The increased mobility of both humans and livestock over the world has led to increasing antibiotic resistance among bacterial pathogens and the rapid spread of new viruses. Both new vaccines and new antiviral/antibacterial agents are urgently needed. Numerous novel drug targets and novel candidate vaccine antigens have been produced by the various genome projects, but validation and drug selection are not yet sufficiently effective. Infection with microbial pathogens can result in strong immune reactions, which in some cases may even lead to severe clinical problems.

Objectives:

• Achieve a better and faster characterization of drug targets and candidate antigens in predictive disease models.
• Improve the development of new vaccines and new antibiotics by making use of novel technologies and methodologies.