20 projects
Status
Organization Type
Understanding Immunity in COVID-19
Previously developed model of immune response [Abulikemu et al 2020] will be modified in the collaboration with model authors and used for understanding processes involved in SARS-CoV2. We will develop a systems immunology tool that stratifies the coronavirus patient population according to (i) their likelihood of developing the cytokine tornado and (ii) the tornado subtype they are subject to. It will insert individual patient information into our Abulikemu et al model [2020] and compute the implications for whether or not a flip from moderate ('acute') inflammation to a 'cytokine tornado...
Nonperforming mortgage loans in Luxembourg and the EU during and after the COVID-19 crisis
Luxembourg is one of the countries with the highest household leveraging on private debt and mortgage loans. Important for financial stability the economy is to examine the extent to which the number of households that have not been able to service their mortgages has increased, as a result of the COVID-19 lockdowns and production disruptions. An important part of the problem is to study the extent to which banks in Luxembourg and the EU face a risk of increased nonperforming loans. If there is a problem with increased nonperforming loans, then one should examine policies that can tackle th...
Functional characterization of COVID-19 patient gut microbiome
While COVID-19 is mainly considered an airway and lung disease, up to 79% of patients present with gastrointestinal symptoms and recent studies report on the presence of SARS-CoV-2 viral RNA and particles in stools of infected patients, suggesting that the gastrointestinal (GI) tract may have a more important role in disease pathology or transmission than previously thought. The GI tract is also the site of the dense and diverse microbiome, which has the ability to regulate intestinal and systemic immunity through the conversion of dietary nutrients into bioactive metabolites. Consequently,...
A PRECLINICAL EVALUATION: VACCINATION AND EFFICACY AGAINST SARS-CoV-2
SARS-CoV-2, the causative factor of COVID-19, is endangering the world's health, prosperity and political crises are on the horizon. Nations worldwide had to take drastic measures to prevent catastrophes: strict confinement and hygienic measures have been undertaken to minimize the virus spread. Despite the control measures, the pandemic is inevitably damaging the economy due to a shutdown of public and business life, an overload of the healthcare systems, and the high case fatality rate of COVID-19. The global fight against COVID-19 has mobilized, and many provisional treatments are being ...
COVID-19 and Neurturin
SARS-Cov-2 is a coronavirus is at the origin of the current COVID-19 pandemic, which poses a global and significant threat to public health worldwide. Although several treatment modalities have been evaluated, none has allowed a therapeutic breakthrough until now. New treatment modalities are therefore urgently needed. We have previously described that neurturin, a member of the glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor family, expressed not only as a growth factor in the nervous system but also the immune system, displays clear anti-inflammatory properties in mouse asthma models. Indeed,...
Occupational Sorting of Employees after the Lockdown
In this project we ask the following research question: What is the impact of COVID-19 lockdown on workers' sectoral and occupational allocation, wage inequality and unemployment across European regions and countries? Our goal is to quantify the labor market implications of partial annihilation of selected sectors of economic activity. By simulating scenarios of different degree of severity, we compute changes in workers' assignment to jobs, unemployment measures, and final production across sectors of regional and national economies. Our study is targeted at identifying those segments of l...
Screening for small molecule activators of mesenchymal stem cells as potential therapeutics for C...
Some COVID-19 patients have been successfully treated with mesenchymal stem cells. Most probably, the positive effect comes from the immunomodulatory function of mesenchymal stem cells on the inflammatory burst in the virus-damaged alveolar region. An already established 3D in vitro model representing the alveolar barrier will be enriched with mesenchymal stem cells to further increase the similarity to the human in vivo situation. We suggest to use these alveolar models as a tool to screen for small molecules that activate endogenous mesenchymal stem cells and that have therefore therapeut...
Identifying Predictors of Disease Progression and Tracking Viral Spread in COVID-19 Using Contin...
COVID-19 presents several unique challenges within cardiovascular care. While patients with preexisting CVD appear to be at an increased risk for severe disease and/or death, infection has also been shown to produce a number of CV sequelae, including cardiogenic shock and heart failure, in patients with no known CVD. Further complicating the management of cardiovascular care in COVID-19 are the adverse cardiovascular side effects produced by nearly all investigational therapies currently being tested, as well as, the unknown effects of standard care therapies used for the management of pree...
