In January 2026, partners from across the DURABLE network came together for a WP11 meeting dedicated to advancing our collective understanding of vector-borne diseases (VBD). These meetings provide an important platform for collaboration and knowledge exchange across disciplines, bringing together researchers from across Europe. The January session focused specifically on vector-borne disease dynamics in the context of environmental change, urbanisation, and emerging health risks.  Sandra Jungle, CHARITE: Urban ecology and amplification dynamics of West Nile...

We’re excited to announce the One Health Approaches to Study Climate-Sensitive Infectious Diseases Summer School, which will take place 17–28 August 2026 across two inspiring European hubs: 📍 Week 1: Rotterdam, The Netherlands (hosted by @ErasmusMC)📍 Week 2: Heidelberg, Germany (hosted by @Heidelberg University) 🌍 Why join?Climate change and nature-based solutions are reshaping ecosystems—and with them, the dynamics of infectious diseases. This 2-week immersive summer school brings together early-career researchers, students and practitioners to explore One Health approaches at...

Interview with Rory de Vries, virologist of Erasmus MCBird flu vaccine The vaccines had already been declared safe. But because the vaccine has been updated to the latest variant, just like with the annual flu shot, the effectiveness still had to be investigated. There are not yet any concrete plans to distribute the shots. A bird flu vaccine for humans, of which a number of European member states jointly purchased around 665,000 doses last year, probably offers good protection against the virus. This emerges from a Finnish study that was published on Friday in Nature Microbiology,...

On 12 December 2025, Marion Koopmans, researcher and virologist, gave a lecture for the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) at the Trippenhuis in Amsterdam on the possibilities (and dangers) of AI in healthcare. Key messages from this lecture were also reflected in a recent interview with KNAW: “Developments [of AI in healthcare] are moving fast. For example, American researchers, with the help of AI, recently succeeded in writing a genetic code for a new virus that could kill antibiotic-resistant E. coli bacteria. If you could treat diseases more often in this way,...

Artificial intelligence could be a valuable tool for detecting emerging diseases earlier, researchers from five European universities and research institutes argue in The Lancet Infectious Diseases. How to identify the next dangerous virus before it spreads among people is the central question in a new Comment in The Lancet Infectious Diseases. In it, researchers discuss how AI, combined with the One Health approach, can contribute to improved prediction and surveillance.

The DURABLE Bioinformatics Course is taking place right now at Institut Pasteur, Paris!!! We have 24 scientists from 18 organizations on three continents learning from 10 instructors in this exciting course. Course OverviewThis course is designed around a simulated outbreak scenario to provide hands-on experience with genomic tools at different stages of an outbreak investigation. Participants will learn how to detect pathogens, analyze their origins, and trace transmission routes using state-of-the-art sequencing and bioinformatics methods.  Learning ObjectivesThe overall...