MHH professor is among those to receive funding from the European Research Council. She is developing a diagnostic test to improve the effectiveness of flu vaccines.
Coveted award for Professor Yang Li. Copyright: Nico Herzog
The European Research Council (ERC) has announced the results of the latest round of its “Proof of Concept Grant” 2024 competition. Among the researchers selected for funding is Prof. Yang Li. She is Professor at Hannover Medical School (MHH), co-director of the Centre for Individualised Infection Medicine (CiiM) and head of the research department “Bioinformatics for Individualised Medicine” at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) and Researcher in the Cluster of Excellence RESIST. This is the second time that Prof. Li has been awarded one of the coveted ERC grants. In total, the ERC selected 134 projects for funding of 150,000 euros each. The CiiM is a joint research institute of the MHH and the HZI.
“Prof. Dr. Yang Li impressively combines insights from the life sciences and data science in her research. In doing so, she is laying the foundation for new possibilities for individually adapted diagnoses and therapies in medicine. As head of the Centre for Individualised Infection Medicine in Hannover, she is working to develop better and more tolerable vaccines, thereby strengthening the close collaboration between the Hannover Medical School and the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research. Congratulations to Prof. Li and her entire team,” said Falko Mohrs, Lower Saxony's Minister of Science.
In the ERC-funded project, Yang Li and her team are investigating why the effectiveness of vaccines varies from person to person. In particular, seasonal influenza is a major global public health challenge, causing three to five million severe cases and 290,000 to 650,000 deaths annually. Vaccines against influenza viruses are crucial to preventing illness, reducing the severity of infection and limiting the transmission of the viruses. However, their effectiveness varies depending on factors such as immune status and existing comorbidities. Li has used machine learning models to successfully predict vaccine response based on biomarkers. With the ERC funding, Yang Li now wants to validate these biomarkers and, in collaboration with an industrial partner, develop them into an innovative, rapid and reliable diagnostic test. This should significantly improve the effectiveness of influenza vaccines, thus reducing the burden of disease and ultimately saving lives.
Text: HZI