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.

Institut Jules Bordet
" Contribution to the application and implementation of a novel Covid-19 diagnostic testing method developed at the GIGA/FARAH academic research institutes. Starting with a handful academic scientists from different disciplines, we established a Covid diagnostic lab with the goal of increasing the testing capacity in Belgium during the heaviest period of the crisis. The lab was entirely and exclusively build by training academic volunteers dedicating their time and energy to a joint effort to "beat the virus". Today the lab has a testing capacity of > 3000 samples/day, 7days/7. The diagnostic lab contributed - and still contributes - to the federal Testing Task Force as one of the five partners involved in screening nursing homes and more recently "centres de triage". We believe extensive testing may be critical to assist and better understand the nascent "deconfinement". Making available our expertise in virus-associated diseases accumulated over years of...

Read more: Anne Van den Broeke, Doctor

ULB
" Project: Development of a saliva detection test for SARS-Cov-2 Promoters: Dr. Cyril Gueydan Dr. Anne Botteaux, Dr. Anne Op de Beeck Partners: ULB Diagno Team: Dr. Géraldine De Myulder, : Dr. Cyril Gueydan Dr. Anne Botteaux, Dr. Anne Op de Beeck St. Pierre Hospital Brussels: Dr. Nicolas Dauby; Dr. Charlotte Martin Life Science Institute, Xiamen University (China): Prof. Jiahuai Han The project aims to develop a test to detect the SARS-CoV-2 virus responsible for Covid 19 in the saliva of patients. The objective is to significantly increase the number of diagnostic tests that can be performed, to make them less invasive (compared to the nasopharyngeal swab currently performed routinely) and safer by reducing the proximity between patients and healthcare personnel during the test. Saliva samples will be collected using a new device developed by our collaborators at the University of Xiamen (China). This device allows rapid inactivation of the virus and better conservation of its...

Read more: Cyril Gueydan, Chargé de cours

ULiège, CHU - FNRS
" We aim to compare various diagnostic tools (swabs, saliva, serology, antigen detection) in order to define the best one depending on the clinical presentation and the duration of the disease. "
Funding: Fonds Léon Fredericq FNRS
Contact: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

ULiège 
Development of rapid and reliable alternative diagnostics for wide-scale COVID-19 testing. " Wide-scale implementation of rapid, reliable, low-cost diagnostic tests would help epidemic containment and mitigation strategies. The current gold standard in COVID-19 diagnostics employs quantitative reverse transcription (qRT) PCR which through cyclic reactions at different temperatures detects segments of the SARS-CoV-2 genome from RNA extracts from nasopharyngeal swabs. Though reliable, this procedure requires special sampling devices, purification of RNA, qualified personnel, sophisticated equipment, and a six hour turnaround time to result. By leveraging on university expert capacities such as molecular biology and protein science, our team has performed a series of controlled experiments to assess the specificity and sensitivity of loop- mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP)- and recombinase polymerase amplification (RPA)-based tests in comparison with the qRT-PCR procedure...

Read more: Haruko Takeda, Senior Scientist

UMONS, ULB, Sciensano
" A new type of biosensor to characterize in details antibodies specific for antigens of SARS-COV-2. "
Funding: UMONS
Publication References: E. Gosselin, O Denis, A. Van Cauwenberge, J. Conti, JJ Vanden Eynde, K. Huygen, J. De Coninck, "Quantification of the trichothecene Verrucarin-A in environmental samples using an antibody-based spectroscopic biosensor", Sensor Actuat. B.-Chem., 2012, 166-167, 549-555.
Contact: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

ULiège
" The first objectives of our approach was to strongly increase the testing capacity for virus by using protocols that are as effective as possible and above all not very dependent on the external sources of consumables and reagents whose supply is threatened. The ULiege testing platform can analyse more than 3000 samples per day and is member on the National testing platform. "
Contact: Prof Fabrice BUREAU Vice-Recteur à la Recherche, Université de Liège Place du 20-Août, 7 B-4000, Liège Belgique Tél: +32 4 366 32 14 Prof Laurent GILLET Université de Liège Quartier Vallée, 2 Avenue de Cureghem, 10 B-4000, Liège Belgique Tél: +32 4 366 42 86

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.