ULiège, CHU - Royal Academy of Medicine of Belgium
" Nous faisons face à une pandémie d'infection COVID-19. Ce virus pathogène est source de complications pulmonaires aggravant fortement le pronostic de nos patients. De nos jours, tant les mécanismes physiopathologiques en cause que les marqueurs de sévérité de l'atteinte restent indéterminés. Il apparaît donc comme urgent de pouvoir identifier des marqueurs diagnostiques, pronostiques et prédictifs pour nos patients. Dans ce contexte, plusieurs voies rapidement explorables nous apparaissent comme critiques. Le but final de cette étude est de contribuer à une prise en charge plus ciblée des patients porteurs d'une infection au SRAS-Cov-2. "
Funding: Fonds Léon Frederic
Publication References: Dix publications représentatives : 1) Prevention of murine radiogenic thymic lymphomas by tumor necrosis factor or by marrow grafting. HUMBLET C, GREIMERS R, DELVENNE P, DEMAN J, BONIVER J, DEFRESNE MP. J Natl Cancer Inst 88 (1996), 824-831. IF...

Read more: Ph. DELVENNE, FNRS Research Director / Chef de service Anatomie pathologique - J. GUIOT, Chef de...

ULB, UR2NF - Neuropsychology and Functional Neuroimaging Research Unit affiliated at CRCN - Center for Research in Cognition and Neurosciences and UNI - ULB Neurosciences Institute - FNRS - Royal Academy of Sciences, Letters and Fine Arts of Belgium
" The aim of the study is to examine day-to-day associations between subjective sleep quality and daytime functioning during the large-scale confinement measures taken in Belgium given the current Covid-19 pandemic in Europe. In particular, we are interested in assessing the interplay between altered patterns of sleep timing, duration and quality, and daytime behaviour, cognition, and affect for 2 weeks during the confinement period. Longitudinal data are obtained in Belgium, Hungary and Spain "
Funding: internal resources
Publication References: ongoing project
Contact: Project : This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., Peter Simor: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Philippe Peigneux : This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

UCLouvain - FNRS 
" Large-scale survey on the evolution of alcohol consumption / addictive behaviors (in the general population and in at-risk groups) during the COVID-crisis/lockdown period, and its links with environemental and psychological factors. "
Funding: None
Contact: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

UCLouvain and ULB
" Research project on the impact of covid-19 on the private and professional life of nurses in Belgium. Data were collected on more than 4,500 nurses (in hospital, nursing home, home care, etc.) on their working conditions during the covid-19 epidemic as well as on burnout with Maslach Burnout Inventory and on the job strain (psychological demands and decision latitude) with the Karasek model. "
Funding: None
Publication References: https://www.lalibre.be/dernieres-depeches/belga/coronavirus-plus-de-six-infirmiers-sur-dix-risquent-l-epuisement-professionnel-selon-une-enquete-5eaca25c7b50a67d2ef882a5
Contact: Pierre Smith, nurse and PhD Student in public health, Institute of Health and Society, UCLouvain: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Arnaud Bruyneel, nurse and PhD Student in public health at ULB, SIZ Nursing: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

ULB
" The project aims at assessing the impact of holding municipal elections in France on the spread of the covid-19 epidemic by studying the relationship between turnout and the spread of the disease in areas at different stages of the epidemic. "
Funding: We have applied for a grant from FNRS.
Contact: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Comment: The project is at the data collection stage. No results are available yet.

ULiège 
" My main research interest is the development of complete analytical solutions for biomedical applications. I mostly focus on breath and other volatile matrices characterization. "
Publication References: Zanella, D., HENKET, M., SCHLEICH, F., Louis, R., Focant, J.-F., & Stefanuto, P.-H. (2019). Multi-matrices screening for untargeted volatilomics by GC×GC-TOFMS. European Respiratory Journal. Supplement, 54, 4272. Purcaro, G.* , Stefanuto, P.-H.* , Flavio, F., Marco, B., Wieland-Alter, W., Wright, P., & Hill, J. (2018, March). SPME-GC×GC-TOF MS fingerprint of virally-infected cell culture: Sample preparation optimization and data processing evaluation. Analytica Chimica Acta. SCHLEICH, F., Zanella, D., Stefanuto, P.-H., Dallinga, J., HENKET, M., Wouters, E. F. M., Van Steen, K., Van Schooten, F., Focant, J.-F., & Louis, R. (2019). Exhaled Volatile Organic Compounds Are Able to Discriminate Between Neutrophilic and Eosinophilic Asthma. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF...

Read more: Pierre-Hugues Stefanuto, PhD

UCLouvain, ULB, KU Leuven, UAntwerpen
" This project aims at appraising through a longitudinal survey, the effects of the confinment on psychological well-being and authoritarian tendencies (N = 1200 at T1 and N = 520 at T2). "
Funding: none
Contact: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

UMONS - Faculty of Engineering - ILIA and ISIA Departments
" This study allows an early Covid-19 diagnosis by using AI and explainable based classification and detection methods applied to CT and X-ray datasets. Many datasets form several hospitals in Belgium are used. The goal of the project is to use AI based methods to identify Covid-19 patients. Explainable AI methods are used to provide efficient interpretation and visualization tools for the classification and detection results obtained. The second goal of this project is to create a benchmark dataset composed of chest CT and X-ray database related to Covid-19 disease. To this aim, a semi-automatic annotation tool is developed in order to allow fast image annotation by radiologists. - Explainable artificial intelligence applied to Covid-19 detection based on CT and X-ray images. - Annotation tool development to build a benchmark database. "
Funding: University of Mons - Faculty of Engineering
Publication References: ...

Read more: Saïd Mahmoudi, Professor - Thierry Dutoit, Full Professor - Sidi Ahmed Mahmoudi, Professor- Xavier...

UCLouvain - Royal Academy of Medicine of Belgium
" TThe project US3R is a general population survey that will measure the magnitude of utilised, postponed and foregone medical care in relation with other health care needs than coronavirus symptoms during the confinement period in Belgium. The study aims to describe the magnitude of unsatisfied health care needs for various types of care. It will also identify the reasons for these postponed and foregone care according to gender, health status, geographical location and socioeconomic status. "
Funding: Budget Jeune Académique UCLouvain (Sandy Tubeuf)
Contact: Sandy Tubeuf, PhD Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Comment: Voir: https://uclouvain.be/fr/decouvrir/presse/actualites/coronavirus-avez-vous-renonce-a-des-soins-medicaux.html Lien vers l'enquête : https://uclouvainph.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_8D3WX8lH34Lf6LP

UMONS 
" The outbreak of COVID-19 and the lockdown are undoubtably stressful (CDC, 2020; Liu et al., 2020). However, little is known about the influence of the lockdown on couple and family relationships. The goal of the present study is to investigate the longitudinal impact of the lockdown on couple and family relationships (i.e., distress, conflicts, problem-solving and aggression). Participants (N = 500) are completing 4 waves of data accross the different government announcements. An actor-partner interdependence model will be used to assess the dyadic developmental trajectory of partners. "
Funding: N/A
Contact: Sarah Galdiolo This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

UMONS 
" The outbreak of COVID-19 is undoubtably stressful (CDC, 2020; Liu et al., 2020). However, little is known about what types of stress individuals perceive across contexts and cultures (for notable exceptions see Kim, Sherman, & Taylor, 2008; Falconier, Randall, & Bodenmann, 2016). The goal of the present study is to investigate the perceptions of individual, relational, and systemic stress associated with COVID-19 for individuals in a romantic relationship living across the world. Specifically, this project will examine cross-cultural differences between various countries in Africa (Ghana), Asia (Indonesia, Malaysia, and South Korea), South Asia (India and Pakistan), Eastern Europe (Hungary, Romania, and Russia), Northern Europe (Belgium, Ireland and the United Kingdom), Southern Europe (Greece, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Turkey), Western Europe (Austria, Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland), Middle East (Israel), North America (Canada and the United States), and South...

Read more: Sarah Galdiolo, Professor

UMONS 
" In view of the sanitary context, the UMONS Polytechnic Faculty has decided to replace its annual Créathon with a modified virtual version on the theme of containment. The professors at the origin of the initiative thus decided, in consultation with the academic authorities, to set up an activity whose objective was to enable students to meet (virtually) and to think about how, as engineers and citizens, they could put their skills at the service of society in this particular context. The question addressed to them was the following: "By what brilliant and simple means can we help our fellow citizens to better live the confinement and regain a smille? ». The 21 students who were present thus went through, during 4 hours of team work, the different stages of project creation (ideation, structuring of ideas, action plan of the selected idea and pitch) accompanied by their teachers. This session led to the presentation of 3 project ideas. The proposed solutions address well-known...

Read more: Sébastien Bette, Professor - Santo Raneri, Research and Teaching Assistant

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, Erasme Hospital
" The outbreak linked to COVID-19 pandemic resulted in lock-down measures in almost all European countries. This research aims to assess these measures' implications on Mental Health in emerging adults. The online survey evaluate two psychometric variables (Resilience and Loneliness) and Mental Health status (mental health professional help-seeking, use of psychotropic drugs, or possible diagnosis) before and during lock-down measures. At least 600 healthy participants aged form 18 to 25 years old will be attended to fill the survey during the COVID-19 Pandemic lock-down measures. "
Funding: with the support of Julie Renson Fund, the Queen Fabiola Fund and the King Baudouin Foundation.
Contact: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

ULB
" FRAMEWORK: This is a collaborative project between the researchers of the UR2NF of the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB) and the Institute of Psychology of the Eötvös Loránd University of Budapest (ELTE). AIMS: To examine the bidirectional relationship between subjectively assessed sleep quality and daytime functioning with a special emphasis on the interplay between altered patterns of sleep timing, duration, and quality and daytime behavior, cognition, and affect during a 2- week long confinement period amidst the Covid-19 pandemic in Europe. PROCEDURE: Phase 1: Cross-sectional, on-line questionnaire assessing trait-like measures of Cognitive Disorganization, PTSD-like symptoms, and depression. Phase 2: Selected participants will receive questionnaires twice a day (morning, late afternoon) for 2 weeks. SPECIFIC HYPOTHESES: Subjective sleep disruption (assessed in the morning) will be associated with increased rumination, negative affect, psychotic-like experiences, and...

Read more: Simor Péter, PhD