IRB collaborates on an innovative study of the immune system's response to infectious diseases

The Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB), affiliated with USI, the Moncucco Hospital Group, and the mediX Ticino network of family doctors, are collaborating on a new project that aims to study the immune system's response to the most common infectious diseases.

The collaboration between the three institutes began during the COVID-19 pandemic. The new project will shift their focus to more common, overlooked diseases because they are harder to study—specifically, conditions where patients typically do not require hospitalisation. To address this challenge, the project plans to involve local doctor's practices to help recruit patients who, as explained in a note from the three institutions, "will then be taken over by the Clinical Research Unit (CRU) of the Moncucco Hospital Group, directed by Dr Alessandra Franzetti Pellanda. The originality of the study is precisely that of "recruiting" patients where they habitually seek treatment, i.e. from their family doctor. Thanks to the patient's blood samples, collected both during the disease and in the convalescence phase, at the IRB, we will study, for example, the antibodies that develop in response to different infections, and we will also be able to count on all the clinical data relating to the disease."

Dr Valentina Cecchinato and Professor Davide Robbiani will be responsible for the research carried out at the IRB. The collaboration represents an innovative research model: "By combining the expertise of a hospital, a regional network of physicians and a research centre of international excellence, it will be possible to meet the challenges of modern medicine with new tools. The new programme, which is also possible thanks to donations, builds on an existing collaboration in the field of infectious diseases, fostering research that is increasingly relevant to the community."

The first studies will focus on common infections, such as winter respiratory viruses, specifically influenza and mononucleosis. The project aims to develop targeted therapies for the most severe forms of these diseases, which can pose a serious threat to the most vulnerable patients. Involving non-hospitalised patients offers a twofold advantage: on the one hand, it makes it possible to increase the sample that can potentially be involved in the study, and on the other hand, it makes it possible to study the immune system of the individuals who have had the most effective reactions to the virus.