ULB - FNRS
" Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, an unprecedented number of genomic sequences of the causative virus (SARS-CoV-2) have been publicly released. The resulting volume of available genetic data presents a unique opportunity to gain real-time insights into the pandemic, but also a daunting computational hurdle if analysed with gold-standard phylogeographic methods. We here describe and apply an analytical pipeline that is a compromise between fast and rigorous analytical steps. As a proof of concept, we focus on Belgium, one of the countries with the highest spatial density of sequenced SARS-CoV-2 genomes. At the global scale, our analyses confirm the importance of external introduction events in establishing transmission chains in the country. At the country scale, our spatially-explicit phylogeographic analyses highlight an impact of the national lockdown of mid-March on both the long-distance dispersal events and the dispersal velocity of viral lineages. Our...

Read more: Simon Dellicour, FNRS Postdoctoral Researcher

ULB, Hôpital Erasme - FNRS
Lung injury, endothelial dysfunction and the role of RAAS during SARS-CoV-2 invection. " The first case of a person infected with SARS-Cov-2 virus can be tracked back on November the 17th, 2019, in China. On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic. On April 13, COVID-19 is affecting 210 countries and territories worldwide, about 2 million positive cases have been officially declared along with 115.000 deaths. The real number of infected and deaths is scarily higher, considering that up to 65% people are asymptomatic and thus, not tested. The percentage of patients with COVID-19 needed for intensive care unit (ICU) varied from 5 to 32% in Wuhan, China. It was up to 9% in Lombardy, Italy. According to available data from Lombardy, 99% of patients admitted to the ICU needed respiratory support (88% invasive ventilation, 11% non invasive ventilation). In this unprecedented time, while SARS-Cov-2 virus is halting...

Read more: Sofia Morra, FNRS Research Fellow

GIGA-Institute, ULiège - FNRS - Royal Academy of Sciences, Letters and Fine Arts of Belgium
" The main objective of our research program is the identification of human genetic factors impacting the COVID19 pandemic. Within the COVID-19 host genetics initiative (https://www.covid19hg.org/), we will establish a shared set of phenotypes to be combined with genomic data for standard GWAS and further meta-analysis. Field of expertise of our laboratory : genetics, genomics, bioinformatics, immune-response related diseases. In addition, the GIGA Institute is an interdisciplinary research institute from the ULiege devoted to academic excellence in the biomedical sciences to foster ground-breaking medical innovation. It comprises 583 members attached to six faculties (Medicine, Science, Veterinary Medicine, Engineering, Agbiotech, Psychology) that are organized in four disease-based (neuroscience, cancer, infection-inflammation-immunity, cardiovascular) and two method-based thematic units...

Read more: Souad Rahmouni, Doctor

UMONS and Ambroise-Paré Hospital Mons
" Predictive plasma signature of the clinical behavior of COVID-19 patients. The clinical presentation of COVID-19 infection varies from mild to asymptomatic to pneumonia, which can be complicated by severe respiratory failure and/or cardiovascular, renal, hepatic and cutaneous involvement. The understanding of such a polymorphism is very incomplete and the prognosis is difficult. Several tracks involving inflammatory reactions are currently favored to better explain this disease. In particular, the significant increase in plasma cytokines IL2, IL7, IL10, GSCF, IP10, MCP1, MIP1A and TNFα, known as "cytokine storm", seems to be significantly associated with the ARDS and multi-organ onsets. In this context, IL6 seems to play an important role and targeted treatments against this cytokine seem promising. Also, the infection of endothelial cells by the coronavirus causing endothelium inflammation have been suggested as one of the fundamental...

Read more: Stéphane CARLIER, Prof - Jean-Marie COLET, Prof - Fabrice JOURNE, Dr - Sven SAUSSEZ, Prof- Vincent...

UNamur
" The goal is to solve one of the shortage in the COVID19 diagnostic since the lack of this specific sampling equipment also seriously impedes the diagnostic capacity. 3D printing technologies and coatings deposited by low pressure plasma are applied to develop new generation of swabs and collection tubes. The general purpose for the swabs is to optimize the design in order to maximize the collection and minimize the pain. This involves design of swab tip cavity by fluid mecanic and 3D CAD/CAM, roughness adpatation, plasma surface treatement, surface energy evaluation, wettability evaluation of nasopharyngeal samples, sampling performance by housekeeping gene evaluation (GaPDH ), ..... The general comfort of usage of various designs is also evaluated on humans. The general purpose for the collection tube is to accomodate the new swabs, but also to minimize the number of operation post-sampling. Also, opening the tube and transfer of the content to eppendorf in one single...

Read more: Stéphane Lucas, Full Professor - Richard Coos, Engineer

Materia Nova
" Based on its expertise on surface treatments and biotechnology, Materia Nova is actively working on the development of decontamination process or anti-viral surface treatments. On the one one hand, plasma technology can be used to decontaminate surfaces or fabric, like sanitary masks. Beyond masks, this technique can be used for the sterilization of medical parts (respirator tubing, surgical instruments...) even sensitive to temperature. The technology can be declined in the form of a small system that could also be useful in structures other than hospitals such as nursing homes, shops... On the other hand, the knowledge of Materia Nova in wet and dry functional coatings dedicated to various properties and applications (transport, health, energy,…) helps to investigate the anti-viral surface treatment. Due to this large panel of technologies (plasma deposition, sol-gel, organic coating or electrodeposition), the coatings or the combination of coatings can be applied on...

Read more: Stéphanie Roosa, Program Leader Biotechnology - Thomas Godfroid, Scientific Leader Plasma...

UCLouvain
" On the one hand, we are developing a safe, middle throughput seroneutralization assay to correlate standard serology to seroneutralization and to enable vaccine response analysis. On the other hand, we develop a basic research project on the identification of a promising drug target site in the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase of positive-stranded RNA viruses, conserved in SARS-CoV-2. During researches performed in the framework of an EOS program, we seredendipitously discovered a conserved region of viral RNA-dependent RNA-polymerases that has properties to be targetable by drugs. This site appears to be conserved in several viruses including SARS-CoV-2 and other important human pathogens. In collaboration with a swiss group working on coronaviruses and other partners, we plan to examine the impact of this polymerase target site on the replication of several viruses, its drugability and the reason for its conservation during evolution. "
Funding: - contribution to a small...

Read more: Thomas Michiels, Professor

ULB and Hôpital de Marche (Vivalia)
" Three axes to improve SARS-CoV-2 infection detection. 1. Development of RNA positive controls for real-time PCR allowing to give the SARS-CoV-2 RNA results in viral load quantification. Development of samples carrying eukaryote mRNA and recombinant RNA positive controls allowing to give after reverse transcription and real-time PCR the results in viral load/copy number. Method: The amplified region of the SARS-CoV-2 E gene was cloned in a E. coli expression vector allowing recombinant mRNA production after IPTG induction. Positive control samples are prepared by adding a known copy numbers of SARS-CoV-2 RNA to human eukaryote RNA, in order to have standard positive controls during the diagnosis method. 2. Development of a new SARS-CoV-2 diagnosis assay allowing point-of-care testing using the SHERLOCK diagnostics system. 3. Production of recombinant proteins allowing for anti-SARS-CoV-2 immunoglobulin detection by ELISA."
Contact: Véronique...

Read more: Véronique Fontaine, Professor - Philippe Lefèvre, Doctor - Véronique Megalizzi, Doctor

ULiège
" The definition of populations at risk for severe Covid-19 might help to improve health care and to propose specific treatments. We investigate candidate genes that could be associated with these severe forms. "
Funding: Walloon Region (WALGEMED project) Fonds Léon Frédéricq (ULiège)
Contact: Vincent Bours, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

ULB - FNRS
" Germanium is widely used for attenuated total reflection (ATR) Fourier infrared transform spectroscopy (FTIR). We developed a simple way using calixarenes to functionalize these Ge surfaces and transform them in high quality and sensitive biosensors. The detection being done by ATR-FTIR allows the high sensitivity but also can quantify different molecular species in a mixture as well as their different secondary structures, both being extremely important for epidemiology study (it has been demonstrated that FTIR can discriminate different Ig proteins in a mixture). The recording of the spectra takes only few seconds and their analysis can be easily automatized. Furthermore, our laboratory is equipped for rapid and high-throughput analysis (fabrication of protein micro-arrays, infrared microscope able to record hundreds of spectra simultaneously, …). This new generation of biosensor has also the great advantage of being extremely stable and recyclable . All these...

Read more: Vincent Raussens, FNRS Senior Research Associate - Ivan Jabin, Doctor - Gilles Bruylants, Doctor -...

ULB and Sciensano - FNRS
" La spectroscopie IR fournit des signatures spectroscopiques spécifiques permettant une détection rapide de biomolécules dans un échantillon complexe, tout en ne requérant que très peu de matériel. La création d'un biosenseur basé sur cette méthode et appliqué aux anticorps contre le SARS-COV-2, permettrait d'étudier de manière beaucoup plus sensible, spécifique et quantitative les réponses immunologiques de la population contre le SARS-COV-2 que les tests sérologiques actuels. C'est un enjeu majeur pour gérer la période de déconfinement. "
Funding: Demande en attente auprès de l'AUF
Contact: Vincent Raussens Senior Research Associate (FRS-FNRS Belgium) Université libre de Bruxelles Structure and Function of Biological Membranes bd. du Triomphe, Access 2 - 1050 Brussels, Belgium T : +32 (0)2 650 53 86 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

ULiège - Royal Academy of Medicine of Belgium
" In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, this project involves collecting samples of human bodily material (HBM) for research projects aimed at better understanding and fighting this disease. 1 / Collection of blood and respiratory HBM from 500 patients with COVID-19 virus infection, as well as of post-mortem kidney and lung biopsies. 2 / Collection of blood HBM from 4000 healthy hospital and university staff members, currently not infected with the SARS-CoV2 virus, but possibly previously infected. SARS-CoV2 serology will be measured at 3 time points during the pandemia. "
Funding: Fondation Léon Frédéricq Wallonia Region ULiège CHU Liège
Contact: Pascale Huynen, Dpt of Microbiology, CHU of Liège. Stéphanie Gofflot, BHUL (CHU of Liège biobank).