Projet ProgRet (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2022)
Action : Doctoral Networks
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : SIGNED

ProgRET will create a multidisciplinary and intersectoral European training network focusing on the mechanisms, diagnosis and therapy of dominantly inherited retinal diseases (IRD). IRD represent a major cause of blindness, affecting 350,000 people in Europe. IRD have long been considered incurable, however major advances have led to groundbreaking new treatments. Today, the most important challenges in the IRD field relate to an unsolved genetic diagnosis, unknown disease mechanisms and gene therapy development for autosomal dominant IRD (adIRD), representing 25–40% of all IRD cases. We have demonstrated an emerging role for splicing factors, structural variants and non-coding defects in patients with adIRD, and developed novel disease models and gene therapies for adIRD. ProgRET aims to dissect adIRD mechanisms using retinal stem cell and aquatic animal models, to advance adIRD diagnostics using a single-molecule multi-omics framework, and to develop innovative treatments based on RNA therapy and CRISPR-genome editing. These challenges will be tackled by integrating unique expertise and cutting-edge technology within ProgRET, including (multi-)omics, bioinformatics, functional genomics, RNA biology, gene regulation, stem cell technology, retinal organoids, animal models, genome editing and gene therapy. ProgRET will give Doctoral Candidates (DCs) unparalleled training opportunities in outstanding academic and industrial settings through training-by-research via individual research projects, secondments, and network-wide training sessions. All individual training and research activities will provide each DC with the necessary skills in academic and industrial research. ProgRET will make a career in both sectors attractive and improve their career prospects. Finally, our multidisciplinary network offers a unique opportunity to accelerate the understanding, diagnostics and therapeutics for adIRD in Europe, and to translate research findings to healthcare and society.

Mots clés : genetic and genomic variation, genome editing, stem cell biology, animal disease models, therapy development, blindness, rare disease

Participants :
- Radboud University Medical Centre (Pays-Bas) — Partner, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 548740.8 €
- Université de Gand (Belgique) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 525240.0 €
- Université Pablo de Olavide (Espagne) — Partner, associated partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
- Université de Montpellier (France) — Partner, associated partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
- Institut national de la santé et de la recherche médicale (France) — Partner, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 282693.6 €
- Université Radboud de Nimègue (Pays-Bas) — Partner, associated partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
- Conseil supérieur de la recherche scientifique (Espagne) — Partner, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 251971.2 €
- International retinitis pigmentosa association (Suisse) — Partner, associated partner, Autres, subvention : 0.0 €
- Université de Bâle (Suisse) — Partner, associated partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
- University of Campania "Luigi Vanvitelli" (Italie) — Partner, associated partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
- Gulliver biomed bv (Belgique) — Partner, associated partner, Organismes privés (hors enseignement), subvention : 0.0 €
- Université Eberhard Karl de Tübingen (Allemagne) — Partner, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 260539.2 €
- Phenopolis ltd (Royaume-Uni) — Partner, associated partner, Organismes privés (hors enseignement), subvention : 0.0 €
- Institute of Molecular Genetics (Rép. Tchèque) — Partner, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 237038.4 €
- Université Charles de Prague (Rép. Tchèque) — Partner, associated partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
- Telethon Foundation (Italie) — Partner, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 259437.6 €
- Evotec (Germany) (Allemagne) — Partner, beneficiary, Organismes privés (hors enseignement), subvention : 260539.2 €
- Fighting Blindness (Irlande) — Partner, associated partner, Autres, subvention : 0.0 €