The Unit of Clinical Immunology has developed expertise in a portfolio of patient immunosurveillance methodologies, with single-cell and spatially-resolved resolutions, that are the focus of its educational and capacity-sharing programmes in many partner countries. Its research covers several impact pathways:

  • Understanding the underlying drivers of chronic visceral leishmaniasis disease in patients co-infected with HIV, and developing predictive biomarkers and immunotherapeutic approaches to break the cycle of recurrent disease relapses
  • Defining a protective immune response across the spectrum of human leishmaniasis, and improving understanding of antigen presentation and recognition, to guide antigen discovery and vaccine development
  • Developing immunodiagnostic tools to support elimination efforts of visceral leishmaniasis
  • Prioritising skin-resident immunity as a key vaccine outcome in the development of vaccines against arthropod-borne infections, and finding ways to improve and assess the level of skin imprinting by vaccination
  • Performing comparative trials of booster vaccinations for Ebola virus disease, and of the duration of protection, to contribute to urgently needed re-vaccination recommendations
  • Studying the difference between natural and vaccine-induced immune responses to guide patient management and vaccination policies

Profiles

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Adriaensen Wim

Associate Professor, Unit Head

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Goovaerts Odin

Scientific Fellow

Kelchtermans Lara

Research Fellow

Mensch Lies

Research Assistant

Oostvogels Selien

Scientific Assistant, Research Assistant

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Pham Thao-Thy

Research Fellow

Saenz de la Torre Leal Aliana

Laboratory Technologist

Van de Vliet Nele

Laboratory Technologist

Van Hul Anke

Laboratory Technologist

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Wouters Janne

FWO PhD student

Research themes

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Leishmaniasis

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Neglected Tropical Diseases

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