ULiège
" Collective production of 3D printed face shields and mask clips to be distributed to health care professionals. About 400 face shields were produced and distributed within a month. Collaboration involving CARE-FEPEX and FVM skill lab. "
Contact: Ludovic Martinelle This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 04 366 40 39
CUB-Erasme
" "Background: There are no currently approved therapeutics for COVID-19 disease. This disease causes significant morbidity and mortality. Main Objectives: The overall objective of the study is to evaluate the clinical efficacy and safety of different investigational therapeutics relative to the control arm in patients hospitalized with COVID-19 patients. The primary endpoint is subject clinical status (on a 7-point ordinal scale) on Day 15. The secondary objectives are to evaluate clinical, and virological efficacy, and safety of different investigational therapeutics as compared to the control arm. Study design: This is a prospective, worldwide, adaptive, randomized, controlled, open study comparing 4 different treatments for COVID-19. The protocol is based on the WHO Master protocol of the Solidarity trial. The DisCoVeRy protocol previews more data collection and lower dosage regimens of Hydroxychloroquine than in the SOLIDARITY trial. Randomization is performed by...
CUB-Erasme
" "a. Background Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a respiratory tract infection caused by a new coronavirus SARS CoV-2, responsible for the current pandemic, causing a lot of morbidity and mortality. Most people with COVID-19 develop mild respiratory illness (stage I). However, in a sub-group of patients (+/- 15%) there are increasing respiratory symptoms and persistent fever (stage II). Patients may develop acute lung injury (hypoxia, and bilateral opacities on chest computed tomography (CT-scan)), requiring hospitalisation. A further 5% of patients develop stage III disease, requiring admission to the intensive care unit (ICU) due to acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), sepsis and septic shock, and multi-organ failure. As patients progress from stage I to stage III, there are increasing signs of systemic hyper-inflammatory response, reflected by high levels of cytokines, C-reactive protein (CRP), ferritin, and lymphopenia. Different viral, bacterial, and...
ULiège, CIRM, FARAH
" Several natural products (i.e. lycorine, glycyrrhizine, extracts of Pelargonium, Echinacea, Sambucus,...) have shown activity against coronaviruses. Several plants have been used in Chinese Medicine to treat patients with COVID-19. The objective of this project is to evaluate several natural products against SARS-COV2 in vitro and confirm their potential for further development. "
Funding: Own funding.
Contact: Prof Michel FREDERICH https://www.cirm.uliege.be This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
ULiège, CHU, Obstetrics and Gynecology - Royal Academy of Medicine of Belgium
" The primary objective of the project is to assess the risk of maternal-fetal transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The secondary objectives are to analyze the impact of COVID-19 infection on the course of pregnancy as well as that of the newborn. This is a prospective study of a positive COVID-19 pregnant patients cohort in a population of 2,500 patients who give birth in the Gynecology-Obstetrics Department at CHR-Liège. Samples will be taken from the mother, the newborn and from the placenta during childbirth from patients who were diagnosed with COVID-19 during pregnancy or when they were admitted to the delivery unit. Obstetric and neonatal repercussions will be analyzed. "
Funding: Fondation Leon Fredericq
Contact: Pr Michelle Nisolle This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
UCLouvain - Royal Academy of Sciences, Letters and Fine Arts of Belgium
" International research project about the environmental/personal/family/economic factors influencing the risk of parental burnout during the COVID-19 crisis. Link to the Belgian French-speaking version version: https://uclpsychology.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_02LE6m47hjSYtr7 Creation of a hotline to help parents cope with their children and work during the COVID-19 crisis (SOS Parents: 0471/414.333) Project made possible thanks to the gracious help of 42 volunteering psychologists. Participation as expert in the media (written press, radio, TV). "
Funding: No funding
Contact: Hotline: SOS Parents (0471/414.333) Website: Advice to prevent parental burnout during the crisis: https://www.burnoutparental.com/
UCLouvain/Cliniques universitaires Saint-Luc
" COVID-19 pandemic has an important impact on the health care provided by the anesthesiologists. Different societies of anesthesiology have provided guidelines and recommendations on how to manage patients who have been tested positive for COVID-19 or suspected to be infected. It is therefore important to know whether these guidelines have been implemented or were possible to be implemented. Otherwise patients who are presenting COVID-19 often show pulmonary complications. The airway management and the ventilation management of these patients can be therefore challenging and can possibly influence their outcome. It is thus important to obtain a large database with information about the characteristics of these patients, how these patients have been managed and their in-hospital outcome. Information regarding the correct implementation of guidelines is as well necessary for future guidance of health care providers. "
Funding: None
Contact...
ULB - Royal Academy of Medicine of Belgium
" The project aims at understanding why men are more affected than women. Compelling evidences indicate sex-bias in SARS-CoV2 with male representing the majority of severe cases requiring intensive care. Excessive inflammatory symptoms attributed mainly to cytokine storm is the hall-mark of disease progress. We ask whether differences in genetic fitness between male and female patients could contribute to sex-bias and we focus, in particular, on potential role of microRNAs in fine tuning the type and magnitude of the inflammatory response "
Funding: Current application to FNRS IRIS research
Publication References: - Chamekh M, M Deny, M Romano, et al. Differential Susceptibility to Infectious Respiratory Diseases between Males and Females Linked to Sex-Specific Innate Immune Inflammatory Response. Front Immunol. 2017; 8: 1806. - Casimir, G. J., Lefèvre, N., Corazza, F et al. J. Sex and inflammation in respiratory diseases : a clinical...
ULiège
" There is a critical need for therapeutic solutions against SARS-CoV-2. Before implementing innovative treatments in human medicine, a first screening of the antiviral or immunomodulatory activity should be performed by in vitro and in vivo methods. To this aim, we developed in vitro (cell culture) and in vivo (hamsters and mice) models of SARS-CoV-2 infection. We developed an in vitro (cell culture) and in vivo (hamsters and mice) to screen antiviral or immunomodulatory molecules, in partnership with colleagues from the ULiège hospital and the GIGA research center. We also validate the inactivation protocols to facilitate the diagnostic workflow, in partnership with the Federal task force. "
Funding: Currently no funding. We applied to the "Crédits urgents de recherche" call.
Contact: Mutien Garigliany, DVM, PhD, Dipl. ECVP Professor Department of Pathology Faculty of Veterinary Medicine Centre for Fundamental and Applied Research for Animals & Health (FARAH) Liège...
Read more: Mutien Garigliany, Professor - Daniel Desmecht, Professor
FARAH - ULiège
" As of today, one of the most promising therapeutic solutions against COVID-19 is the use of convalescent plasma. A subset of the antibodies present in this plasma are able to bind the surface proteins of the virus, chiefly the Spike (attachment) protein, and to neutralize the ability of viral particles to infect permissive cells. Upon request of the Red Cross and ULiège CHU hospital, we developed seroneutralization assays to determine the titers in neutralizing antibodies of convalescent plasma. In collaboration with KU Leuven (Rega) and ITM Antwerp, we just completed an interlaboratory ring test. We screen convalescent plasmas on a routine basis for the Croix Rouge and Rode Kruis. Only plasmas with a titer in neutralizing antibodies above the cut-off value will be used therapeutically. The scarcity of the scientific literature on the subject (only a few studies on the therapeutic use of convalescent plasmas are currently available) make it difficult to fix a cut-off...
Read more: Mutien Garigliany, Professor - Daniel Desmecht, Professor
UNamur - Royal Academy of Sciences, Letters and Fine Arts of Belgium
" Vivre le confinement "
Funding: La recherche comporte deux phases successives. La première repose sur un questionnaire tout public comprenant quelques questions fermées et une question ouverte permettant aux répondants d'exprimer leurs ressentis du confinement. Une seconde phase par entretiens semi-directifs est envisagée en fonction des résultats de la phase 1.
Contact: https://www.unamur.be/coronavirus/enquetes https://survey.unamur.be/index.php/462198?lang=fr
Comment: A ce jour, plus de 400 réponses ont été enregistrées.
ULB
" I mostly helped setting up a testing facility within the Erasme campus and my laboratory "
Contact: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
USL-B
" Bail et Covid-19. La crise sanitaire bouleverse notre quotidien et, entre autres conséquences, prive une partie de la population de tout ou partie de ses revenus. Une série de questions liées au bail d'habitation en découlent. Le locataire doit-il encore payer son loyer par exemple ? Les délais de préavis sont-ils maintenus ? Les autorités ont-elles prévu une aide financière pour les locataires peu en fonds ? Les expulsions domiciliaires ont-elles toujours cours ? Etc. "
UNamur
" Mathematical modelling of the covid-19 epidemic in Belgium (SIR-type models, age-structured, care centres consideration,...): monitoring, detection of new peak and scenario-based forecasting "
Publication References: Technical reports can be delivered on demand
Contact: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Comment: Collaboration with GEES members on the mathematical modelling of the covid-19 epidemic in Belgium
UNamur
" APOBEC3 enzymes are innate immune effectors acting against viruses. They act by introducing mutations in viral genomes. We investigate the restriction activity of the APOBEC3 proteins on SARS-CoV-2 replication dynamics. "
Funding: UNamur
Contact: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
