Characterize Novel Pathogen- and Host- Related Factors in Hospitalized Patients and Patients on the Emergency Department Presenting With Lower Respiratory Tract Infections and/or Sepsis

The TAILORED-Treatment consortium was established to develop new tools aimed to increase the effectiveness of antibiotic and antifungal therapy, reduce adverse events, and help limit the emergence of antimicrobial resistance in children and adults. In reality, targeted antimicrobial therapy can most effectively be achieved by utilizing personalized data to facilitate a tailored and optimized approach to individual patient treatment. This can best be achieved by utilizing knowledge gained from both host-centered and pathogen-centered parameters during health and disease. Unfortunately, these parameters have traditionally, tended to be measured independently (for example using microbial culture or PCR-based methods for microbial detection, or measurement of the immune response to infections and/or blood-based biomarkers in the host), and used on an ad hoc basis without careful integration for the best treatment of the patient. However, recent advances in the development of high-throughput and sensitive molecular-based technologies, on-line internet database access tools, and bioinformatics analysis, now means that the goal of personalized medicine and treatment is in sight. Unfortunately however, there currently exists a technological gap between recent state-of-the-art methodologies (for example with respect to gaining new insights into novel host-pathogen interactions) and laboratory-to-bedside results to benefit patients, physicians and society as a whole. The TAILORED-Treatment project is designed to bridge this technological gap in order to generate novel insights and innovations that are readily exploitable for the maximum benefit of multiple stakeholders in the field of personalized medicine and infectious diseases.