Implementation of VirA Project “Reducing Networking Gaps Between Rīga Stradiņš University (RSU) and InternationallyLeading Counterparts in Viral InfectionInduced Autoimmunity Research”

The aim of VirA project is to promote autoimmune disease research capacity
and fill networking gaps in the institution (RSU) of the low-performing Member
State – Latvia, by establishing a consortium with leading research institutions
from Italy – University of Ferrara, Germany – Ulm University, and Israel – Tel-Aviv
University.
The planned project activities are:
• Raising experience of the staff with short term exchanges;
• Bringing new knowledge to the institute from expert visits and short-term
on-site or virtual training;
• Organization of training workshops, joint summer schools and seminars to
increase the networking ability of staff and foster knowledge transfer;
• Conference participation and attendance to help with project dissemination
and gathering of new information.
Within the frame of the project 8/8 outgoing and 8/9 incoming ECR visits are
organized, 10/10 expert visits with short-term on-site training have been implemented bringing new theoretical and practical knowledge to the RSU.
Six workshops on “Importance of differential diagnostic in rheumatic and
other autoimmune diseases”, “New trends in autoimmune diseases immunological profiling”, “Viral infections as aetiological or trigger factors of autoimmune diseases”, “Morphological studies in autoimmune disease research”, “Basic aspects
of biostatistics, clinical and laboratory data management” and “A practical workshop on proposal preparation and project management”; one seminar “Enhancement of scientific manuscripts preparation quality” and two Summer schools “New trends in molecular and immunological detection methodology of persistent viral infections”, and “Clinical and laboratory data management and modelling” have been organized. Two LATVIA–ISRAEL Symposiums of Autoimmunity (one on Zoom, another in Israel) have been organized, as well as regular participation in the Friday Mosaic of Autoimmunity International e-Meetings organized by Prof. Yehuda Shoenfeld. The number of publications in RSU (in the field of autoimmunity) has increased by 24.4% per year on average, researchers have participated in 18 international conferences/congresses with 59 presentations.