Highly invasive meningococcal infections with serogroup W of clonal type cc11 are rapidly increasing and have a high (16-25%) mortality rate. The aim of this project is to investigate why recent isolates are invasive and how different antibodies can protect. Special focus will be on protection of epithelial cells of the wall of the respiratory tract as prevention of infection may be key to protect the public against infection with MenW cc11. Recent clinical isolates of different clinical invasiveness will be subjected to pangenetic analyses to identify virulence factors. The ability of these isolates to infect epithelial cells will be evaluated to compare virulence factors with functional invasiveness. I then will analyse meningococcal-specific antibody levels in serum and saliva in different age groups with increased carriage and/or risk of meningococcal invasive disease. The antibodies will be evaluated for their ability to protect against infection in two different functional assays: prevention of infection of respiratory epithelial cells and the gold standard serum bactericidal assay that predicts the ability to clear invaded meningococci. Finally, epithelial responses to meningococci and modulation of these responses will be investigated. These studies will analyse cytokine and chemokine production, and the production of antibodies by B cells in epithelial-B cell co-cultures. Together, these data will a) help to identify meningococcal virulence factors and the invasiveness of MenW cc11 relative to other isolates, b) identify levels and functional ability of antibodies to protect against infection in groups at increased risk, c) help in defining a novel correlate of protection and d) reveal meningococcal-epithelial interactions. The results will provide insight for vaccine design, vaccination policy and surveillance strategies.

There is now only limited experience with RRI in industry and there is also limited evidence of the added value of opening up the innovation process in industry for social engagement and gender considerations. We will overcome these current limitations by carrying out eight RRI pilot projects in a real-world industry context. To establish the added value of the RRI approach and the gender dimension in and for industry, we will assess the pilot projects on a number of product and process RRI dimensions and compare the score of the pilots on the relevant RRI dimensions with the score of similar projects in the same companies in which the RRI approach has not been followed. We focus on implementing RRI for some of the major technological challenges in the EU including nanotechnology, synthetic biology, Internet of Things and self-driving or automated cars. These are all transformative technologies that have the potential to transform existing modes of production and to change the relation of the company with users, suppliers or other stakeholders. The pilots aim at integrating RRI in the CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) policies of the participating companies. Some pilots will take place in private companies and some in public-private partnerships (PPPs). The project will be supported by extensive stakeholder consultations and dialogues. These will feed into the set-up and the carrying out of the pilots. The project will result in a RRI-CSR roadmap for transformative technologies. The roadmap will be widely disseminated through the partner’s extensive industry network, and through industry branch and CSR organizations. An important means of dissemination will also be the MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) on RRI in industry. The dissemination is expected to lead to a better uptake of RRI approaches by industry. This will also contribute to the competiveness of the European industry.