The NORLUX Neuro-Oncology Laboratory at the LIH Department of Oncology (DONC), in collaboration with the Centre Hospitalier de Luxembourg (CHL), the Laboratoire National de Santé (LNS), the Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine (LCSB) of the University of Luxembourg and other international partners, established a large collection of patient-derived glioma organoids and xenograft models that mimic the specific features of patient brain tumours. These tools will allow the establishment of personalised drug efficacy studies, thus increasing the chances of success of clinical trials and improving clinical outcomes for patients. The findings were presented in a recent publication in the international peer-reviewed journal Acta Neuropathologica.

Running is good for your health. Medical experts and the general public agree on this.

The LIH is not only a privileged research partner in Luxembourg, but also worldwide as a lead institution in large-scale collaborative initiatives.

Hypoxia, a decrease in the oxygen pressure, is a major factor developed in the microenvironment of all solid tumors. Tumor cells are able to adapt to hypoxic stress by activating multiple resistance mechanisms, which collectively contribute to the failure of conventional cancer treatments, such as chemo and radiation therapy. However, data underlining the tangible impact of hypoxia on the efficacy of immunotherapy are still missing.

On Monday, September 14th, the Minister of Higher Education and Research, Claude Meisch, the Minister of Health, Paulette Lenert, and the Research Luxembourg (RL) COVID-19 Task Force held a press conference in Dudelange to officially conclude the first phase of the large-scale testing, led by the Luxembourg Institute of Health together with the Research Luxembourg community. The operations of the second phase have been handed over to the Health Directorate of the Ministry of Health and will start mid-September.

Dr Guy Fagherazzi from the LIH Department of Population Health (DoPH) contributed to an international cohort study aiming to investigate the link between plasma vitamin C and carotenoids with the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

On Friday July 31st, the Luxembourg Tech School (LTS) granted the sum of EUR 1,000 to Prof Markus Ollert’s team at the Luxemburg Institute of Health (LIH), in support of the its COVID-19 vaccine development activities. The donation was made by two young students, who had been awarded the sum as the second prize of the LTS ‘GameDev Challenge 2020’.

The first phase of the COVID-19 large-scale testing campaign ended on Monday, July 27. By the end of the first phase, an almost full use of the testing capacity has been observed, with up to 16,000 tests performed per day.

In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, the 4 Rotary Clubs of the Grand Duchy joined forces in support of Luxembourg’s research on the novel coronavirus, raising a special fund. The selected project is NEUTRACOV, led by Dr. Danielle Perez Bercoff at the LIH Department of Infection and Immunity (DII), which received a generous donation of EUR 30,000 from the Rotary Clubs on June 19th.