The Yellow4FLAVI project, a groundbreaking initiative aimed at advancing research and development in the field of flavivirus control and prevention, has officially secured its funding with €8 million from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation program.
The consortium, comprising 13 institutions from 7 countries, has successfully signed the Grant Agreement with the European Commission’s agency managing Horizon Europe Health Programme, the European Health and Digital Executive Agency (HADEA), marking a significant milestone in the project's journey.
A United Effort and complementary expertise for a Common Goal
The Yellow4FLAVI project brings together a diverse group of partners from France, Italy, Germany, Finland, Belgium, The Netherlands, and Colombia. It combines the complementary expertise of its leading partners in molecular and structural virology, cell biology, innate and adaptive immunology, clinical immunology and social sciences and humanities.
This international consortium is dedicated to addressing the pressing challenges posed by flaviviruses, which include well-known pathogens such as dengue, Zika, West Nile and Yellow Fever viruses. The consortium is mobilized to fill the gaps in our understanding of the mechanism of action of today's most effective vaccine, the yellow fever 17D (YF17D). By linking the structure of the viral particle to the resulting host immune response, the consortium aims to unravel critical aspects of vaccine immunogenicity, using state-of-the-art technologies, and thus provide a context for a more general archetype of vaccine design for flaviviruses in general.
Funding and Support
The project's funding, provided through a highly competitive grant process, underscores the importance and urgency of flavivirus research. The financial support from the EU will enable the consortium to pursue its goal of obtaining a blueprint for determinants of long-lasting immunity for flavivirus vaccine candidates and to use cutting-edge technologies like cryo-EM, super resolution microscopy, spatial transcriptomics, high-dimensional spectral flow cytometry, single-cell RNA sequencing, advanced cell engineering, small animal models, and clinical studies as well as social studies looking at vaccine acceptation and perception in endemic and non-endemic regions.
In a unique manner, the consortium thereby follows a thread of events from the early response at the site of vaccine injection to the population perception of vaccination, harnessing an enhanced understanding of one of the most successful vaccines of mankind for the development of novel lines of defense against new and old threats.
This grant represents a significant investment in the future of global health and the fight against flavivirus-related diseases.
The project partners are : Institut Pasteur Paris IP (France), Ludwig Maximilians University LMU (Germany), KLINIKUM DER UNIVERSITAT MUNCHEN (affiliated entity) KUM (Germany), University Hospital of Erlangen UKER (Germany), Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale Teramo IZS (Italy), University of Padova UNIPD (Italy), Centro Internacional de Entrenamiento e Investigationes Medicas CIDEIM (Colombia), Rega Institute KU Leuven (Belgium), University of Turku UTU (Finland), Charite - Universitätsmedizin Berlin (Germany), Amsterdam Institute for Global Health & Development AIGHD (Netherlands), ImmuneWatch IW (Belgium),INSERM/IC (Institut Cochin) (France)
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