As part of a strong consortium of European institutions, Erasmus MC recently applied to be designated as the EU Reference Laboratory (EURL) for Public Health in the field of Respiratory Viruses (EURL-RESVIR).
We are excited to share that we have been selected to proceed with negotiations with the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and the European Health and Digital Executive Agency (HaDEA). This EURL will further strengthen the European collaboration and capacity building within this field.
In May 2025, the European Commission (EC) released a call for applications for the EURL in the field of respiratory viruses. EURLs in the area of public health provide support to the European network of national reference laboratories (NRLs). A consortium of eight institutions submitted an application to be designated as EURL-RESVIR. The consortium partners are:|
- Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTH), Greece
- Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany
- Erasmus Medical Center-Viroscience (EMC), Netherlands (coordinator)
- Institut Pasteur (IP), France
- National Institute of Health Doctor Ricardo Jorge (INSA), Portugal
- National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), Netherlands
- Robert Koch Institute (RKI), Germany• Statens Serum Institut (SSI), Denmark
The Erasmus MC team consists of Department of Viroscience researchers Prof.dr. Ron Fouchier (coordinator), Dr. Bart Haagmans, Dr. Richard Molenkamp and Dr. Rory de Vries. Dr. Björn Koel will serve as the co-coordinator.
The submitted application was favourably reviewed by members of the EC, the ECDC, and independent external experts. This consortium will now enter the next phase of designation an EURL.
EURL-RESVIR will promote cross-border coordination, provide technical assistance and reference services to NRLs, organize external quality assessments, and promote and facilitate collaboration and research. Additionally, EURL-RESVIR will support and provide scientific advice to ECDC and the EC during (emerging) respiratory virus outbreaks. EURL-RESVIR will ultimately enhance Europe’s capacity to identify and manage respiratory viral pathogens.
