Hygieia: strategies for prevention and treatment of infective disease - ASG, Pufendorf IAS

Advanced study Group (ASG) at the Pufendorf Institute for Advanced Studies

Infectious diseases account for millions of deaths worldwide each year and incur tremendous health care costs. The disease spectrum is broad and includes acute disease, such as erysipelas, sepsis, pneumonia and numerous other infections, having a direct association to a given pathogen, as well as chronic diseases, where microbes often cause a long-standing inflammatory state. The Hygieia Network is a newly established collaborative effort within Lund University that have the general aim to strengthen research aiming at finding new ways of fighting infectious diseases. The aim of the Hygieia network at Lund University is to facilitate and provide excellence in research and innovation in the areas of basic as well as clinical research that impact positively on the causes, control and amelioration of infectious diseases, with a particular focus on chronic infections. The cross disciplinary group of researchers will seek to incorporate expertise in bacteriology/microbiology, virology, molecular biology, clinical medicine, epidemiology, statistics, health economics, structural biology,
biophysics-surface chemistry, delivery and formulation technologies, chemistry, and medical technologies. We believe that this multidisciplinary approach will lead to new insights and novel concepts to tackle this health problem. Hygieas activities are centered around three pillars:

i) Strengthening the interaction between researchers from different disciplines and to promote the formation of a strong competitive environment that will further facilitate the development of novel therapies and strategies to combat infectious diseases.
ii) The Hygieia network will provide a framework and basis for collaborations between the researchers and additional interacting groups at Lund University. Existing technology platforms will be further developed, and new will be established to promote research and development.
iii) In addition to the promotion of research efforts and scientific interactions in the area of innate immunity/infectious diseases and platform building, we will give special attention to the training of postdocs and PhD students in the research areas promoted by the Hygieia network.