Ongoing research
Impact measurement of screening programs and vaccination programs
under construction
Biomarkers in first-void urine for improved diagnosis and monitoring of cervical (pre)cancer
Abstract:
The ongoing improvement of diagnostic tools leading to new technologies and high-throughput testing is one of the major ongoing achievements in Medicine, though still facing many challenges. Indeed, accurate diagnosis and monitoring of the health status of people is key to provide timely and targeted interventions to those who need them. Unfortunately for many diseases major improvements at the level of sampling are required to have better up-take of screening programs, easier access to diagnosis, less expensive options for follow-up, and more sensitive detection of infectious agents or biomarkers.
The aim of this project is to demonstrate the potential of urine samples in this new area of advanced molecular diagnostics and promising biomarkers. The fact that urine is a self-collected, non-invasive sample that can be collected at home and mailed to the laboratory represents a major advantage in numerous settings.
More specifically, we aim to analyse a panel of biomarkers in first-void urine for improved diagnosis and monitoring. The use of first-void urine as a liquid biopsy sample for biomarker analysis has a large application potential, covering a broad range of cancers and infectious diseases. In this study, we will more specifically focus on biomarkers for cervical (pre)cancer and, defining immunity to HPV infection. This novel avenue of biomarker testing in first-void urine offers opportunities, when combined with highly sensitive HPV DNA testing, to monitor HPV infections (i.e. pro- or regressive) in home-collected first-void urine samples.
- Principal investigator: Pierre Van Damme
- Co-principal investigator: Xaveer Van Ostade, Wiebren Tjalma, Margareta Ieven
- Investigators: Alex Vorsters, Samantha Biesmans, Severien Van Keer, Jade Pattyn, Hilde Revets
Funding:
IOF SBO-project University of Antwerp (PS ID 32387)
Ph.D. fellowship FWO (1120816N): Aspirant Severien Van Keer
Period:
1/10/2015-30/09/2018 (IOF SBO)
1/10/2015-30/09/2017 (Ph.D. fellowship FWO)
Gene expression analysis for the differentiation between viral and bacterial meningitis in children
Abstract:
Rapid detection of bacterial meningitis in children remains an important goal for emergency room doctors and paediatricians. The differentiation between viral and bacterial meningitis in children is mainly based on clinical scoring systems that are, however, neither 100% sensitive nor 100% specific. Additionally, adequate sampling of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is not always achievable. Recently, the value of gene expression analyses for infectious diseases has been illustrated in several clinical and experimental settings. Several studies were able to show a difference in gene expression between different types of influenza, between different types of bacterial infections, between tuberculosis and other inflammatory or infectious diseases in African children and between some viral infections and some bacterial infections. However, none of these studies specifically addressed the value of gene expression analyses in differentiating between viral and bacterial meningitis. In this multicentre prospective study, we will use whole blood gene expression analyses to differentiate between viral and bacterial infections in children with meningitis (N = 80). This study will add to the important clinical differentiation between viral and bacterial meningitis in children. Furthermore, we believe that the determination of the gene expression signalling in bacterial (but also viral) meningitis will elucidate the pathophysiology of this disease.
- Principal investigator: Ogunjimi Benson
- Co-principal investigator: Laukens Kris
- Co-principal investigator: Van Damme Pierre
Funding:
Private
Period:
01/07/2015 - 30/06/2017