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Here, you will find all events of Radboudumc Health Academy that are in English. Looking to organize an event? Please contact us.
Speakers
Pro-con discussion SARS-CoV-2 transmission
Dr.ir. Marcel G.L.C. Loomans is Assistant Professor at the Eindhoven University of Technology
The airborne route for transmission of SARS-Cov-2 was denied at the start of the pandemic early 2020. The scientific basis for that was highly questionable. Nevertheless, it took quite some effort to change the perception of the position of the potential contribution of the airborne route in the potential routes of contamination. In the presentation, some explanation is given why it is prudent not to strike out airborne transmission. The hope is that next time, and that moment will come, we may be more open to include all transmission options from the start.
Biography: Dr. Marcel Loomans is Assistant Professor at the Eindhoven University of Technology. His research focuses on the indoor environment and addresses the physical parameters (thermal and air quality) and the connection of the technical solutions to the human health and performance. He did his PhD on the measurement and simulation of indoor airflow and after his PhD he worked at TNO, first on sustainable energy solutions, but quickly returning to the indoor environment with a focus on ventilation in special rooms (operating theatre, cleanrooms) and the performance of the indoor environment in homes, schools and offices. At Eindhoven University of Technology he continued his research on these topics. During the Covid-19 pandemic he was part of an international group of scientist urging WHO to acknowledge the potential of airborne transmission.
Person to person transmission of NTM Pro-con
Andres Floto, Professor of Respiratory Biology, University of Cambridge UK, Honorary Consultant and Research Director, Cambridge Centre for Lung Infection
I will describe our work discovering person to person (P2P) transmission of Mycobacterium abscessus in Cystic Fibrosis patients, the emergence and global spread of dominant circulating clones around the world, the use of mutational spectra to uncover transmission networks including CF patients, and smokers, and the steps involved in pathogenic evolution of M abscessus from an environmental saprophyte to lung pathogen.
Biography: Andres Floto is Professor of Respiratory Biology in the Molecular Immunity Unit of the University of Cambridge (based at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology), Co-Director of the Cambridge Centre for AI in Medicine (CCAIM), Research Director of the Cambridge Centre for Lung Infection at Royal Papworth Hospital, and Director of the UK Cystic Fibrosis (CF) Innovation Hub.
His basic research is focused on understanding how macrophages interact with bacteria, how bacteria evolve during chronic infection and transmission, and how forward and reverse genetics can be combined with fragment-based drug discovery to develop novel antibiotics and host-directed therapies.
His clinical research is centred around treating Nontuberculous Mycobacteria (NTM), tackling chronic inflammation in CF and non-CF bronchiectasis, using graph-based machine learning to understand and predict pulmonary exacerbations, and applying deep learning methods to provide individualised clinical forecasting for patients with CF. Clinically he specialises in the management of Nontuberculous mycobacteria, Cystic Fibrosis, non-CF bronchiectasis, and recurrent chest infections.
Immune factors related to transmission of Mycobacterium tuberculosis
Valerie Koeken, PhD, Post-doctoral researcher 
I am a post-doctoral researcher affiliated with the Radboudumc in Nijmegen and the Centre for Individualised Infection Medicine (CiiM) in Hannover. My research focuses on understanding innate protection against M. tuberculosis infection, variation in immune responses induced by BCG vaccination and immunomodulatory effects of diabetes mellitus leading to increased susceptibility of tuberculosis. In my research, I aim to answer clinically relevant questions by integrating multi-omics analyses on patient samples with basic immunology research.
TB transmission: the whole genome sequencing story
Richard Anthony Phd.D., Senior Scientist Tuberculosis reference laboratory
Genotyping of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC) strains based on PCR or alternative methodologies has been in use since the early 1990s for public health investigations, studies of the MTBC strain population structure, exploration of pathogen evolution and its interaction with the human host. From the mid-2000s when, Mycobacterial Interspersed Repetitive Units—Variable Number of Tandem Repeats (MIRU-VNTR) genotyping was the standard for MTBC genotyping in many countries. Unfortunately MIRU-VNTR-based molecular surveillance is technically complexity and associated with poor reproducibility combined with an intrinsic lack of sufficient discriminatory power.
Whole genome sequencing (WGS) offers new opportunities both in research and public health applications. In principle, WGS provides the ultimate resolution for strain classification to trace infection sources and transmission networks and also allows for the simultaneous prediction of the complete antimicrobial susceptibility profile of a given isolate. The past 5 years have seen a considerable expansion of WGS capacity in EU/EEA TB reference laboratories globally, offering a cost-effective and time-saving alternative to conventional diagnostic methods.
Standardization and quality assurance remains an issue but the potential of genome sequencing to support the study and control of TB transmission is clear.
Biography: "Improving the diagnosis of tuberculosis has been the main focus of my work for almost 20 years. This has ranged from updating microscopic protocols to the development of molecular assays. My work in the Netherlands tuberculosis reference laboratory currently involves the use of genome sequencing for diagnostics, its quality control and potential to monitor the emergence and spread of successful mycobacterial strains with respect to epidemiological type and drug resistance
