HPVienna

HPVienna is a project that implements a novel transdisciplinary approach integrating sequencing-based genomic epidemiology, mixed-method social science and public health research, and agent-based modeling to tackle interconnected challenges such as insurance, social and vaccination status. We will map viral population dynamics onto urban social dynamics, unveiling transmission networks and contributing to prevention of HPV-linked cancers. Partnering with the NGO and clinic Ambermed that supports patients without health insurance in Austria, volunteer HPV swabbing will be enhanced through social participatory methods, and complemented by a novel pipeline to detect population-wide circulating HPV genotypes from wastewater to test the risk of high-impact variants and indirect effects of vaccination. All novel and complementary evidence will be synthesized to yield a transmission model for the whole Viennese population, intervention scenarios, and a policy blueprint with recommendations and tailored measures. Our pioneering approach tackles existing socioeconomic inequalities and gender disparities with an additional focus on boys and men. This transdisciplinary strategy pushes the boundaries of OneHealth in practice, with the potential of serving as a prototype for effective prevention and multi-system surveillance of infectious diseases in the urban environment more generally.

This project is a cooperation of our team and the Bergthaler Lab (Medical University of Vienna), Niki Poper`s Group (Technical University Vienna) and our affiliated researcher Lisa Lehner (University of Vienna). The project is funded by Vienna Science and Technology Fund (WWTF) from the Environmental Systems Research – Urban Environments 2024 call.

For more information and regular updates check out the project website here.

Key members of the Grabovac Group: Tobias Fragner (Researcher), Igor Grabovac (Senior researcher) and Lisa Lehner (Co-PI).