Research Grant Awardees in 2012

We are pleased to present the 21 recipients of a research grant in 2012 who received up to EUR 20'000 each for their projects.

Giuliana Banche, Turin, Italy
Agostinho Carvalho, Perugia, Italy
Cristina Cigana, Milano, Italy
Julie Delaloye, Lausanne, Switzerland
David Fewer, Helsinki, Finland
Karen Fitzmaurice, Oxford, United Kingdom
Maddalena Giannella, Madrid, Spain
Stéphanie Matrat, Madrid, Spain
Jacob Moran Gilad, Jerusalem, Israel
Angela Novais, Porto, Portugal
Thomas Pembroke, Cardiff, United Kingdom
Elda Righi, Varese, Italy
Alda Saldan, Padua, Italy
Leif Erik Sander, Berlin, Germany
Kenneth Segers, Leuven, Belgium
Georgia Sfyroera, Athens, Greece
Sara Maria Soto, Barcelona, Spain
Aranzazu Valverde de Francisco, Madrid, Spain
Hilde van der Schaar, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
Ronald van Rij, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
Ulrich von Both, London, United Kingdom

Giuliana Banche
Public Health and Microbiology, University of Turin, Turin, Italy

Project
Phagocytes in multiple sclerosis: altered microbicidal functions related to the disease

Agostinho Carvalho
Experimental Medicine and Biochemical Sciences, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy
Project
Genetic variants of PTX3 and invasive aspergillosis: from risk assessment to mechanistic insights

Cristina Cigana
Division of Immunology, Transplantation and Infectious Diseases, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milano, Italy

Project
Host response to Pseudomonas aeruginosa adaptation during airway chronic infection

Julie Delaloye
Infectious Diseases, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois, Lausanne, Switzerland

Project
Role of macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) as a regulator of plasmacytoid dendritic cell (pDC) function

David Fewer
Food and Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland

Project
Novel therapeutic agents active against Staphylococcus aureus

Karen Fitzmaurice
Dept. of Immunology Oxford, University of Oxford,
United Kingdom

Project
An analysis of the correlates of protective immunity in a single source outbreak of HCV infection

Maddalena Giannella
Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Maranon, Madrid, Spain

Project
Pneumonia in solid organ transplantation (PISOT) study

Stéphanie Matrat
Animal Health Department, Veterinary Faculty, University
Complutense of Madrid, Madrid, Spain

Project
Dissection of the SOS network to identify novel antimicrobial targets

Jacob Moran Gilad
Ministry of Health, Jerusalem, Israel

Project
Genomic analysis of carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter strains associated with fatal hospital-acquired infections

Based upon his outstanding research proposal, he has been awarded an ESCMID/FEMS Research Fellowship 2012.

Angela Novais
Microbiology, REQUIMTE, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal

Project
Validation and optimization of high-throughput methods (MALDI-TOF, FT-IR) to identify and track Escherichia coli clinically relevant clones

Thomas Pembroke
School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom

Project
Mechanisms of natural killer cell activation and evasion by hepatitis C virus

Elda Righi
Infectious Diseases, Insubria University, Varese, Italy

Project
T-cell polarity and cytokine signatures in HIV-positive recipients of solid organ transplant

Alda Saldan
Dept. of Histology, Microbiology and Medical Biotechnologies, University of Padua, Padova, Italy

Project
Evaluation of the CMV- and BKV-specifi c cellular immune response (CD4+ and CD8+ T-cells) in hematopoietic stem cell transplant patients

Leif Erik Sander
Dept. of Infectious Diseases and Pulmonary Medicine, Charité University Hospital Berlin, Berlin, Germany

Project
Identifi cation of cellular receptor(s) for prokaryotic mRNA

Based upon his outstanding research proposal, he has been awarded the ESCMID/FEMS Research Fellowship 2012.

Kenneth Segers
Microbiology and Immunology, Rega Institute for Medical research, Catholic University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium

Project
Evaluation of the preprotein translocation nanomotor of Staphylococcus aureus as a molecular target for the development of novel antibiotics

Georgia Sfyroera
Institute of Radioisotopes and Radiodiagnostic Products, NCSR Demokritos, Agia Paraskevi, Athens, Greece

Project
Design and comprehensive evaluation of human antibodies against complement evasion proteins of Staphylococcus aureus: a novel approach towards targeted antimicrobial therapy

Sara Maria Soto
Barcelona Centre for International Health Research - CRESIB, Barcelona, Spain

Project
The role of the ibeA gene of Escherichia coli in amniotic membrane translocation. Detection of this gene as a potential screening tool to avoid preterm labor