The consortium contributes to the scientific knowledge at an international level of excellence:
- Polio vaccine clinical trials in containment
- Other human challenge studies in containment, ex. Shigella vaccine
- Maternal immunization studies in Europe & vaccine trials in difficult to reach populations, like pregnant women, nowborns and infants, with a specific focus on potential immune interference of the vaccine response in infants of vaccinated pregant women
- Involvement in vaccine trials for RSV, CMV, streptococcus B and other vaccines
- Ebola vaccine trials
- Studies of mechanims of antimicriobal resistance (AMR) and development of rapid infectious disease diagnostic applications
- Studies of host immune response & bacterial pathogenecity and escape mechanisms (ex. biofilm formation and persistence) that hugely impact infectious disease management, but als biomaerker and target discovery
- Dynamics of (AMR) pathogens in vitro, in humans and in animals (one health) & experimental animal models under antibiotic treatment
- Temporal changes in nasopharyngeal carriage of streptococcus pneumonia and other common pathogens in infants with acute otitis media and in healthy infants attending day-care centers
- Mathematical models of infectious diseases
- Contribution to large European consortia such as COMBACTE and PREPARE, that serve as pan-European infrastructure for clinical research on infectious diseases
- Cell-based vaccination and immunotherapy trials in the field of cancer and infectious diseases, via the Centre for Cell Therapy and Regenerative Medicine (CCRM)
- Advanced therapy medicinal products (ATMP): personalized dendritic cell-based cancer vaccines (the team holds a GMP certicifcation and a licence for production)
- Academic spin-off ANICELLS
- Effectiveness of Wilms' tumor antigen-loaded dendritic cells in acute myoloid leukemia patients
- Novel cell based immunotherapies for auto-immune diseases such as multiple sclerosis
- Immuno-informatics, computational modelling and high-throughput multiparametric immunomonitoring to predict (protective) immune responses following prophylactic vaccination for infectious diseases and therapeutic vaccination against cancer/auto-immune diseases
On a societal level, the consortium will contribute to:
- Recommendations directly supporting policy, including whether or not new vaccines (higher-valent pneumococcal vaccines, RSV, influenza,...) are added to vaccination programmes, and if so, what schedule and at what price
- Regular communications in the popular press, including numerous TV, social and other mainstream media appearances
- Capacity building in laboratories in Eastern Europe, Africa and Asia through joint projects, PhDs, and visiting postdoctoral fellows
- Regular participation in global efforts such as the one initiated by WHO to develop a priority list of antibiotic-resistant bacteria to support research and development of effective drugs
- Development of a coordinated, permanent, pan-European infrastructure for clinical research on infectious diseases (ECRAID). The mission of ECRAID is to reduce the impact of infectious diseases on individual and population health by generating rigorous evidence to improve the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of infectious diseases, and to better respond to infectious disease threats
- Establishment of LAB-Net, a sustainable, high-quality clinical laboratory network of 556 laboratories and 724 lab contacts in 40 European countries with the aim to develop and run clinical protocols and to optimize (rapid) diagnostic microbiological tests in the context of clinical trials to guide optimal therapy for target diseases
- Capacity building of research expertise in other university centres throughout Europe
- Control the increasing vaccine hesitancy, in particular in Europe, and invest in ways to improve vaccine confidence, through collaboration with research institutes, WHO, ECDC, public health institutes and through collaboration in EU projects, such as the EU Joint Action on Vaccination (pre- and in-service training of healthcare providers)
- Through our long existing Viral hepatitis Prevention Board and Human Papilloma Virus Prevention and Control Board we offer the scientific community as well as the decision makers and health care workers communities guidelines, advice and recommendations to assist countries in dealing with control, prevention and recently elimination projects for both viral hepatitis and cervical cancer (HPV)
- Through the participation in the global novel polio vaccine candidate consortium, we will help polio elimination and eradication, and have a substantial contribution to the polio endgame in the world