Projet mtFOIE GRAS (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2016)
Action : Staff Exchanges
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD), including its more pathologic consequence, non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), is believed to be the most common chronic liver disease worldwide, affecting between 6 to 37% of the population. NAFLD is a so called ‘silent killer’, as clinical symptoms only surface at late stages of the disease, when it is no longer treatable: untreated, NAFLD/NASH can lead to cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma, culminating in liver failure. Currently the best method of diagnosing and staging the disease is liver biopsy, a costly, invasive and somewhat risky procedure, not to mention unfit for routine assessment. Besides, no therapeutic consensus exists for NAFLD/NASH treatment. mtFOIE GRAS (Foie Gras being French for "fat liver") proposes to address the pressing need for non-invasive, accurate, rapid assessment of NAFLD/NASH stages, before and after intervention, through the development of biomarkers and innovative tools to follow mitochondrial (mt) dysfunction, a central mediator of fatty liver disease pathogenesis. This promising R&D strategy will also bring new knowledge about the disease mechanisms and improved understanding of the pathogenic process and disease drivers. To that end, mtFOIE GRAS envisages a training-through-work plan that brings together an intersectoral, multidisciplinary team of researchers and technicians experts in their fields, from basic to translational research, clinical practice, technology commercialization and public advocacy. Together with several PhD students, the team will share expertises and work synergistically along the value creation chain to address the unmet medical need of more informative NAFLD assessment. In the process, mtFOIE GRAS will endow the involved staff with excellent scientific knowledge and transferable skills while building and strengthening intersectoral cooperation among partners, thus contributing to EU RD&I excellence.

Mots clés : non alcoholic fatty liver disease, metabolism, mitochondria, diagnostic tools, biomarker, new therapies, value creation, staff mobility, technology transfer

Participants :
- University of Bari Aldo Moro (Italie) — Partner, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 67500.0 €
- Clade gmbh (Allemagne) — Partner, beneficiary, Organismes privés (hors enseignement), subvention : 0.0 €
- Associacao Protectora dos Diabeticos de Portugal (Portugal) — Partner, beneficiary, Autres, subvention : 72000.0 €
- University of Porto (Portugal) — Partner, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 22500.0 €
- Spanish National Research Council (Espagne) — Partner, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 0.0 €
- Mediagnost gesellschaft fur forschung und herstellung von diagnostika gmbh (Allemagne) — Partner, beneficiary, Organismes privés (hors enseignement), subvention : 31500.0 €
- University of Lisbon (Portugal) — Partner, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 18000.0 €
- Helmholtz Zentrum München (Allemagne) — Partner, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 31500.0 €
- Oroboros instruments gmbh (Autriche) — Partner, beneficiary, Organismes privés (hors enseignement), subvention : 4500.0 €
- University of Coimbra (Portugal) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 126000.0 €
- Polish Academy of Sciences (Pologne) — Partner, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 13500.0 €
- University of London (Royaume-Uni) — Partner, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 31500.0 €
- National Research Council (Italie) — Partner, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 36000.0 €