news
CORVOS news

Be up to date! Have a look at our most recent news.

17 - Pint of Science Festival Innsbruck
Date: 2022-05-23   Filed under: News

The Pint of Science festival strives to provide engaging and relevant discussions on cutting-edge research to the general public — and this in bars, pubs, cafes, and other public areas. Beginning of May, scientists from the Medical University of Innsbruck, including Dr. Guido Wollmann, Dr. Zlatko Trajanoski, Dr. Hesso Farhan, Dr. Oliver Schmidt, Dr. Doris Wilflingseder, and Dr. Victoria Klepsch presented their research topics within the fields of Cancer, Immunology, Virology, and Mycology in a relaxed atmosphere at Tribaun. CORVOS was part of this unique event by providing organizational and financial support.

Pint of Science Austria

16 - CORVOS visiting Borstel
Date: 2022-02-21   Filed under: News
 
After the wonderful Obergurgl retreat at the beginning of January, Alejandro, Giulia, and Mikel moved to Borstel, Germany, for the corresponding Industrial secondment.
 
During the first week, the CORVOS students were welcomed by Christoph Hölscher, research leader of the Infectious immunology group. Due to the high CORONA numbers on the state, the students performed a qPCR test. After receiving the negative results, Christoph took them through the institute and told some interesting stories about Borstel's history. On the second day, the students participated in an Online Symposium in Development and Application of Diagnostic and Antibiotics, prepared specially for them. The symposium discussed different Diagnostic Tools in Allergy/Asthma and Infection, Drug Discovery, and Regulation and Technology Transfer. The following two days, Kerstin Walter, Senior scientist, and Alejandro Duque, PhD student from the Infectious immunology group, held the students through different research groups at RBC and visited some tourist places in City Lübeck.
 
In the second week of entrepreneurship, CORVOS students visited the National Reference Center for Mycobacteria (NRC) and had access to the biosafety level 3 (BSL3) laboratories; this time, Dr. Sönke Andres explained classic and new tools for TB diagnostic. The students observed the process from reception and disinfection to the final diagnostic and health authorities report. After the tuberculosis diagnostic training at the NRC, the students participated in lectures and training related to Next-generation sequencing (NGS) in tuberculosis and SARS-Cov2 led by Prof. Dr. Stefan Niemann in his group Molecular and Experimental Mycobacteriology. In the practical training, the students learn how to diagnose MDR strains using Deeplex-Myc TB kit, after the library preparation and DNA sequencing, they analyzed the results, where it was identified the different strains of mycobacterium as well as the resistance, there was observed interesting Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) as well as Extensively drug-resistant TB (XDR TB).
 
Due to the COVID pandemic and some restrictions, the last week of entrepreneurship suffered some changes and the CORVOS students participated in online lectures about pathology, diagnostic, and animal models for TB diagnostic and study. Here the students learned about TB diagnostics in pathology, TB pathology in experimental mice, and the application of IL-13tg mice in anti-TB drug development. Finally, they received a training course about the characterization of Mycobacterium tuberculosis-induced murine lung lesions by various histological and immunohistochemical staining techniques. They learned basic training of CD68, Ziehl Neelsen (ZN), and Hematoxylin and eosin (HE) stain. 
 
The entrepreneurship time in Borstel ended with an exciting discussion of the complement projects with Christoph Hölscher, Susanne Homolka and Kerstin Walter and, finally, a BBQ farewell.

15 - HOROS meets CORVOS - Joint Doctoral Retreat Obergurgl
Date: 2022-01-26   Filed under: News

Due to COVID-19 constraints, it was unclear whether the Obergurgl Retreat could resume from January 5th to 10th, 2022, following a one-year break. After all, existing legislation in Austria at the time allowed this event to take place under specific hygienic measures. CORVOS (Complement regulation and variations in opportunistic infections) and HOROS (Host response in opportunistic infections) members were, therefore, able to meet for the first time together with students from the IIT (Infection, Immunity, and Transplantation) program at Obergurgl. It was also a wonderful opportunity to greet incoming HOROS, CORVOS, and IIT students. Furthermore, students and their supervisors got the opportunity to present and discuss their findings within an international environment of scientists. This year's highlight was the presentation of the European Complement Network's (ECN) Gold Medal to Tom Eirik Mollnes for his outstanding scientific contributions to the complement system. Despite the tight schedule, there was time for networking between early-career scientists and principal investigators during activities like skiing, sledding, snowshoeing, and ice-skating.

14 - Clinical Secondment in Innsbruck, Austria
Date: 2022-01-10   Filed under: News

In mid of December 2020, the CORVOS clinical month in Innsbruck was conducted for six CORVOS students, who did not participate already in the clinical month in Helsinki. Due to then acute COVID-19 restrictions in Austria, this month was shortened to an intensive clinical week, which was also partially attended by the local HOROS students. Preceding the clinical week, the students were offered a series of lectures, addressing the theoretical background behind common medical concepts and the diagnostic procedure for diseases.

During the stay in Innsbruck, the CORVOS students familiarized themselves with the clinical everyday life and medical research of different hospital units, namely Pediatrics, Internal Medicine, Radiology, Anesthesiology, Transplantation, and Traumatology. Introductory courses were given by Professor Reinhard Würzner, who also provided the well-structured CORVOS clinical week schedule and supervision. In addition to clinical work, the students were also able to get hands-on experience in diagnostic seminars, demonstrating the use of important clinical diagnostic tools, like MALDI-TOF.

In addition to the substantial theoretical and practical training, the students were also able to meet in person for the first time after the start of the CORVOS PhD program and share time together by staying in a specially rented house during the week. Additional planned social events, which comprised the visit of the CORVOS program patron Corvus corax (common raven) in the Alpine Zoo Innsbruck, as well as joint dinners, were well perceived by all participating students, with special emphasis on the unique culinary and cultural experience during a joint CORVOS/HOROS dinner at the medieval restaurant “Ritterkuchl”.

After clinical week completion, all students and Professor Reinhard Würzner confirmed that the week was a full success, by not only enabling the students to gain valuable insights into the potential application of their own medical research but also leading to exchange between the students in person for the first time, strengthening the ties within the CORVOS program during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The clinical week Innsbruck 2021 was the first of its kind and might be continued for present HOROS students as well. Special credit must be given to Professor Reinhard Würzner for making this stay possible and tirelessly coordinating between the visited hospital stations, together with CORVOS program coordinators Dr. Marco Grasse and Silke Huber.

CORVOS news

Be up to date! Have a look at our most recent news.



29 - The first CORVOS ESR spread her wings to fly
Date: 2023-07-05   Filed under: News

On June 19th, 2023 Lisa was the first of our excellent CORVOS students to defend her thesis. In the past three years, she developed immunoassays for the measurement of C1s/C1-INH complex and MASP-1/C1-INH complex in human serum and plasma. Finally, these assays were characterized and validated in cohorts of COVID-19 and sepsis patients. Both complexes were proven to be specific biomarkers for early classical and early lectin pathway activation. Lisa was supervised by Prof. Zoltán Prohászka, MD, PhD from the Doctoral School of Theoretical and Translational Medicine Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary and Prof. Reinhard Würzner, MD, PhD from the Institute of Hygiene and Medical Microbiology, Medical University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria. In addition to her main studies in Budapest, Lisa spend 6 months at the Medical University of Innsbruck (Austria), did 1 month clinical training at the University Hospital in Helsinki (Finland), did 1 month of industrial entrepreneurship and 6 months industrial secondment at Hycult Biotech (The Netherlands). Congratulations, welcome to the Alumni club and all the best for your future.

28 - Orpheus 2023, Leuven, Belgium - Best Practice for PhD Training
Date: 2023-04-24   Filed under: News

Doctoral training prepares doctoral candidates for their future careers in a constantly changing society. In this context, MUI is a member of the Organisation for PhD Education in Biomedicine and Health Sciences in the European System, or ORPHEUS, which aims to safeguard the PhD as a research degree by supporting graduate schools, faculties and departments, research students and their supervisors, through quality assurance mechanisms, advocation of best practices, professional development and training.

At this year’s ORPHEUS conference, which took place from the 13th to the 15th of April in Leuven (Belgium), alongside international keynote speakers and presenters selected from submitted abstracts, CORVOS Speaker Prof. Dr. Reinhard Würzner and CORVOS ESR Dr. Pedro Medeiros showcased how CORVOS has been successfully implemented in several European countries. At the annual meeting, opportunities and challenges associated with these contemporary elements of doctoral training and research activities were also discussed. There were namely workshops, panel discussions, presentations and poster sessions, meeting new colleagues and several networking possibilities.

27 - CORVOS meets SSI Diagnostica, Hillerød, Denmark
Date: 2023-04-03   Filed under: News

On February the 27th 2023, four CORVOS ESRs began their industrial entrepreneurship secondment at SSI DIAGNOSTICA and AJvaccines. The ESRs (Alejandro, Frerich, Maximilian, and Michal), started at SSI Diagnostica in companionship with Professor Karen Angeliki Krogfelt. On the first day, they were introduced to a wide variety of basic knowledge of Legionella & Pneumococcus bacteria, their epidemiology and serotyping, associated diseases, and diagnostics led by Pernille L. Elverdal. Later that day, the Ph.D. candidates were introduced to the development of lateral flow tests by Ian C. Skovsted, one of the main business branches of SSI Diagnostica.

The next day, the ESRs applied the theory and developed and assembled their very own lateral flow assays. In the afternoon, they learned about Pneumococcal antigens and how SSI Diagnostica conducts research and diagnostics on Pneumococcus. Later that day, the students were introduced to the different bacterial identification methods and the new products that the company is developing for testing resistant bacteria, phenotyping, and serotyping them.

After an exciting day producing a range of their new products and learning about some specific pathogenic bacteria, the ESRs went to dinner with many of the SSI DIAGNOSTICA employees as well as the host, Professor Krogfelt. The students shared some common outlooks and perspectives regarding what to do after obtaining the Ph.D., and they got a lot of helpful feedback, as well as some input from people that have been in the industry for a long time. Another successful network opportunity within the scope of CORVOS.

On the last day at the company, the Ph.D. students visited the laboratories again and were introduced to the different working areas regarding Salmonella and E. coli, their epidemiology and serotyping, as well as the production line for some specific products for diagnosis of bacterial identification. Later that day, the students met the head of R&D, Karen Korsholm, to talk about new developments on their Luminex. Finally, the ESRs were introduced to the new legislation regarding IVDR, how much this impacts the product pipelines and what is needed to make a CE-certified kit. After those information-packed and engaging days at the company, the students decided to join Prof. Krogfelt at the Louisiana museum of modern arts for a get-together and some informal conversation about future perspectives in industry or academia.

The next day, the students visited another company, AJvaccines, where they met Sylvester Larsen and received an introduction to the production of the polio vaccine. AJvaccines being one of the last manufacturers of this crucial vaccine. They also got to know about the production of the BCG vaccine, the BCG culture for cancer treatment and the production of their tetanus vaccine. After this session, the students took a guided tour of the polio vaccine production facility. With this, the students said their goodbyes to the fantastic host Professor Krogfelt who made it possible to experience this opportunity and gain all of these new insights into the industrial processes.

26 - same procedure as last year – Obergurgl was calling again
Date: 2023-02-24   Filed under: News

As last year, our retreat to the beautiful Obergurgl could be held from 07th to 9th of January 2023 - this time without restrictions. Once again members of two PhD programmes of excellence, HOROS (Host response in opportunistic infections) and CORVOS (Complement regulation and variations in opportunistic infections) as well as local PhD candidates from the IIT (Infection, Immunology, and Transplantation, Innsbruck, Austria) program came together to enjoy scientific discussions and do networking to push their research projects forward. Renowned scientists from across Europe, including Jörg Köhl (Lübeck, Germany), Seppo Meri (Helsinki, Finland), Tom Eirik Mollnes (Oslo, Norway), Peter Garred (Copenhagen, Denmark), Zoltán Prohászka (Budapest, Hungary) Mohamend R. Daha (Leiden, Netherlands) representing CORVOS as well as Christian Karsten (Lübeck, Germany) and Mikkel-Ole Skjødt, both member of the HOROS advisory board, participated and inspired with their talks. Especially for our PhD candidates it was a perfect environment to prove their scientific and presentational skills in front of experts in the field of opportunistic infections and immunology in a relaxed and private atmosphere. Additionally, representatives of the CORVOS industrial partner Hycult Biotechnology (Uden, Netherlands), namely Loek Willems, Eirik Toonen, and the CEO & Owner Ronald de Niet as well as of the company Novartis (Schaftenau, Austria), Marco Grasse (former CORVOS Administrator) were present.

Besides a tight schedule, there was still time for networking and team building with PhD students and principal investigators. The majority of participants enjoyed skiing at the lovely nearby slopes or assisted one another in learning how to ski while some went hiking or sledding. Another highlight was ice-skating were we played the popular Hungarian “catch on ice” game. No matter the favorite sport, they were all ideal for interacting with other scientists.



25 - 20 years PhD @ Medical University of Innsbruck
Date: 2022-10-17   Filed under: News

Innsbruck has a long history of training PhD candidates in biomedicine. Initiatives to build an "international state of the art" in PhD education were started even two years before the Medical University of Innsbruck was founded in 2004. Last week, 20 years of effective PhD education in Innsbruck were celebrated!

Vice-Rector Bandtlow emphasized Georg Wick's exceptional achievement in convincing the relevant ministry to fund doctoral programs at Austrian institutions between 2003 and 2005 while serving as the President of the Austrian Science Fund (FWF). After all, the Medical Institution of Innsbruck was the first Austrian medical university to provide an FWF-funded Doctoral College, and the program's success ultimately helped universities to further establish organized doctorates.

The doctoral programs at the Medical University of Innsbruck that have been and are still being funded by the FWF and the EU are known by the acronyms MCBO, SPIN, HOROS, CORVOS, as well as CavX, IGDT+, and CBD. Some of these programs have been run in collaboration with the University of Innsbruck, hastening the internationalization of doctoral training.

Besides Bernhard Flucher whose PhD college MCBO was seen as a “role model” for other Austrian medical graduate colleges, Reinhard Würzner’s dedication to doctoral education by being the speaker of HOROS and the first EU doctoral college in the life sciences sector coordinated by an Austrian university, CORVOS, was particularly highlighted.

MUI News Entry (German)

Foto: D. Bullock, MUI

 





contact

PROGRAMME SPEAKER

Reinhard Würzner, M.D., Ph.D.
Schöpfstraße 41
A-6020 Innsbruck

Imprint

Partner

This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 860044