QUALIblood, a spin-off for the medicine of tomorrow
One of the major concerns with the disease caused by Covid-19 is its severe course, which causes many problems that can lead to hospital overload. Early detection of whether or not a person is at risk of developing a severe form of the disease is therefore crucial to optimise patient care and hospital resource management. This is one of the objectives of the study carried out by QUALIblood, a UNamur spin-off, in collaboration with the Department of Pharmacy and many other industrial and hospital partners. Exploration of a cutting-edge technology at the service of health.
See content
Arcadie, a new research centre in the ESPHIN institute
Arcadia is the name of an ideal society, a bucolic utopia. But it is also the name chosen by the members of a brand-new research centre at UNamur. This centre, created within the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters and attached to the ESPHIN institute, questions three themes at the heart of our contemporaneity: the Anthropocene, history and utopias.
See content
Belgium-Tunisia collaboration: geological and ecological challenges
On Thursday 29 September 2022, the Vice-Rector for International Relations, the International Relations Service and the Department of Geology received Professor Fakher Jamoussi (Tunisia) as part of the "Tunisia on the move - 2022" project. For more than twenty years, the teams of Professors Johan Yans and Fakher Jamoussi have been weaving scientific, didactic and human collaborations aiming at enhancing the fabulous subsoil of Tunisia.
See content
New clues to break through Brucella's armour
A team of microbiology researchers from UNamur has just published in the journal Nature Communications. The work focuses on the Brucella bacterium that causes Brucellosis, a disease that infects livestock and can be transmitted to humans. This research aims to better understand the molecular mechanisms of the bacterium's growth in order to better combat it.
See content
Yves Poumay, researcher on skin pathologies
As the largest and heaviest organ in the human body, the skin is the focus of Professor Yves Poumay's research. For nearly 30 years, within the Cells and Tissues laboratory (LabCeTi), he has been developing in vitro epidermal models that reproduce skin pathologies to better understand and treat them. A pioneering approach that offers alternatives to animal experimentation! On the eve of an international congress devoted to dermatology research organised at UNamur (see below), he talks about the importance of melanoma screening and details the latest advances in dermatology made in his laboratory.
See content
Common good must be saved!
Since the pandemic, this cry of alarm from the Nobel Prize in Economics, Jean Tirole, seems more relevant than ever. On 19 and 20 May 2022, the second Summit of the Common Good, organised in Toulouse, mobilised hundreds of thousands of internet users. On 24 May 2022, in Brussels, the Night of the Common Good raised over half a million euros in donations. And next year, the Our Lady of Peace Chair at UNamur will be dedicated to the common good. But what is this 'common good' that belongs to everyone and to no one? Four researchers from UNamur share their thoughts with us to stimulate our own.
See content
From the Namur snail to the Galapagos snail, there is only one step!
An international team of researchers, including Prof Frederik De Laender, from the University of Namur, publish in Nature Communications. The editor highlights that the authors use theoretical models and field data to show how eco-evolutionary processes can force species to develop more similar characteristic traits in more species-rich communities to avoid competition. Which goes against what we intuitively perceive.
See content
Geologists discover that pterosaurs had feathers
A pterosaur from Brazil that preserved melanosomes in its feathers provides insight into the function of primitive feathers. An international team of palaeontologists and geologists, including UNamur (Dr Aude Cincotta and Prof. Johan Yans), has demonstrated that pterosaurs, the flying cousins of dinosaurs, had feathers and were able to control their colour.
See content
The long-term effects of pollution in our rivers, oceans and lakes
From 11 to 13 May 2022, a hundred or so scientists and actors from the economic and cultural world gathered at UNamur to discuss the issue of water pollution. The aim? To share and enrich knowledge, but also to alert and inform about its long-term effects on fauna, flora and human beings. Scientific sessions, workshops and a conference for the public were on the programme for these three days.
See content