WEBINAR: Lecture series in Infection & Immunity - "Antibody responses to SARS-CoV-2 infection and vaccination" - Prof Florian Krammer

In a recent study, scientists from the Human Biomonitoring (HBRU) research unit of the Luxembourg Institute of Health (LIH) exploited hair analysis to assess the exposure to 67 different organic pesticides in 497 adults representative of the population of the Grand Duchy. The researchers detected an average of 19 pollutants per individual, with some chemicals being present across the entire study cohort. The findings, which were published in April in the renowned international journal ‘Environment International’, unequivocally highlight the simultaneous exposure of the population to numerous different pollutants and set the basis for a more holistic understanding of their combined effect on human health.

On April 26th 2020, Hannah Wurzer, doctoral candidate within the Cytoskeleton and Cancer Progression (CCP) group of the LIH Department of Oncology (DONC), and Dr Clément Thomas, Leader of the research group, were awarded the ‘Marian Aldred Award’ by Think Pink Lux (TPL). The symbolic EUR 20,000 cheque was handed over to the two awardees during a ceremony that took place at the LIH premises in Strassen, in the presence of Mrs Carrie Cannon and Mr Laurent Vanot from the Think Pink Lux committee.

The Luxembourgish non-profit association Plooschter Projet renewed its financial commitment to the TSI group of the LIH Department of Oncology (DONC) in support of its research on the detailed characterisation of the identity and features of cells from the tumour microenvironment in chronic lymphocytic leukaemia.

To be part of a research project of the “Physical Activity, Sport and Health Group” (Group Leader: Laurent Malisoux, PhD) within the Department of Population Health at the LIH, we are currently looking for a Master student in Physical Activity, Sport & Health.

WEBINAR: How to plan and perform clinical trials during and after the COVID-19 pandemic (LIH-EFGCP GCP Refresher Training)

A voice reveals a lot about a person’s health: Does it sound strong? Does it sound weak? Is it hoarse? Are there indications of pain or fatigue? Modern digital technologies have recently made it possible to detect the smallest changes in the voice. But now, more research is needed to make the results of this voice monitoring usable for medical and diagnostic purposes. To this end, a team at the Luxembourg Institute of Health (LIH) led by Dr. Guy Fagherazzi, director of the Department of Population Health and head of the Deep Digital Phenotyping Research Unit, has written a review on the topic of “vocal biomarkers”. In this paper, the research team describes the state of the art of voice analysis for health purposes and the evaluation of speech recordings with the help of artificial intelligence. The scientists have also described a pipeline in which the corresponding techniques can be coordinated and used for all the way up to medical applications. They have thus created an important basis for systematically advancing voice analysis in the field of digital health and making it ready for use in clinical practice. The publication “Voice For Health: The Use Of Vocal Biomarkers From Research To Clinical Practice” was published on April 16th in the journal “Digital Biomarkers“

Prof Rejko Krüger, Director of Transversal Translational Medicine at LIH, contributed to an international study aiming to shed light into the genetic determinants of Lewy body dementia (LBD), a common yet understudied neurodegenerative disease. Leveraging advanced genome sequencing techniques in a large study population, the scientists identified five risk genes involved in the onset and progression of this form of dementia, and brought forward the critical role of mutations in a subset of these genes in LBD development. The study also showed that LBD displays common features with Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease, thereby providing a deeper understanding of the complex genetic architecture of this age-related neurodegenerative condition and paving the way for the development of targeted therapies. The findings were published in February 2021 in the prestigious journal Nature Genetics.

Dr Guy Fagherazzi, Director of the LIH Department of Population Health (DoPH) and leader of the Deep Digital Phenotyping Research Unit, and Dr Laurent Malisoux, leader of the Physical Activity, Sport and Health research group at DoPH, exploited the potential of digital health tools to investigate the relationship between both the level and frequency of physical activity and weight variations. The study, which was published on April 15th in the top digital health journal “Journal of Medical Internet Research - mHealth and uHealth”, is a collaboration with the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research (Inserm) and the French manufacturer of connected e-health devices Withings.