DEFENDER partner spotlight: the Aguzzi-lab: The Aguzzi lab is located at the Institute for the Science of the Aging Brain (#ISAB) in St. Gallen.

Great DEFENDER Seminar today with two highly engaging and insightful talks! Birthe Ehlert presented their approach to a comprehensive genome-wide CRISPR screen on HEV, providing valuable insights and takeaways that will be highly relevant for many of the other DEFENDER screening efforts.

Partner spotlight: the @pfaenderlab.bsky.social-lab: Our group at the @leibnizliv.bsky.social focuses on understanding how emerging viruses interact with host cells by using advanced cellular model systems, including three-dimensional organoids that better reflect the complexity of native tissues.

The DEFENDER Seminar took place yesterday again, featuring two excellent talks from Victoria Taylor (on the establishment and optimization of a DENV CRISPR screen) 🦟🦠 and Suman Khan (on the characterization of NiV entry using cryo-EM) 🔬 It’s great to see these projects progressing. Keep it up! 🚀

Great news from the DEFENDER network 👏 Congrats to our coordinator and @leibnizliv.bsky.social PI Stephanie Pfänder @pfaenderlab.bsky.social on her official start as W3 Professor this month at the @uni-hamburg.de, supported by the @leibniz-gemeinschaft.de Programme for Women Professors.

Yesterday we hosted the second session of the DEFENDER PhD/Postdoc Seminar Series... and it was a fantastic dive into cutting-edge screening science 🚀 We had two great talks: 👉 Quality control and analysis of arrayed CRISPR screen results by Adriano Aguzzi.

February 11 marks the *International Day of Women and Girls in Science*, highlighting the importance of equal participation in STEM. 🔬 🦠

Congratulations to Alex from the DEFENDER consortium on receiving funding for her research on Nipah virus infection. Her research sheds critical light on how this highly dangerous virus enters the CNS, spreads, and shapes immune responses using advanced cell and tissue models.

Recent reports from West Bengal remind us why Nipah virus research and surveillance cannot be reactive, it has to be continuous.

First session of the DEFENDER-internal PhD/Postdoc Seminar Series yesterday!! Awesome talks by DEFENDER postdocs Wing Hang Ip and George Ssebyatika. Exciting science, exciting times ahead! 🚀

Season’s Greetings from DEFENDER ❄️🕯️🎄 Wishing you a restful, calm, and cozy holiday season and a strong, healthy, and inspiring 2026 ahead!

Last week, our symposium wrapped up with a DEFENDER-internal program on day 2 at the @leibnizliv.bsky.social! 💪 It was fantastic connecting in person with so many brilliant minds — discussing ongoing projects, exploring new collabs, and sharing ideas that move our consortium forward. #FundedByEU

What an incredible experience at DEFENDER 2025: International Symposium — huge thanks to all participants for the inspiring discussions and great energy! 💡 We loved exchanging ideas on emerging viruses, new methods & cutting-edge research.

Today’s the day! 🎉 We’re looking forward to the DEFENDER 2025: International Symposium in Hamburg, bringing together experts to foster international scientific exchange, strategic project planning, and interdisciplinary networking across virology, immunology, and related fields.

🌍 Join us at the @defender-project.bsky.social International Symposium for a keynote by our #combineMARV coordinator @christian-7.bsky.social! 🎟️ Register free of charge for a day of insights, collaboration & global exchange 🔗 lnkd.in/eY9JwzXY #PandemicPreparedness #Collaboration #EUfunded

👏 Featuring @alexkupke.bsky.social at the Philipp University of Marburg. We’re excited to highlight Alex Kupke, a DEFENDER partner based at the Institute of Virology at Philipp University of Marburg. Her research plays a vital role in advancing our understanding of high-consequence viral threats.

🚀 Introducing Andrea Maisner Andrea is a renowned virologist whose research is at the forefront of understanding Nipah virus — a highly pathogenic zoonotic paramyxovirus with no approved vaccines or treatments.

🚀 Meet @lisa-oestereich.bsky.social Lisa is a leading virologist based at the BNITM in Hamburg, Germany. Her research focuses on some of the world’s most dangerous viruses — including Lassa, Ebola, and Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever viruses.

Wie vermehren sich neu auftretende Viren wie das Coronavirus – und steckt darin der Schlüssel für neue Therapien? Prof. Stephanie Pfänder gibt im Video Einblicke in die Arbeit ihrer LIV-Forschungsgruppe "Emerging Viruses". youtu.be/eKZr3nhqeB0?... @pfaenderlab.bsky.social @leibniz-gemeinschaft.de

We’re excited to introduce Mark Broenstrup, Head of the Department of Chemical Biology at the @helmholtzhzi.bsky.social (HZI), as a PI in the DEFENDER project. His team brings cutting-edge expertise in the design and optimization of bioactive compounds for therapeutic use.

Introducing @chlandalab.bsky.social – an expert at the frontier of structural virology! Petr leads a research group dedicated to understanding how viruses interact with cellular organelles and manipulate host cells for replication.

🚀 Introducing Bruno Correia Bruno leads a cutting-edge research group at EPFL focused on developing computational tools for protein design, with a strong emphasis on immunoengineering applications like vaccines and cancer immunotherapy.

Spotlight on Lars Kaderali We’re proud to shine a light on Prof. Dr. Lars Kaderali, a driving force behind the integration of artificial intelligence in biomedical research.

We're excited to share a recent SWR NANO feature highlighting DEFENDER that takes us behind the scenes of the impressive work done by the @chlandalab.bsky.social Lab at @uniheidelberg.bsky.social! 🧬 The feature starts at minute 18:58 – be sure to tune in! 👉 www.3sat.de/wissen/nano/...

Spotlight on Marie Flamand Meet Marie, a virologist leading groundbreaking research at @institutpasteur.bsky.social Paris. Marie and her team have already made waves in understanding how dengue, Zika, and Rift Valley fever viruses impact human health.

Eike Steinmann heads the Department of Molecular & Medical Virology at @ruhr-uni-bochum.de 🧬. His team is at the forefront of groundbreaking research, exploring RNA virus replication mechanisms and transmission routes, with a focus on flavi- and coronaviruses.

👉 Introducing Thomas Strecker We’re excited to introduce Thomas, a @defender-project.bsky.social partner working at the @unimarburg.bsky.social! Thomas and his research group focus on unraveling the infection mechanisms of Lassa virus (LASV) – a major public health threat in West Africa 🌍 .

Featuring @goffinetlab.bsky.social at @lstmnews.bsky.social We're proud to collaborate with leading virologists working to combat emerging viral threats. Christine, a DEFENDER partner at the LSTM, is making significant strides in studying alphaviruses, including chikungunya and Mayaro viruses.

🚀 Meet Adriano Aguzzi 🧠🔬 Adriano Aguzzi, PI at UZH, has dedicated his career to unraveling the relationship between the immune system and prion diseases. His cutting-edge research employs high-throughput CRISPR screens to pinpoint key factors in prion replication and infection susceptibility.

✨ Spotlight on @kreylab.bsky.social ! ✨ 🧪 At the Universität zu Lübeck, DEFENDER PI Thomas Krey and his team are at the forefront of structural virology, investigating how viral glycoproteins interact with the immune system and how virus capsids assemble.

🌟 Meet our first PI and project coordinator: @pfaenderlab.bsky.social! 🌟

The DEFENDER project has officially launched! We are excited to kick off DEFENDER (Identification of Novel Viral Entry Factors and Development of Antiviral Approaches), an EU-funded initiative under the 2024-DISEASE-08-20 call, focused on pandemic preparedness and response. 🔗 defender-project.org