Our podcast features two guests described by our podcast host, Dr Jane Barratt as positive disrupters or by themselves jokingly as radical trialists. What’s clear is that something significant is on the horizon: mounting evidence linking acute respiratory infections and non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, cancers, asthma and COPD all fall into the category of NCDs that can be exacerbated by respiratory infections. In turn, these conditions can exacerbate the viral infections causing flu, COVID and RSV.

We know that vaccinating against a respiratory infection reduces the burden of NCD management on health care. But the WHY and HOW remain unclear. What’s needed is research into pathogen-specific mechanisms, clinical meaningful endpoints for prevention and better risk-stratification.

Listen to eye-opening findings from the FLUNITY-HD trial and why respiratory infections can be described as systemic stress tests.

In a highly informative and engaging conversation, brimming with facts and insights, Marco Goeijenbier (ESWI Board Member, intensivist at Spaarne Gasthuis and Senior Scientist at Erasmus MC) and Tor Biering-Sørensen (cardiologist and Founding Head of the Center for Translational Cardiology in Copenhagen) discuss what we know, and where science still needs to mature in this pioneering field.

Welcome to the ESWI Airborne series Shaping the Future of Respiratory Virus Research
A central question explored in this informative episode on immunological medicine is why individuals respond so differently to the same virus, or even the same vaccine. Early career scientists Alina Tscherne, postdoctoral researcher at the Ignaz Semmelweis Institute, Medical University of Vienna, Austria and Valentino D’Onofrio, postdoctoral researcher at the Center for Vaccinology, Ghent University, Belgium expertly explain the key factors that shape diverse immune responses and why maintaining a balanced immune response is so crucial for clinical outcome.
Together they share insights into the future of vaccine design arguing that biological diversity and variability should not be seen as confounding factors but instead be embraced as opportunities. The episode also explores some of the major gaps between immunology research and real-world application and reveals what “going to the gym” has in common with getting a flu shot?

Welcome to the ESWI Airborne series Shaping the Future of Respiratory Virus Research

Our guests in this fascinating episode are early career scientists active in opposite ends of the infection spectrum – one scientist is a virus hunter, tracking viruses in urban environments, while the other investigates how viruses invade and attack our most vital organ, the brain. Together they reveal the hidden connections between environmental surveillance and neurological consequence.

They explore and discuss the importance of surveillance and pathogenesis and why preparedness depends on both. We learn about neurovirulence and the different ways viruses can enter and damage the brain. Questions pondered include why neurological damage is overlooked in the human population and whether our cities are blind spots for emerging zoonotic diseases.

Niko Joel Halwe, Postdoctoral Researcher in virology Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Science Outreach and Pandemic Preparedness, at the Medical University of Vienna, Austria.

Lisa Bauer, Assistant Professor in neuroscience and virology at Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, the Netherlands.