The global COVID19 pandemic emphasizes once again the urgent need for improvement and innovation in the development of new antiviral strategies.  While it is clear that viral replication, metabolic pathways, and host immune responses are tightly interconnected, the molecular pathways and impact on viral pathogenesis are not well-defined and will be the focus of INITIATE.

INITIATE brings together world leaders in virology, inflammation, innate immunity, and immunometabolism to educate a new generation of research scientists with the interdisciplinary expertise required to recognize, contain and treat future virus outbreaks.

INITIATE includes partners from 7 academic institutes and 3 industrial partners from 7 countries. The consortium will host 15 PhD students – Early Stage Researchers (ESRs), each performing an individual research project at one of the partners.