In the Netherlands, there are only a handful of laboratories that conduct safe research into the coronavirus. Thanks to thousands of donors of #wakeuptocorona, the LUMC was able to set up a second lab to study the coronavirus. The crowdfunding campaign enabled researchers in the university medical center to quickly scale up their research - in an (inter)national context - into virus inhibitors, medicines and candidate vaccines. Crowdfunding continues, also with a view to the longer term. Molecular virologist Eric Snijder in the Volkskrant:
Together against the virus The crowdfunding campaign #wakeuptcorona is an initiative of the Leiden University Fund in collaboration with the Bontius Foundation of the LUMC. The name #wakeuptocorona has its origins in the social media challenge in support of the action. |
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LUMC Center for Infectious Diseases Current research First of all, there is the research by Professor Eric Snijder and his team into virus inhibitors. With your support, a second Bio Safety Level 3 laboratory could be set up where the team can continue, accelerate and expand their research in a safe environment. Led by Dr Marjolein Kikkert, the PREVENT nCoV-19 project is researching candidate vaccines. On this project, the vaccines are being tested in the lab and clinic for safety and effectiveness. The research is being carried out in collaboration with Leiden pharmaceutical company Janssen. Dutch paediatricians are collecting data on children who are hospitalised having contracted the virus. This is under the leadership of the LUMC’s Willem-Alexander Children’s Hospital. They want to find out more about the manifestation, progression and treatment of COVID-19 in children. This will help us protect children, and the adults around them, and will provide valuable input for policymakers. Finally, the researchers of the BEAT-COVID project are also very happy with the contribution from the crowdfunding campaign. This ambitious project, in which more than fifteen departments from the LUMC work together to better understand COVID-19, is unique in every respect. Doctors and researchers started a large study side in which improvement of care for the patient with Covid-19 is central. With this research they hope to be able to answer questions about the role of the immune system and factors that can predict the course of the disease in order to arrive at an individualized treatment of patients. Name |
Does your company, fund or foundation want to help fight coronaviruses? Feel free to contact our relationship manager Ambika Lucassen at 071 526 57 49 about giving opportunities or read more about scientific research in the fight against coronavirus at Bontius Foundation | LUMC Research Foundation.
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