The Paul Ehrlich Institute in Langen is inviting people to the fourth spring symposium of the DRUID LOEWE Centre on 22 February. The major topic this year is the Covid-19 pandemic and the latest research results presented by scientists on this matter.

The head of the project, Professor Dr Ger van Zandbergen, will welcome participants to the online event next Monday from 7 p.m. onwards and then then act as chairperson for the contributions and questions.

The opening lecture entitled “Like a balloon on a string: SARS-CoV-2 spike shows unexpected flexibility” comes from Professor Dr Jacomine Krijnse Locker (DRUID), followed by Dr John Amuasi from Kumasi, Ghana, and Professor Dr Jürgen May from Hamburg with their lectures entitled “Molecular to macro: understanding COVID-19 interactions with NTDs is critical to the global south” and “The SARS-CoV-2 epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa – a miracle?”, which will therefore create a connection with neglected tropical diseases.

DRUID has been financially supported by the State Offensive for the Development of Scientific and Economic Excellence (LOEWE) since January 2018.

The leading medical universities in the federal state of Hesse have joined forces with the Paul Ehrlich Institute in Langen and the Mittelhessen University of Applied Sciences within the LOEWE Centre and are conducting synergistic research to identify and characterise potential target molecules in order to develop urgently needed medicines, vaccinations and diagnostic procedures to cope with neglected infectious diseases, which are particularly associated with poverty.

The event will be held in English. The organiser of the event is the Paul Ehrlich Institute in Langen this year.

You can gain access to the public event by using the following link: https://www.uni-giessen.de/fbz/fb09/institute/ernaehrungswissenschaft/prof/becker/druid/news/Fruehlingssymposium%202021