Long COVID remains difficult to diagnose and treat, particularly in Belgium. A recent report estimated that this hidden epidemic will impose an annual societal cost of tens of billions of euros on OECD member countries. In the absence of clear biomarkers, many practitioners still sometimes mistakenly attribute some of the symptoms to psychosomatic causes. Since 2022, the team led by Prof. Charles Nicaise (Molecular Physiology Research Unit - Namur Research Institute for Life Sciences (NARILIS) - UNamur), notably through the work of Margaux Mignolet, a FRIA researcher and PhD student, has been exploring the hypothesis of immune dysregulation occurring during acute infection and leading to the production of autoantibodies directed against components of the nervous system.

Thirteen patients whose symptoms were consistent with long neurological COVID and were confirmed by tests assessing their cognitive and pain-related complaints were included in this study. 

After collecting blood samples, the researchers isolated the patients’ immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies and studied their effects in a passive transfer mouse model at Professor Charles Nicaise’s LNR laboratory. The animals underwent a battery of behavioural tests assessing, in particular, pain sensitivity thresholds, as well as other cognitive, anxiety, or depressive disorders.

• IgG transfer and pain: After transfer of IgG from patients, mice develop painful hypersensitivity, specifically mechanical allodynia—meaning that a tactile stimulus that is usually painless becomes painful—as well as thermal hyperalgesia—meaning that an uncomfortable hot or cold stimulus becomes very painful.
• Specificity of the effect: the transfer of these IgG to laboratory mice does not induce cognitive (e.g., memory), anxiety, or depressive disorders, suggesting distinct mechanisms depending on the symptoms.
• Proof of causality: when the antibodies are destroyed before injection, or when serum from which IgG has been removed is injected, the painful effect disappears.
• Target of autoantibodies: IgG binds to the spinal ganglia along the spinal column, structures containing sensory neurons that relay information, for example, between the skin and the brain. Autoantibodies recognize peripheral neurons involved in pain (nociception) and the perception of body position or deep sensation (proprioception).

Left: Mouse ganglion (a structure located along the spine). Green indicates sensory neurons; red indicates antibodies from long-COVID patients; yellow indicates the colocalization of neurons and antibodies. This demonstrates that the patients’ antibodies target sensory neurons.  

Right: Human ganglion to which antibodies from long-COVID patients were applied to verify whether binding to sensory neurons occurs as in mice. In blue, cell nuclei; in red, antibodies from long-COVID patients, proving that antibodies from long-COVID patients bind to human sensory neurons. 

“We are the second group in the world, following UMC Utrecht just a few weeks ago, to demonstrate that painful symptoms in long-COVID patients are mediated by an autoimmune reaction, based on the presence of immunoglobulin G-type autoantibodies,” summarizes Prof. Charles Nicaise. 

Other studies conducted independently at Yale University and King’s College London are currently undergoing peer review and appear to support these findings. 

These findings help to provide scientific evidence for some aspects of long COVID by establishing a biological basis for the pain component. They open up therapeutic avenues aimed at identifying and then eliminating circulating pathogenic autoantibodies—for example, through plasmapheresis (plasma filtration) or targeted therapies based on anti-autoantibodies. The study suggests, however, that the frequently reported cognitive impairments may stem from other mechanisms that have yet to be elucidated.

• Charles Nicaise, URPhyM, NARILIS, UNamur
• Margaux Mignolet, URPhyM, NARILIS, UNamur
• Catherine Deroux, Memory Clinic, UCL Namur University Hospital (Godinne campus)
• Prof. Pierre Bulpa, Intensive Care, CHU UCL Namur (Godinne site)

As well as all the staff, doctors, virologists, students, laboratory technicians, patients, and volunteers whom the team thanks for their dedication.

The COVID-19 pandemic is a human tragedy that has claimed millions of lives worldwide and placed our entire society under immense strain. But it has also been a powerful collective experience for many scientists at UNamur, whose research continues in an effort to better understand this disease and its consequences.

Read our article: Covid-19, Five Years On: A Look Back at UNamur’s Major Role in Addressing the Pandemic

Giacomo Lopopolo is studying the effects of oxidative stress caused by radiation therapy and the damage it inflicts on cellular mitochondria, particularly in the treatment of lung cancer. Objective: to determine the necessary doses in treatment plans for conventional radiotherapy or proton therapy to ensure effective treatment while improving the patient’s quality of life. This interdisciplinary project also benefits from the expertise of Professor Thierry Arnould, co-supervisor (URBC). 

For her part, Keïla Openge-Navenge is attempting to decipher the mechanisms of radiation resistance at work in breast, lung, and colorectal cancers, and in particular the role of lipid metabolism, ferroptosis, and mitochondria within cancer cells. 

Jade Nichols, who has just joined UNamur, is launching a Télévie project to understand the response of macrophages—which play an essential role in shaping the tumor microenvironment—to ultra-high-dose-rate (UHDR) radiation, a phenomenon that has not yet been explored and whose results could eventually help optimize treatment strategies that leverage both radiation and the patient’s own immune responses.

Inès Bourriez focuses her research on skin cancers, which account for 40% of all cancers diagnosed today. She is interested in the impact of skin aging and the accumulation of so-called senescent cells on tumor development and progression. 

Understanding how cells react to radiation is also the focus of projects led by Emma Lambert, on the one hand, and Manon Van Den Abbeel, on the other, through a collaboration with Anne-Catherine Heuskin at LARN. Manon Van Den Abbeel is studying the irradiation conditions that induce the strongest possible immune response to circumvent the various immunosuppressive mechanisms developed within tumors, thereby enhancing the immunogenicity of tumors and thus their recognition and destruction by the immune system. 

Emma Lambert, meanwhile, is launching a project on glioblastoma, an aggressive and currently incurable brain tumor, to better understand the resistance mechanisms that develop during combination treatments using chemotherapy, radiation therapy, or proton therapy. 

As for Eloïse Rapport, she is interested in a third form of radiation therapy, using alpha particles—that is, ionized helium atoms—to increase the death of cancer cells within tumors. In particular, she is studying the different forms of induced cell death and their potential immunogenicity. 

Pancreatic cancer, particularly pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), remains one of the deadliest cancers, with a five-year survival rate of only 13%. Because the disease is often asymptomatic in its early stages, it is frequently diagnosed at an advanced stage. This situation, coupled with the lack of effective treatments and the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment that limits the efficacy of immunotherapies, explains the poor prognosis of PDAC. Early detection of this type of cancer is therefore crucial, but current diagnostic tools have limited sensitivity and specificity. 

As it has done every year for the past 23 years, the UNamur community is organizing a series of events to raise funds for the Télévie campaign. In 2026, students have been particularly active through three initiatives.

On March 12, the Student General Assembly brought the house down at the Arsenal during the second edition of the Grand Blind Test at UNamur. It was a fun-filled evening that brought together some thirty teams of staff and students to compete on the biggest hits of the past 30 years, and, thanks to the support of sponsors, raised €6,338.91. 

Finally, the Namur Computer Club dedicated its 24-hour charity livestream on the Twitch platform. Over the course of the hours, and thanks to the generosity, activities, and challenges taken on by the Club’s members, a generous sum of €1,831.91 was donated to Télévie. 

Well done to everyone! 

During this mission, UNamur highlighted its expertise in vaccinology, infectious diseases, and pandemic preparedness, particularly during sessions focused on health crisis management and lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic. 

She also contributed to the discussion on two key issues: “On the one hand, the role of the humanities and social sciences and their importance in a ‘comprehensive’ university model capable not only of offering a holistic understanding and practical solutions to current challenges, but also of preparing for a future that will require the development of a creative vision of humanity,” explains Annick Castiaux. “And secondly, on the impacts of AI in research: both the incredible opportunities these technologies offer in a growing number of fields and the challenges of maintaining control over their use—both to avoid confining ourselves to conventional or biased paths and to protect the intellectual property of our researchers and our regions in a tense geopolitical context.”
  

The mission aimed to increase UNamur’s international visibility, showcase its scientific expertise, expand its network of partners, and strengthen existing collaborations with Norway. It is fully aligned with the University of Namur’s international strategy and its commitment to actively contributing to addressing major challenges in health, innovation, and sustainability at the European level.

This PUNCh project, led by Hélène Givron, associate professor and educational coordinator in the Department of Psychology at the University of Namur, is designed to address educational needs in interprofessional training. The goal was to develop a fun, flexible tool that could be adapted for use in various contexts, in order to address a significant challenge in the field. 

The main objective of this workshop was to strengthen interprofessional communication and collaboration in the healthcare field. A multidisciplinary team was therefore formed, composed of representatives from various sectors: Catherine Magnette (Instructor, Department of Medicine), Romain Siriez (Educational Coordinator, Department of Pharmacy), and Laura Demarthe (Assistant, Department of Psychology), to bring together students from the Master’s in General Practice and the Master’s in Pharmaceutical Sciences at UNamur, as well as the Master’s in Nursing (Hénallux), to address these issues.

This educational tool draws on various skills essential to teamwork, such as active listening, the ability to clearly articulate ideas, task coordination, and collective decision-making. Each puzzle presented a challenge that required genuine cooperation among group members, as no solution could be found by working alone. 

Following the game phase, a debriefing session was held with all participants. This discussion aimed to reflect on the experience gained during the workshop and to encourage students to think about the concepts of collaboration and interprofessional communication in the healthcare context. The game served as a tool to illustrate certain cooperative scenarios, but also to highlight challenges related to coordination and information sharing. The debriefing thus facilitated a dialogue among students from different programs regarding the barriers and enablers of effective communication. Participants had the opportunity to share their feelings, compare their perspectives, and discuss strategies to promote better collaboration among healthcare professionals. 

The educational objectives of the workshop were clearly defined:

• Address the skills necessary for interprofessional collaboration, such as communication and collective decision-making.
• Identify the drivers and barriers to interprofessional collaboration.
• Contribute to improving the quality and safety of care through better coordination among professionals.

“I hope this experience will lead to a change in practice. The game gives you the tools to assert yourself, especially as a young doctor when you have to integrate into teams with more experienced colleagues. It helps you stand your ground and build self-confidence.” — Yorick, medical student 

“Based on the information we received, we expected an activity with exclusively ‘medical’ content. This unique experience takes us beyond the scope of typical role-playing scenarios.” - Margaux, medical student 

“I found this workshop to be very useful; it adds value and is very interesting. We never have simulations focused on collaboration. It would be interesting to incorporate this into the curriculum.” – Nursing student