Project News - MICROB-PREDICT

27 November 2024

MICROB-PREDICT Steering Committee Meets at Leids Universitair Medisch Centrum in Leiden

From September 26-27, 2024, the MICROB-PREDICT Steering Committee convened at Leids Universitair Medisch Centrum (LUMC) in Leiden, Netherlands, for an important meeting focused on the conclusion of paper writing related to the project’s findings. The committee discussed key results and progress, with an emphasis on finalizing publications and advancing the clinical ALB-trial. Additionally, the group explored opportunities for the exploitation of results and a potential extension to the project, aiming to further expand the impact of their research on microbiome-based predictions in healthcare. The meeting marked a significant step forward in the ongoing efforts to bridge research and clinical applications.

5 November 2024

Celebrating Milestone for MICROB-PREDICT Project: Terlipressin Study Hits 1,000 Downloads!

We are excited to announce that the groundbreaking research from the MICROB-PREDICT project, “Terlipressin therapy is associated with increased risk of colonisation with multidrug‐resistant bacteria in patients with decompensated cirrhosis” has surpassed 1,000 full-text views and downloads on Wiley Online Library. This milestone underscores the significant impact of this important study, which highlights the potential risks of terlipressin treatment in patients with advanced liver disease.

We would like to thank the research community and all those who have engaged with this work. The attention it’s received reflects the growing interest in understanding the complex interactions between antimicrobial resistance and cirrhosis care.

24 June 2024

MICROB-PREDICT presents microbiome-based results at IHMC Congress in Rome

Saeed Shoaie (KCL), Benjamin Lelouvier (Vaiomer), Jonel Trebicka (EFCLIF / UKM), Peer Bork (EMBL) and Lindsey Edwards (KCL) present details on the prediction power of MICROB-PREDICT for late-stage liver disease at the IHMC Congress in Rome. “Microbiome can predict outcome and decompensation in liver cirrhosis.” explained Peer Bork. Benjamin Lelouver emphasized that results from MICROB-PREDICT stem from “the likely the most comprehensively microbiome-characterized cohort to date, MUCOSA-PREDICT”. Coordinator Jonel Trebicka is happy about the well-attended MICROB-PREDICT session plus posters of our fellows Peter Treit (MPI) and Marisa Metzger (EMBL).

24 June 2024

MICROB-PREDICT goes IHMC

We are happy to announce our MICROB-PREDICT session at the 10th International Human Microbiome Consortium (IHMC) Congress 2024 in Rome, Italy, on Monday, 24th June, 11:30 – 13:30 h. Event registration is still possible! Peer Bork and Jonel Trebicka chair this comprehensive session on the role of the human microbiome in liver disease. Microbiome data from stool, gut, blood, and saliva will be presented with an AI modelling approach to identify the link between microbiota and decompensated cirrhosis.

Register here.
Visit the programme here.

13 June 2024

MICROB-PREDICT at IHMC 2024 in Rome

On 24 June 2024, MICROB-PREDICT results will be presented at the IHMC 2024 conference in Rome, Italy (see programme). Peer Bork and Jonel Trebicka chair a session on the interaction of the human microbiome with liver disease. Microbiome data from stool, gut, blood, and saliva will be presented, together with an AI-based approach to define the link between microbiota and decompensated cirrhosis.

12 June 2024

MICROB-PREDICT makes a splash at EASL 2024

It was a firework of MICROB-PREDICT results and discussions at this year’s EASL Congress in fashionable Milan, Italy, from 5-8 June. Project sessions included the extremely well-attended Networking Session at the Cirrhosis & Complications Track Hub on Wednesday, 5 June, the Investigator Meeting and the high-quality Poster Tour on Thursday, 6 June, the Innovations Meeting with industry stakeholders plus the Patient Event on Friday, 7 June, and a privately organised dinner for our ALB-Trial investigators as gratitude for their fantastic work. Thank you, EASL, for the great organisation and to everyone who presented new outcomes to the hepatology community!

7 June 2024

MICROB-PREDICT Innovations Meeting on Friday, 7 June 2024

Register here: Industry stakeholders are cordially invited to join the MICROB-PREDICT Innovations Meeting on Friday, 7 June, during EASL Congress 2024. There are plenty of opportunities for collaboration and joint innovation. We provide an overview of cohorts and data sets, available samples, and identified biomarkers – Come to find out what we can offer and let us know what you need.

6 June 2024

MICROB-PREDICT-dedicated Poster Tour on EASL Congress 2024

On day 2 of EASL Congress 2024, the project coordinator Jonel Trebicka chairs a MICROB-PREDICT-dedicated Poster Tour – don’t miss it: Six excellent posters have been selected to be featured in the poster tour – the researchers are eager to show you their newest data! See video clip for the poster IDs, titles, and presenters. When: Thursday, 6 June 2024, 16:15 – 17:00 h, Meeting Point: Track Hub “Cirrhosis & Complications”

5 June 2024

MICROB-PREDICT Networking Session

Swing by the community hub area on the first day of EASL Congress 2024 in Milan, Italy, to join the MICROB-PREDICT Networking Session: Lots of new data have been generated in the past year and the consortium’s researchers look forward to discussing the progress and achievements with colleagues and peers! When: Wednesday, 5 June 2024, 14:00 – 14:45 h, Where: Track Hub “Cirrhosis & Complications”

29 April 2024

Terlipressin paper among top electronic downloads

We are proud to report that our MICROB-PREDICT paper “Terlipressin therapy is associated with increased risk of colonisation with multi-drug-resistant bacteria in patients with decompensated cirrhosis” was in the top electronic downloads between 1st March and 31st March 2024 of recent articles published in ALIMENTARY PHARMACOLOGY & THERAPEUTICS. See the full list of top-rated papers here.

Successful MICROB-PREDICT 6th GA Meeting

From 20-22 March 2024, the MICROB-PREDICT consortium met in beautiful Ljubljana, Slovenia. We appreciate the participation of all attendees, whose contributions made for engaging discussions during work package presentations and productive sessions in the paper-writing workshop.

29 February 2024

Final Conference of the Human Microbiome Action

Final Conference of the Human Microbiome Action taking place today! MICROB-PREDICT coordinator Jonel Trebicka talks about Standardising Clinical Metadata.

Watch the live streaming at: humanmicrobiomeaction.eu

27 February 2024

First patient included in ALB-TRIAL

We are happy to report that the first patient was included in the ALB-TRIAL! The ALB-TRIAL is a trial investigating whether a biomarker can predict which patients will benefit from treatment with albumin. Patients will be admitted for participation in Hungary, Spain, Germany, Denmark, Belgium, The Netherlands and the UK. Find out more about the trial here.

MICROB-PREDICT explores Mass Spectrometry at University of Münster

The MICROB-PREDICT project recently visited the Central Laboratory at the University of Münster during its 10th Steering Committee Meeting. Prof. Dr. Jonel Trebicka, our project coordinator, led a tour of the Mass Spectrometry facility, providing valuable insights for the project’s research. The engaging tour offered a thorough exploration of state-of-the-art technologies in Mass Spectrometry.

22 November 2023

EASL Studio with MICROB-PREDICT coordinator Jonel Trebicka

Tune in into today’s EASL Studio on the topic: Statins in cirrhosis. The window hypothesis again, or just a closed window?

22 November 2023, live at 18:00 CET

The treatment of liver cirrhosis – currently based on symptomatic management of complications – has barely changed in last 20 years. In this episode, the experts will be discussing the use of statins, for which there is growing body of evidence of their beneficial effects in patients suffering with cirrhosis.

Faculty: Thomas Reiberger (Moderator), Juan Gonzalez-Abraldes (Faculty), Elisa Pose (Faculty), Jonel Trebicka (Faculty)

Statins in cirrhosis: The window hypothesis again, or just a closed window?

27 September 2023

MICROB-PREDICT 10th SC Meeting

MICROB-PREDICT’s 10th Steering Committee Meeting, graciously hosted by our partner UKM, was held in beautiful Münster from September 25-27, 2023. We’re happy to say that the meeting was a resounding success! The days were filled with in-depth discussions. We received promising updates on our work packages, setting the stage for groundbreaking research ahead.
Thank you to all who contributed to making this meeting a success. Stay tuned for more exciting developments from MICROB-PREDICT.

21 June 2023

MICROB-PREDICT at EASL Congress 2023

Join us for a MICROB-PREDICT and DECISION networking event on 21^st June, 13.30-14.30h at the EASL Congress Vienna, community hub. Learn about latest results and meet the team!

19 May 2023

Susan Fischer from Leiden University Medical Center winner of the MICROB-PREDICT social media award

MICROB-PREDICT supports its early career scientists who promote the project on social media with a free EASL Congress ticket sponsored by EASL. This year`s winner of the social media award is Susan Fischer MD | PhD Candidate Gastroenterology and Hepatology at Leiden University Medical Center. Congratulations Susan and thank youyou’re your continued efforts to disseminate MICROB-PREDICT news on social media!

25 October 2022

Opening of the 2022/2023 academic year of the Master in Bioethics and Law: Practical lecture on bioethical aspects in biomedical research projects funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 programme, taught by Itziar de Lecuona

The opening of the 2022/2023 academic year of the University of Barcelona’s Master in Bioethics and Law will take place on October 25, 2022.

Dr. Itziar de Lecuona, associate professor of the Department of Medicine, director of the Bioethics and Law Observatory and co-director of the Master in Bioethics and Law at the University of Barcelona, will give a practical lecture on bioethical aspects in biomedical research projects funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 programme.

This session will be held exclusively for new students of the Master in Bioethics and Law, and for researchers and doctoral students from the Bioethics and Law Observatory.

It will allow the attendees to identify which contributions they could provide from bioethics, based on their profile and knowledge, in the different phases of the project, within the framework of the respective Work Packages on “Ethics, Health and Socioeconomics”. It will intend to train and improve their skills in bioethics in the field of research ethics, scientific integrity and responsible research and innovation.

More information.

14 October 2022

Publication of the infographic based on the document “Guidelines for reviewing health research and innovation projects that use emergent technologies and personal data”!

The infographic based on the document “Guidelines for reviewing health research and innovation projects that use emergent technologies and personal data”, published by the Bioethics and Law Observatory – UNESCO Chair in Bioethics of the University of Barcelona and coordinated by Dr. Itziar de Lecuona, was presented within the framework of the seminar “Artificial intelligence and data protection in health research and innovation: ethical, legal and social aspects”, on September 21, 2022.

Dr. Itziar de Lecuona, associate professor of the Department of Medicine, director of the Bioethics and Law Observatory and co-director of the Master in Bioethics and Law at the University of Barcelona, showed the infographic, which synthesizes and highlights the essential points developed in the document, during her lecture “Research ethics committees and data protection in the evaluation of emerging technologies in health research and innovation”.

In this way, the infographic exposes, in a visual and concise way, what Research Ethics Committees (RECs) are, their functions, and the dilemmas that health research and innovation projects raise, especially in a scenario where emerging technologies and the exploitation of personal data play a leading role.

The infographic presents the challenges that Research Ethics Committees (RECs) must face (avoid the Europe’s excessive dependence on the American tech companies, update the obsolete protocols for obtaining informed consent, etc.); and lists a series of recommendations so that RECs can perform their functions correctly and efficiently, with the support of both research and innovation centres and legislators, to guarantee the protection of the rights of individuals in projects that use emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence, big data, biometrics, and/or virtual reality.

Watch the seminar’s video
Access the document “Guidelines for reviewing health research and innovation projects that use emergent technologies and personal data” (available in English, Spanish and Catalan)
See and download the infographic

14 October 2022

Successful 8th Steering Committee Meeting in Heidelberg

From 13-14 October 2022, the WP leaders of MICROB-PREDICT met at EMBL in Heidelberg to discuss latest results and next steps for biomarker validation and the start of the ALB-Trial. We look forward to an exciting 2^nd half of the project!

8 October 2022

Microbiome in pathogenesis of decompensated cirrhosis and as a therapeutic target

EASL and MICROB-PREDICT organize a Common Interest Group meeting at UEG week 2022 Saturday October 8th, 15:00-17:00, Schubert. Join us for talks about decompensated cirrhosis and ACLF, role of albumin and antibiotics in treatment. Read more.

23 September 2022

Watch our mini-video series from #ILC2022

We tried something new, check it out: Short video interviews by curious patient representatives from the European Liver Patients’ Association (ELPA) who asked Prof. Dr. Jonel Trebicka, our scientific coordinator, questions about the MICROB-PREDICT, its clinical trial, and its impact. The interviews were conducted during the International Liver Congress (ILC) in London, United Kingdom, in June 2022.

21 September 2022

Bioethics and Law Observatory organises an online seminar

On September 21, 2022, the Bioethics and Law Observatory (OBD) -UNESCO Chair in Bioethics and the Spanish Data Protection Agency (AEPD) jointly organize the seminar “Inteligencia artificial y protección de datos en investigación e innovación en salud: aspectos éticos, legales y sociales”(“Artificial intelligence and data protection in health research and innovation: ethical, legal and social aspects”).

This seminar is part of an agreement between the Bioethics and Law Observatory (OBD) and the Spanish Data Protection Agency.

This event is free and open for anyone, but please note that it will be held in Spanish. For more information click here and find here the program.

24 June 2022

Meet us at ILC2022 on 24/06/2022, 12-13h GMT!

Don`t miss the opportunity to meet the team and receive important information about the project at ILC2022 at the EASL Community Hub! Read more.

3 June 2022

Nature Medicine: Noninvasive proteomic biomarkers for alcohol-related liver disease

We are very proud to share the latest plasma and liver proteome paper by Lili Niu et al. on alcohol-related liver disease that was recently published in Nature Medicine. Read more.

18 March 2022

4th General Assembly Meeting, Mallorca

Our 4^th GA meeting, taking place from 15-18 March 2022 in Mallorca has been successfully completed.

The first 1.5 days were reserved for our first MICROB-PREDICT paper-writing workshop. 35 scientists from all over Europe discussed 12 papers about ACLF and microbiome in four different places face-to-face and virtual at the same time!

The other days were dedicated to hear further updates and results from our different work packages. With 54 participants joining on-site and almost 20 participants remotely the meeting was a great success. Thank you all for taking part!

28 January 2022

MICROB-PREDICT co-organised Falk Symposium on Alcoholic Liver Disease

From 27-28 January 2022, consortium members Prof. Aleksander Krag (OUH) and Prof. Rajiv Jalan (UCL) as well as members of the scientific and ethical advisory board (SEAB), including Dr. Vijay Shah (Mayo Clinic) and Prof. Bernd Schnabl (UCSD) presented and discussed the newest research results and pressing questions regarding the treatment and recovery from alcoholic liver disease, while MICROB-PREDICT coordinator Prof. Jonel Trebicka (GUF), who had co-organised the online symposium, served as chairman of Session II on “Alcoholic hepatitis, liver failure, and systemic disturbance” and the poster session.

11 November 2021

Nationwide population-based study (2005 to 2018) of 250 million hospital admissions in Germany reveals changed trends and the course of liver cirrhosis and its complications

Scientists from Goethe University Hospital Frankfurt under leadership of Prof. Jonel Trebicka analyzed the data from the Federal Statistical Office of Germany of around 250 million hospital admissions in Germany from 2005 to 2018 and found out that the number of hospital admissions with cirrhosis has increased nationwide, and its diagnosis as a comorbidity doubles the mortality rate of other chronic diseases.

All results of this nationwide study published in “The Lancet Regional Health – Europe”, demonstrate the need for development of strategies to improve care in cirrhosis to decrease this considerable healthcare burden.

Read full press release

2 November 2021

Save-the-date: 27. Frankfurter Leber-Forum

Under the slogan “Patients ask – Doctors answer” the 27. Frankfurter Leber-Forum will take place on November 24th, 2021 from 05.00 – 07.00 p.m. (CET).

Speakers will present short talks on various topics, including fatty liver, liver cirrhosis and viral hepatitis. Online participation will be free of charge.

Great session about non-etiological therapies in the course of cirrhosis chaired by MICROB-PREDICT

Coordinator, Jonel Trebicka: the panel presented several statements about

1. the use of statins, aspirin, albumin and rifaximin in patients with liver cirrhosis.

2. the literature for the use of statins, aspirin and albumin in the view of gut-liver-axis (Wim Laleman, partner)

3. evidence and future direction of the use of microbiome-based biomarker to guide the treatment of patients, e.g.albumin (Aleksander Krag, WP Leader and EASL vice-secretary)

4. rationale and data on the role of microbiome changes for development of complications of cirrhosis (Jasmohan Bajaj, Collaborator).

For more information, reach out!

27 October 2021

BavenoVII Consensus Workshop sponsored by MICROB-PREDICT

MICROB-PREDICT supports this year`s BavenoVII Consensus Workshop. Baveno Workshops have been held every 5 years from 1990 till today. Each time, important advances have been made in understanding the pathophysiology of portal hypertension, as well as in developing new treatments and new strategies for the management of advanced cirrhosis and portal hypertension. See programme.

14 October 2021

Camila Alvarez-Silva appointed as new chair of the Early Career Scientists group

We congratulate Camila Alvarez-Silva from University of Copenhagen for having been appointed as new chair of the MICROB-PREDICT Early Career Scientists group. She takes this important position over from her predecessor Annelotte Broekhoven (LUMC) who was the chair in the third year of the project.

Thanks to Annelotte for her efforts to coordinate the training activities during the 3^rd year which included amongst other things the organisation of the 2^nd masterclass!

8 October 2021

3rd General Assembly Meeting, Leuven, Belgium

Our first hybrid-GA meeting, taking place from 6-8 October 2021 in Leuven, Belgium has been successfully completed with 37 participants joining on-site, and over 20 participants remotely.

A lot of data has been presented with promising multiomics results to develop biomarkers to predict disease progression and response to treatment for patients suffering from cirrhosis and ACLF.

2 September 2021

Successful MICROB-PREDICT Online Symposium connected to EASL School on Hepatology 2021

Successful MICROB-PREDICT and DECISION – Online Symposium ‘Management of acute-on-chronic liver failure’ on Thursday, 2nd September 2021 from 12.30 – 16.30h CEST which was organised at the occasion of the EASL School of Hepatology.

At this symposium, several experts of both project consortia presented recent advances in the fields of microbiome research and systems medicine, introduced the role of proteomics and metabolomics in hepatology and discussed treatment strategies and their mechanisms of action in acute-on-chronic liver failure.

With almost 100 registered attendees and speakers from 37 countries our symposium was a great success and we would like to thank everyone for their participation and the lively discussions.

Download presentations

8 July 2021

MICROB-PREDICT Symposium connected to EASL School on Hepatology 2021

We would like to invite you for the MICROB-PREDICT online symposium on ‘Management of acute-on-chronic liver failure’, which will take place on 2nd September 2021, in the afternoon before the EASL School of Hepatology.

Course director: Prof. Wim Laleman

Date: Thursday, 02 September 2021

ONLINE

Read full announcement

29 June 2021

MICROB-PREDICT project partners at the IHMC 2021

We are pleased that four of our MICROB-PREDICT project partners gave a talk at this year’s virtual International Human Microbiome Consortium Congress 2021 (IHMC 2021), which took place from June 27-29, 2021.

Stanislav Dusko Ehrlich – ‘Oral Microbiome in Health and Disease‘

Peer Bork – ‘The Impact of Drugs on Human Gut Microbial Communities‘

Mani Arumugam – ‘Revealing the Hidden Biodiversity of the Human Gut Microbiota‘

Jonel Trebicka – ‘Gut Microbiome and End-Stage Liver Disease‘

24 June 2021

ILC 2021: Symposium „Old and new treatments for patients with advanced cirrhosis”

Very successful symposium on Thursday, 24th June 2021 from 14-15h CEST organised by members of MICROB-PREDICT in the frame of the virtual ILC congress. Topics included:

Why and how to modulate the microbiome: example from MICROB-PREDICT study (Shawcross)
Old drugs for novel treatment strategies (Posé)
Human albumin: from established indications to novel perspectives (Caraceni)
System medicine: is it the right track to personalized treatments: example from DECISION study? (Trebicka)

10 June 2021

MICROB-PREDICT at the International Liver Congress 2021!

SAVE THE DATE: ILC 2021 will take place from Wednesday to Saturday, 23–26 June. Register now and visit our MICROB-PREDICT booth.

Click here for more information!

9 June 2021

Successful patient event on 9th June

27 representatives of national patient organisations from 10 European countries listened to talks about therapies for cirrhosis and ACLF, research needs and outlook for the future. A lot of interest was shown towards available and new therapies for decompensated cirrhosis and ACLF. The event was organised by ELPA (president Marko Korenjak) and chaired by Prof. Rajiv Jalan, scientific director of EFCLIF.

11 May 2021

Workshop on “Health and economic benefits of microbiomes” with the EU Parliament

MicrobiomeSupport is organising an online workshop with the Panel for the Future of Science and Technology (STOA) at the European Parliament. This virtual event will, among other things, present state-of-the-art microbiome research and address safety and regulatory pathways of microbiome innovations. The workshop will take place virtually on 11th May 2021, between 14:00 and 16:30 CEST.

For further information and registration, click here.

5 May 2021

Article on “Microbiome and Nanotechnology” got frontispiece of Advanced Materials

Congratulations to Arben Merkoçi and co‐workers, whose article on “Microbiome and Nanotechnology: The Microbiome Meets Nanotechnology: Opportunities and Challenges in Developing New Diagnostic Devices” got frontispiece of Advanced Materials (Adv. Mater. 18/2021). In this article, Arben and his team consider the unique properties of nanomaterials that will enable, in the near future, the development of point‐of‐care sensors for the detection of microbiome‐related biomarkers. Read full article.

1 February 2021

Annelotte Broekhoven appointed as new chair of the Early Career Scientists group

We congratulate Annelotte Broekhoven from Leiden University Medical Center for having been appointed as new chair of the MICROB-PREDICT Early Career Scientists group. She takes this important position over from her predecessor Romy Zwittink (also LUMC) who was the chair in the second year of the project, after Robert Schierwagen from Goethe University Frankfurt, who successfully filled this role in the first year. It will be Annelotte`s task to coordinate the training activities during the 3^rd year which include amongst other things the organisation of the 2^nd masterclass.

25 January 2021

5th Steering Committee Meeting held online

20 members of the MICROB-PREDICT Steering Committee met online on 25-26 January to discuss first multiomics and very interesting animal results. Corona slowed things down in 2020, but the project is still progressing very well thanks to the amazing work of all our 22 partner institutions and about 100 involved scientists.

30 November 2020

Nature Reviews: Utilizing the gut microbiome in decompensated cirrhosis and acute- on- chronic liver failure

Read the latest nature reviews article which focuses on the possible pathogenic, diagnostic and therapeutic role of the gut microbiome in decompensation of cirrhosis and progression to ACLF by Jonel Trebicka, Peer Bork, Aleksander Krag and Manimozhiyan Arumugam. Read more.

19 November 2020

PREDICT identifies precipitating events associated with the clinical course of acutely decompensated cirrhosis

Proven bacterial infections and severe alcoholic hepatitis, alone or in combination, are the major precipitating events for acute decompensation and ACLF. While the type of precipitating event has no association with survival, the number of identifiable events was significantly associated with surrogates of systemic inflammation and increased 90-day mortality. Adequate first-line antibiotic treatment of proven bacterial infections was associated with lower ACLF development rate and higher 90-day survival. Specific preventive and therapeutic strategies to precipitating events may improve outcome in decompensated cirrhosis. Read more.

19 October 2020

Targeting the gut-liver-immune axis to treat cirrhosis

Thomas Tranah and colleagues from King`s College London publish a review about links between cirrhotic dysbiosis, intestinal barrier dysfunction and deficits of host-microbiome compartmentalisation and mucosal immune homoeostasis that occur in settings of advanced chronic liver disease. Read more.

2 October 2020

New MICROB-PREDICT Masterclass video on „The human gut microbiome in health and disease” by Prof. Peer Bork

Prof. Peer Bork’s speaks about the latest advances in microbiome research as part of the MICROB-PREDICT project. The talk was recorded at the occasion of the first MICROB-PREDICT MasterClass in Frankfurt.

Watch video on YouTube

18 September 2020

Funding from The Michael J. Fox Foundation

Fantastic news: MICROB-PREDICT partners were awarded 8.2m USD funding from The Michael J. Fox Foundation for research into the Genome-Microbiome Axis in the Cause of Parkinson Disease. Read more

3 September 2020

Paper by Olaf Tyc et al. published on the cover page of Liver transplantation

Congratulations to Olaf and co-workers! The article on “Variation in Bile Microbiome by the Etiology of Cholestatic Liver Disease” by Olaf Tyc et al. made it to the cover page of Liver transplantation (Volume 26, Issue 12). Congratulations to all for the great achievement! Read full article.

27 August 2020

Who are the people behind the science of MICROB-PREDICT?

Watch this video to meet the coordinator, the patient representative, our leading researchers, clinicians, and the management team. Feel free to like and share to promote our research and efforts. We are all working together to improve the lives of patients suffering from decompensated cirrhosis and ACLF.

26 August 2020

MICROB-PREDICT in 3 minutes – Prof. Dr. Jonel Trebicka summarises the project at EASL’s “Digital ILC 2020”

As part of the DigitalILC, the project’s scientific coordinator, Prof. Dr. Jonel Trebicka recorded this brief webinar to give a concise overview of the project’s scope, its aims, and the expected patient benefits. Click here to watch the video!

6 August 2020

MICROB-PREDICT Project Video

Focus on human microbiome to fight liver cirrhosis: 22 European institutions joined forces in January 2019 to improve the prevention and treatment of chronic liver disease (cirrhosis) within the MICROB-PREDICT project. We aim to identify microbiome-based biomarkers and mechanisms that predict in advance when the body can no longer compensate for the dysfunctional liver (decompensated cirrhosis) and decompensated cirrhosis progresses to acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF), and individual treatment responses of patients. Coordinator Jonel Trebicka gives a brief overview of the project in this video.

14 July 2020

The PREDICT study uncovers three clinical courses in acutely decompensated cirrhosis with distinct pathophysiology

Data from 1071 patients with acute decompensation reveals patterns that allow grouping patients into three different clinical courses with different mortality. The investigators have determined that the development of systemic inflammation is key to the progression of the disease and affects patients with pre-ACLF. Half of them die in three months and seven out of ten in 1 year. Read more.

10 July 2020

Marko Korenjak is being interviewed about MICROB-PREDICT by Maja Thiele

Former “radio moderator”-turned-“medical hepatologist” Prof. Dr. Maja Thiele from Odense University Hospital (OUH) in Denmark interviews Marko Korenjak, the current president of the European Liver Patients’ Association (ELPA) about his hopes in MICROB-PREDICT and why this is such a special research consortium. Watch and share the whole 5min-video on YouTube: It’s absolutely worth it!

9 July 2020

PDFs of 1st Patient Event Presentations available for download

The PDFs of the 3 presentations by Profs. Jonel Trebica, Aleksander Krag, and Minneke Coenraad are now freely accessible on the DOWNLOADS page. Alternatively, just click on the respective screenshot below to view the desired presentation in your browser.

16 June 2020

SAVE THE DATE – First online patient event on 8 July 2020!

We kindly invite you to the first online patient event of the MICROB-PREDICT project: On Wednesday, 8 July 2020, from 10:30-11:30 AM, we would like to inform you and other cirrhosis patients on our project and its implications for the future management of patients with cirrhosis and discuss with you how to best disseminate this information in the national patient associations. We look forward to meeting you virtually at July 8th!

28 May 2020

New ACLF review article in the New England Journal of Medicine!

Three clinical experts on ACLF just published a joint review article on “Acute-on-Chronic Liver Failure”. Thanks to Vicente Arroyo, Richard Moreau, and Rajiv Jalan for this excellent review and for highlighting the importance of increased clinical research and efforts to prevent decompensated cirrhosis and ACLF. The article was published today in the New England Journal of Medicine (volume 382(22): pages 2137-2145; doi: 10.1056/NEJMra1914900)

26 May 2020

Video of the 1st MICROB-PREDICT Masterclass on „ Acute-on-Chronic Liver Failure (ACLF)” by Prof. Dr. Jonel Trebicka

Prof. Dr. Jonel Trebicka, project coordinator on behalf of EFCLIF and Professor for translational hepatology at the Department of Internal Medicine I, University Clinic Frankfurt speaks about current status and recent advances of ACLF research. The talk was recorded on 20 January 2020 at the occasion of the first MICROB-PREDICT MasterClass in Frankfurt.

Watch video on YouTube

1 April 2020

Model describing typical treatment paths in decompensated cirrhosis

Prof. Hans Olav Melberg from UiO concludes an important step and releases a report about typical treatment paths in decompensated cirrhosis, information about the probability of going from one state to another, as well as the costs and quality of life in patients in each state.

More information

Download report (PDF | 1 MB)

1 April 2020

Important ethics deliverables published

Prof. Itziar de Lecuona, leader of the ethics WP, and colleagues publish three important ethics deliverables of MICROB-PREDICT: Informed consent templates for use of human biological samples and personal data in biomedical research, Public engagement strategy to design MICROB-PREDICT along with the need of patients and Codes of conduct applicable and research integrity policy including publications in journals.

More information

22 January 2020

Successful 2nd General Assembly Meeting in Königstein

From 20^th-22^nd January 2020, 71 delegates of the MICROB-PREDICT consortium met in Königstein near Frankfurt a.M., Germany, to discuss the progress and results after the end of the first year of the project. We are happy to conclude that the project is in schedule and the first results come in nicely.

20 January 2020

First master class for Early Career Scientists

On 20^th January 2020, 48 participants of the MICROB-PREDICT Consortium, of which 24 Early Career Scientists attended the first master class which was organized as part of the WP9 training programme before the start of the 2^nd General Assembly Meeting, in the hospital of the Goethe University Frankfurt, Germany. Talks included “How to write a successful grant application” (Ameli Schwalber and Jonel Trebicka), “ACLF: current status and recent advances” (Jonel Trebicka) and “Microbiome: current standards and challenges” (Peer Bork). Overall, the feedback was positive, and this format will be repeated again at future General Assembly meetings.

6 November 2019

Big data and artificial intelligence (AI)

Big data and artificial intelligence (AI) are not the future, they are the present. Our ethics WP Leader Prof. Itziar de Lecuona speaks about “Big Data and Artificial Intelligence: Opportunities for Clinical Decision-Making and Health Care Assessment”.

More information

17 October 2019

Policy for integrating the six agendas of responsible research and innovation

Read our policy on how we implement responsible research and innovation of our six agendas (ethics, gender equality, public engagement, governance, scientific education and open access) in MICROB-PREDICT. Our legal and ethics team explains measures to take into account regarding governance, ethics, gender equality, public engagement, open access and scientific education. Download the policy here.

6 September 2019

All PREDICT samples have been shipped to our specialty labs

All PREDICT samples have been shipped to our specialty labs. The majority of proteomics and metabolomics measurements are complete. Congratulations WP3!

2 July 2019

First important milestones achieved

MICROB-PREDICT partners received ethics approvals for shipment of samples. More than 700 samples have been aliquoted and were shipped to specialty labs. Now, data generation begins.

30 June 2019

MICROB-PREDICT Informed consent policy

The MICROB-PREDICT policy for human subjects, samples and data describes the ethical and legal framework for the planned research interventions, the implications for research participants and obligations for those conducting research. Download the policy here.

12 April 2019

MICROB-PREDICT at ILC 2019

Jonel Trebicka and Minneke Coenraad presented the project’s objectives, its consortium members, and the expected impact of MICROB-PREDICT at the International Liver Congress (ILC) in Vienna, Austria. The annual congress is organised by EASL.

26 March 2019

First internal meeting on specifics of biosensor development

The first meeting of work package 5 (WP5) members dedicated to validation of biomarkers and biosensor development was held at the Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2) in Barcelona. The aim was to initiate collaboration of ICN2 and the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) for the development of point-of-care (POC) diagnostic tests.

31 January 2019

1st press conference in Barcelona

Following the project’s Kick-Off Meeting, EF CLIF organised a well-attended press conference for local journalists in Barcelona that resulted in a widespread press coverage during the next days across Spain and Europe!

1 January 2019

MICROB-PREDICT kicks off!

Today, the 6-year long, pan-European research project begins. All of us are excited to roll up our sleeves and get to work!