WELBIO calls for projects are managed by Fonds de la Recherche Fondamentale Stratégique (FRFS), an associated fund of the F.R.S.-FNRS in close consultation with WELBIO asbl, which is an inter-university life sciences research institute subsidized by the Walloon Region.

WELBIO's mission is to support strategic basic research through rigorously selected projects, with a view to turning discoveries into industrial applications in all fields of medical, pharmaceutical and veterinary biotechnology.WELBIO develops research programs in health topics as varied as cancer, immunology, neurobiology, microbiology, metabolic diseases, in particular obesity and diabetes, asthma, cardiology.

We met the two winners, who received a total of 1.1 million euros in funding over two years. Welbio funding is for two years, with a possible extension for a further two years.

Alison Forrester studied pharmacology at the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK and followed this up with a PhD in toxicology and dermatology, in collaboration with AstraZeneca, on epidermis-specific biomarkers used in toxicity testing (General Drug Development).

Alison Forrester

During this thesis, she became interested in autophagy, a subject she then had the opportunity to pursue further during a post-doctorate at the Telethon Institute of Genetics and Medicine (TIGEM) in Naples. During this post-doctorate, Alison used state-of-the-art microscopes, which piqued her interest in imaging. Her second post-doctorate, at the Institut Curie, enabled her to apply her imaging knowledge to the study of endocytosis, leading to the development of the Retro-2 molecule, which specifically targeted protein secretion pathways to inhibit the entry of toxins into cells. An FNRS-qualified researcher at UNamur since 2022, she is now interested in inhibiting protein secretion, from both a fundamental and translational perspective.

"The aim is to develop molecules that can specifically inhibit the first step in the secretion pathway, which is the exit of proteins from the endoplasmic reticulum. We will first use Retro-2, identified at the Institut Curie, to study the consequences of modulating the exit of proteins from the endoplasmic reticulum on cell homeostasis and dynamic cell processes such as cell division or autophagy. Secondly, we would like to study diseases based on this process of abnormal protein secretion such as fibrosis, for example, and identify new therapeutic molecules", explains the researcher.

The ultimate goal, thanks to obtaining this Welbio funding, is to identify a therapeutic molecule against a disease with abnormal protein secretion. This funding will enable, among other things, the hiring of a PhD student and a post-doc for the duration of the project.

Xavier De Bolle has been studying the envelope of pathogenic bacteria for around fifteen years, focusing on their structure and growth, with the aim of finding ways to combat these pathogens. He is more specifically interested in lipopolysaccharides (LPS), which make up the outermost part of the envelope of pathogenic bacteria and protect them.

Xavier De Bolle

The aim is to understand how these bacteria make this LPS and how they transport it to the bacterial surface. This is a fundamental research project. Certain stages in the manufacture and export of this LPS by the pathogenic bacteria remain unknown. The aim of this project is to understand these mechanisms. In the long term, an applied objective is to genetically reprogram non-pathogenic bacteria to manufacture an LPS from pathogenic bacteria, which will be of interest in the vaccine industry.

Since 2013, Xavier De Bolle has been supported continuously by Research Projects (PDR) funding from the FNRS until 2027, and by Actions de Recherche Concertée (ARC) funding from the Wallonia-Brussels Federation since 2017. This fundamental research has enabled us to train young PhD students and develop contacts at international conferences.

"I proposed this research project because at UNamur, but also at ULB and UCLouvain, we have been training bacteriologists for around ten years, we have a set of researchers, qualified people who can work on the subject of synthetic microbiology. Synthetic microbiology consists in genetically reprogramming a bacterium to produce a compound of interest to health (a vaccine component or drug precursor, for example). This is an application for which we have expertise, particularly in Wallonia. The idea is to get young researchers to take up the baton and develop applied research, patents and high value-added products. We need to arouse vocations, because we have a card to play here in Wallonia with highly qualified people trained for ten years or so in Belgium," insists Xavier De Bolle.

This funding will enable the hiring of two researchers and a laboratory technician. A PhD student starts at the end of August, and the other recruitments are underway.

The research projects of Alison Forrester and Xavier De Bolle began this June 1, 2024.