Recently, several prestigious prizes and grants have been awarded to our AII members. Learn more about these accomplished individuals and their projects in the article below!
Stichting Long-COVID Consortium Grant and ZonMw Long-COVID Diagnostic and Treatment Grant – Dr. Hung-Jen Chen (Oliver)
Dr. Chen, a Postdoc in Jeroen den Dunnen's group at the Center for Experimental and Molecular Medicine (CEMM), has recently secured two substantial grants in the field of Long-COVID. These grants, namely the Stichting Long-COVID Consortium Grant and the ZonMw Long-COVID Diagnostic and Treatment Grant, mark significant contributions to the advancement of our understanding and diagnostic capabilities for Long-COVID.
With the Stichting Long-COVID Consortium Grant, Dr. Chen has obtained €250,000 in funding for his project. This initiative is dedicated to the progression of research in immunoglobulin Fab and Fc region characterization, specifically aimed at unraveling the complexities associated with Long-COVID identification and pathogenesis.
Additionally, Dr. Chen has been honored with the ZonMw Long-COVID Diagnostic and Treatment Grant, which provides substantial funding of €470,534 for the DEDICATE project. The primary objective of this project is to develop a robust diagnostic assay incorporating a panel of validated autoantibodies and serum biomarkers. The envisioned diagnostic tool is not only anticipated to be rapid but also adaptable for use in clinical settings post-validation, potentially making significant strides in objective diagnostic capabilities for Long-COVID. This initiative holds the promise of offering crucial insights to healthcare professionals dealing with Long-COVID cases.
Open Philantrophy Grant – Dr. Kwinten Sliepen, Prof. Rogier Sanders, and Dr. Janke Schinkel
Dr. Sliepen (grant-PI), Prof. Sanders (co-PI), and Dr. Schinkel (co-PI) have recently secured a substantial $3,464,862 grant over three years from Open Philanthropy to work on a hepatitis C virus (HCV) vaccine. The grant will specifically fund the design and preclinical testing of promising vaccine candidates. Roughly 58 million people are living with chronic HCV infection, and roughly 300,000 people die annually from HCV-related causes; an effective preventative vaccine for HCV would be extremely impactful.
Dr. Sliepen, Prof. Sanders, and Dr. Schinkel will lead the project, collaborating with experts such as Neil King from the Institute for Protein Design at the University of Washington (who received a separate $350,000 grant), Roger Legrand from CEA, IDMIT in Paris, Philip Meuleman from the University of Ghent, Gabriel Victora from the Rockefeller University in New York, and Robin Shattock from the Imperial College in London.
ZonMw Grant – Dr. Kornel Golebski and Prof. Anke-Hilse Maitland-van der Zee
Dr. Kornel Golebski and Prof. Anke-Hilse Maitland-van der Zee have been awarded a €640,000 grant from ZonMw to investigate new diagnostic tools and biomarkers for long COVID. Collaborating with Dr. Janesh Pillay from UMCG, they aim to address the critical issue of identifying phenotypes of severe and persistent long-COVID, affecting up to 10% of patients even a year after SARS-CoV-2 infection.
The absence of fast and easily measurable diagnostic tools for biomarkers hinders the identification of these phenotypes, which are essential for determining optimal treatment strategies for individual patients. Prof. Maitland-van der Zee, Dr. Golebski, and Dr. Pillay will assess whether Fibroblast Activation Protein (FAP) and inflammatory biomarkers identified through OMICs can effectively classify long-COVID phenotypes. Additionally, they will explore the correlation between FAP expression, measured with FAPI-PET/CT, and permanent airway inflammation along with ongoing fibroblast activity.
Utilizing patient samples, the team aims to identify targets for novel or existing therapeutics that can block the inflammation-tissue remodeling axis. Their proposal involves the use of FAPI-PET/CT and inflammatory biomarkers as a diagnostic tool to identify long-COVID patients at risk for chronic/severe post-COVID syndrome within the P4O2 COVID-19 cohort. This research addresses an urgent and unmet need, offering potential insights into personalized treatment approaches for individuals suffering from persistent long-COVID symptoms.
Best oral presentation Award NLSEV – Anusca Rader
Anusca Rader, a PhD candidate in the Ribeiro lab, received the Best Oral Presentation Award at the 7th Netherlands Society for Extracellular Vesicles (NLSEV 2023) scientific meeting held on November 27-28, 2023, in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Her presentation was titled 'Dengue Virus Exploits Autophagy Vesicles and Secretory Pathways to Promote Transmission by Human Dendritic Cells’.
