAP versus non-VAP microbiome
Overall aim: to investigate which micro-organisms are associated with certain key pathogens and to study their influence during multispecies interactions in the development of VAP.
Prokaryotic Modeling to Elucidate Virulence and Other Pathogenetic Traits
GOA project
Investigation of biofilm formation on medical devices
FWO biofilms
Investigation of Staph aureus biofilms
In vitro Biofilms to Understand Biological Significance of a Community-lifestyle
Overall aim: To elucidate the role of the mobilome and of small regulatory RNAs in the pathogenic success of MRSA clones
In vivo Modeling to Understand Host-Pathogen Interactions and the Evolutionary Dynamics of Gram-negative Bacteria During Colonization and Life-Threatening Infections
Overall aim: Utilize both human samples and rodent models to study distinct host-pathogen signatures during colonization and development of VAP by two marker organisms, P. aeruginosa and E. coli that show diverse pathogenetic profiles
Policy Research
Antibiotic Policy in Belgium, Europe and Beyond
- Belgian Antibiotic Policy Coordination Committee
- European Antibiotic Awareness Day
- World Antibiotic Awareness Day (US, Canada, Australia, India, Mexico, Korea, Singapore…
GRACE
- Reduce GPs’ antibiotic prescribing for (L)RTI
- National implementation in Belgium
- Expand to other countries, other infections, children, choice of antibiotics
Read the GRACE leaflet
TRACE
Translational Research on Antimicrobial resistance and Community-acquired infections in Europe (TRACE)
Read the TRACE leaflet