Objectives

  1. To identify host pathogen factors that correlate with disease, and use them to stratify patients for preventive or immunotherapy- based strategies.
  2. To establish two clinical trials of host-directed medicine approaches; an immunotherapy trial with interferon gamma (IFNγ in patients with candidemia and a prospective observational trial in patients with influenza to identify patients at risk for aspergillosis that might benefit from antifungal prophylaxis.
  3. To set-up a centrally managed biobank with samples of the patients enrolled in both clinical trials, to standardize experimental procedures, protocols and to centralize analysis.
  4. To establish a unique infrastructure to explore host-directed medicine approaches in invasive fungal infection in the future, to evaluate the impact of this personalized approach on patients and health care, to translate research efforts to clinical practice by designing point of care tests and teaching medical professionals on host directed medicine, and to sustain these collaborative efforts of health care systems in European countries that will be realized by this consortium.