“The year 2020 can undoubtedly be defined as the most momentous period in the history of science and mankind and, consequently, for LIH and for the national biomedical research ecosystem in which it operates. The present annual report provides an unparalleled opportunity to reflect on the scientific excellence of our institute and celebrate the many collective achievements of its dedicated staff” – Prof Ulf Nehrbass, LIH CEO.

Claude Turmes, the Minister of Energy and Spatial Planning in Luxembourg, visited the Luxembourg Institute of Health on June 25 2021. As part of the guided tour, Dr Torsten Bohn of the Luxembourg Institute of Health (LIH) gave a short presentation on the BIOVAL project, a collaboration that aims to up-cycle the organic waste produced from the brewing of beer to create other food and chemical products.

Researchers from the Laboratory of Oncolytic-Virus-Immuno-Therapeutics (LOVIT) at the LIH Department of Oncology (DONC) are working on the development of novel anticancer strategies based on oncolytic viruses, “good” viruses that can specifically infect, replicate in and kill cancer cells. In particular, the LOVIT team elucidated the mechanism through which the H-1PV cancer-destroying virus can attach to and enter cancer cells, thereby causing their lysis and death. At the heart of this process lie laminins, and specifically laminin γ1, a family of proteins on the surface of a cancer cell to which this virus binds, and which therefore act as the ‘door’ through which the virus enters the cells. The findings, which were published in the prestigious international journal Nature Communications, carry significant implications for the advancement of virus-based anticancer strategies and for the prediction of a patient’s response to this innovative therapeutic approach.

The Luxembourg Institute of Health (LIH) announces the launch of CoLive Voice, a first-of-its kind digital health study that aims to advance the diagnosis, risk prediction and remote monitoring of various chronic conditions and symptoms by evaluating voice features. Leveraging breakthrough artificial intelligence approaches, the study will collect and analyse voice recordings in several languages from both the general population and people living with chronic or infectious diseases, to identify so-called ‘vocal biomarkers’. CoLive Voice is led by the Deep Digital Phenotyping research unit of the LIH Department of Population Health (DoPH) and is set to run for up to 10 years.

On June 21st, Dr Bohn received the highly esteemed title of ‘Chevalier de l’Ordre de Mérite du Grand-Duché de Luxembourg’ from the Grand Duke of Luxembourg for his contributions to the culture of Luxembourg.

National PhD Welcome Day

WEBINAR: Lecture series Cancer Research: "Metabolic perturbations and human disease phenotypes" - Prof Ralph DeBerardinis

Watch the full video on Youtube!

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