Digitalisation is moving forward fast in every field, including medicine. But how can digital tools be integrated into healthcare processes, and how should data be visualised to personalize patient care? These are only two of many questions that Professor Dr Jochen Klucken will analyse over the upcoming five years. Supported by a 3.3 MEUR FNR PEARL Chair, Prof. Dr Klucken will develop digital health concepts for Luxembourg through a joint research programme involving the Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine (LCSB) of the University of Luxembourg, the Luxembourg Institute of Health (LIH) and the Centre Hospitalier de Luxembourg (CHL).

A collaborative effort from the Luxembourg Institute of Health (LIH), the University of Western Ontario (Canada), Aarhus University (Denmark), the Steno Diabetes Center Aarhus (Denmark), the Centre Hospitalier de Luxembourg (CHL) and the Directorate of Health (Luxembourg), led by Dr Gloria A. Aguayo from the LIH Department of Population Health (DoPH), was the first to show a link between poor sleep quality and duration, and impaired glycaemic control. The results, published in Diabetes & Metabolism in May 2021, highlight the relevance of measuring sleep patterns as key factors in the prevention of diabetes.

Building on their previous findings, scientists from the Immuno-Pharmacology and Interactomics group at the Department of Infection and Immunity of the Luxembourg Institute of Health (LIH), in collaboration with the Center for Drug Discovery at RTI International (RTI), a nonprofit research institute, have demonstrated that conolidine, a natural painkiller derived from the pinwheel flower and traditionally used in Chinese medicine, interacts with the newly identified opioid receptor ACKR3/CXCR7 that regulates opioid peptides naturally produced in the brain. The researchers also developed a synthetic analogue of conolidine, RTI-5152-12, which displays an even greater activity on the receptor. These findings, which were published on June 3rd in the prestigious international journal ‘Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy’ (Nature publishing group), further advance the understanding of pain regulation and open alternative therapeutic avenues for the treatment of chronic pain.

On May 20th 2021, the Luxembourgish non-profit association “Schëfflenger Kriibshëllef” made a donation to the LIH Department of Oncology (DONC) to support the acquisition of new laboratory equipment for cancer research.

On May 5th 2020, the first participants were being enrolled in the newly launched Predi-COVID cohort. Fast-forward to May 2021, these initial volunteers have been invited to take part in the final follow-up foreseen under the study, which will specifically seek to shed light on the features of “Long COVID” through a new dedicated questionnaire.

WEBINAR: Lecture series Cancer Research: "The immune contexture and Immunoscore in the era of cancer immunotherapy" - Dr Jérôme Galon

WEBINAR: Lecture series in Infection & Immunity - "Astrocyte subsets and connectivity in CNS inflammation" - Prof Francisco Quintana

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The IT Business Analyst assists the IT Manager in assessingthe business model or its integration with technology within the LuxembourgInstitute of Health. He provides effective support to improve or adaptbusiness processes implemented in the ERP for administrative units (HumanResources/Accounting/Purchasing). The IT Business Analyst is in charge ofanalyzing the organization and implement a bridge between business problems andtechnology solutions, while ensuring compliance with regulatory requirementsand institution strategic needs.