Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-erc-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet ERC : TREATMENT (Horizon Europe, appel 2022, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : St. Anne's University Hospital Brno — Pays : Rép. Tchèque — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : FNUSA
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 150000.0 €

Excessive inflammation underlies the development of inflammatory diseases, e.g. Rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn's Disease, inflammatory bowel disease, and cardiovascular disease - the most common cause of death in the world. Human physiology is controlled by defined molecular mechanisms, commonly controlled by specific target nerves and their associated reflexes which optimize function – for example molecular mechanisms regulating inflammation. Harnessing the power of the inherent nerve reflexes which are evolutionarily adapted to regulate specific molecular mechanisms holds promise to overcome many of the drawbacks intrinsic to current drug therapies. This approach, designated “bioelectronic medicine”, presents a radically improved way to both treat and better understand disease – with increased adaptability and precision. The vagus nerve, as shown by the team in this project and other groups, plays a key role in regulating key pro-inflammatory cytokines, pro-resolving mediators, and controls inflammation. However, specific targeting of the vagus nerve has required neurosurgical implantation of a pacemaker-like stimulator device with a control unit, a connecting cable, and an electrode implanted at depth. The requirement for highly specialized surgery significantly limits the usefulness and possibilities for implementation of nerve stimulation in treatment of inflammation. Surgery and device implantation also carries risks for permanent tissue damage, local inflammation, infection, and other potentially serious complications. TREATMENT will generate a precise, non-invasive nerve stimulator that uses Temporal Interference in an ultra-thin form factor (enabling patch-based applications) that will (i) target one nerve of interest and avoid off-target stimulation, (ii) avoid surgery, (iii) simplify effective use and (iv) enable bioelectronic medicine.
Projet ERC : MagMech (Horizon Europe, appel 2022, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : CNRS Innovation — Pays : France — Rôle : Partner
Type d'entité : Organismes privés (hors enseignement)
Financement ERC de l'entité : 7000.0 €

The mechanobiology of cells and tissues plays an essential role in physiology and diseases. This emerging field at the frontier between physics, engineering and biology, heavily relies on precise and versatile devices to apply and measure mechanical forces within and around cells and tissues. However the current commercial landscape is restricted to few systems that are limited to a small range of forces and poorly compatible with large tissues and embryos. In the FORCASTER ERC Consolidator project, our team invented a magnetic tweezer system which allows to apply large calibrated forces on magnetic particles embedded within cells and tissues, or at their surface, which largely overcome the limits of the current commercially available devices. In the MagMech PoC we will: (i) perform key technological updates to improve the versatility, stability and precision of the device; (ii) Gather proof of concept data in multiple relevant tissues, organs and embryos to support its broad potential for studying the mechanobiology of cells and tissues in a variety of physiological and disease contexts and; (iii) Starting from the recent filling of a patent, perform market evaluations, including KOLs and end-users interviews, establish partnerships with different industrial sectors, as well as consider the creation of a start-up to support the commercialization of this technology in the near future. With this PoC project, we will thus assess the value proposition that the magnetic tweezer system developed in FORCASTER ERC project can be brought to the market, serving as a key alternative to the existing commercial systems, for applying and measuring forces within and around cells and tissues.
Projet ERC : ICE-MOT (Horizon Europe, appel 2022, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : Université d'Uppsala — Pays : Suède — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 150000.0 €

Climate extremes have multifarious detrimental impacts on human activities and ecosystems. Gaining a detailed understanding of these impacts is essential for disaster risk reduction and for building resilience to extremes in a changing climate. However, current freely-accessible natural hazard databases present limitations in completeness, updateability, validation against climate data and indirect impact information. This hinders scientific and practical progress. In ICE-MOT, I aim to build a state-of-the-art impact database for extreme climate events, which overcomes the above key limitations. I will specifically combine text-mining of freely available online sources, with the use of state-of-the-art climate data. To ensure feasibility, I will initially focus on English-language texts and on wintertime cold spells in North America and windstorms and heavy precipitation in Europe – extreme events which I have studied extensively in my ongoing ERC project. ICE-MOT builds upon the database of climate extremes developed within my ongoing ERC project. It further leverages the experience of my research group in data-driven and machine learning analyses for climate science. I will use this interdisciplinary knowledge base to provide standardised, complete and automatically updateable spatio-temporal impact information, including indirect and/or cascading impacts, and quantify the climate conditions associated with the recorded impacts. Moreover, the database’s automated data extraction and processing pipeline will make it easily scalable to multiple regions and climate extremes. This effort is timely: the recent EU strategy on adaptation to climate change explicitly seeks to “gather more and better data on climate-related risks and losses” as a key adaptation tool. Moreover, the climate extremes data gathered in my ongoing ERC project provides a perfect basis to test the innovative idea underlying the ICE-MOT database, an opportunity which should be rapidly exploited.
Projet ERC : 3DTUMOUR (Horizon Europe, appel 2023, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : Centre for Cooperative Research in Biomaterials — Pays : Espagne — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 150000.0 €

Cancer and tumours are exceptionally heterogeneous in tissue and cellular composition, clinical stage, and mutational status. Additionally, the presence of multiple cancers or metastatic tumours in patients leads to complicated drug regimens resulting in high off-target toxicity, unexpected drug resistance and difficulties in understanding the therapeutic effects.  Despite a global investment in oncological drug development reaching 5 bn USD, less than 5% of all oncological drugs in the pipeline enter the therapy toolbox. Given the huge burden that cancer poses at all levels in society - leading cause of mortality worldwide, expected to reach 20 M deaths by 2050- technologies that enable pharmaceutical companies to increase the efficiency of drug development may alleviate the threat imposed to the more than 50 M people currently living with cancer.  Such technologies include pre-clinical models that represent the tumour microenvironment and reveal the effect of drug candidates in laboratory tumour replicas. To provide clinically relevant information, such models must be patient specific and represent simultaneously the specificity of the target tissue and the cell heterogeneity of the tumour microenvironment. In addition, to be industrially relevant, they must be implementable, reproducible and high throughput. Commercially available solutions do not meet these requirements.  3DTUMOUR provides a proprietary technology to produce multiple 3D bioprinted replicas of patient-derived tumour models that faithfully represent the therapeutic target for a drug candidate. 3DTUMOUR aims at increasing the drug development success rate by transferring to industry this pharmaceutical testing platform. The successful outcome of this PoC will provide clinicians with a tool to test the efficacy of drugs ex vivo, accelerating the onset of efficient treatments and reducing off-target toxicity and unexpected drug resistance by applying a personalized-medicine approach.
Projet ERC : SuspensionFlow (Horizon Europe, appel 2023, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : Université rhénane Frédéric-Guillaume de Bonn — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 150000.0 €

Within ERC Starting Grant “Mech-Evo-Insect”, we have identified a new principle to filter small particles such as microplastics from water. This filtration principle is used in a variety of organisms but one particular example, the filtration used by suspension feeding fish, is promising to filter diverse waste waters. The idea of the PoC “SuspensionFlow” is to transfer this principle to a filtration unit which can be used in all household washing machines to reduce global microplastics emissions. SuspensionFlow will also serve to further patent relevant discoveries based on the filtration used by suspension feeding fish.
Projet ERC : Giga2u (Horizon Europe, appel 2023, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : Université de la Ruhr à Bochum — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 150000.0 €

Femtosecond lasers are ubiquitous tools in science and industry, their widespread applications aided by their increasingly wide commercial availability. However, most femtosecond lasers operate at a wavelength of around 1µm, which hinders many potential new uses. In the last years, there is an increased interest in longer wavelengths, in particular the wavelength region between 2-3 µm, however only very few laser systems exist in the laser market at these wavelengths. This wavelength region has large potential for many fields in material processing, laser surgery, gas sensing; as well as in a variety of scientific applications, such as spectroscopy. In this project, we propose to explore the market potential of a femtosecond laser system based on a new laser gain material demonstrated in the context of our ERC St.G Project, that operates in this wavelength region with record high average power and short pulse durations. The unique parameter set this laser offers at this wavelength has the potential to disrupt material processing applications; and this project aims at validating the potential of the laser for this market.
Projet ERC : BasicFit (Horizon Europe, appel 2022, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : Vlaams Instituut voor Biotechnologie — Pays : Belgique — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : VIB
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 150000.0 €

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is one of the most aggressive and lethal cancer types. It is virtually resistant to any sort of therapy, including the most recent immunotherapies. These tumors are characterized by a strong hypoxic, nutrient poor, and acidic tumor microenvironment (TME), in which cytotoxic CD8+ T cells are excluded or absent. In the context of tumor acidity, the role of bicarbonate transporters, key regulators of pH homeostasis, has mostly been neglected so far. Supported by the ERC consolidator grant ImmunoFit, we recently unveiled that the metabolic editing of the TME via inhibition of a specific bicarbonate transporter in cancer cells represent a novel robust therapeutic strategy to mitigate the acidity of the TME, increase the fitness of CD8+ T cells, and render more effective the current immunotherapeutic regimens in pancreatic cancer. To progress on the path from ground-breaking research towards innovation we now propose to de-risk the target by delivering early lead compounds (i.e., blockers) with proven therapeutic efficacy and synergism with immunotherapies in several preclinical tumor models, to be valorized for add-on cancer therapy through follow-up R&D collaborations and/or licensing agreements with Pharmaceutical & Biotech companies. This will lead to the commercialization of our sciences and broad societal impact with the deliverable of a brand-new therapeutic approach and combination regimens which are urgently required to tackle tumor resistance or refractoriness vis-à-vis immunotherapies.
Projet ERC : EPIBLAST (Horizon Europe, appel 2025, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : Université de Padoue — Pays : Italie — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : UniPd
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 110000.0 €

Drug teratogenicity, namely the potential of a drug to cause birth defects, is a major concern for anyone becoming pregnant. The infamous Thalidomide case in the 1960s raised public awareness of this issue. Notably, only about 30% of embryos successfully implant during early development, but the reasons for this low rate remain unclear. Nobody knows if this is due to the teratogenic effects of common drugs, or a lack of essential nutrients needed for development, similar to how folate is used to support proper nervous system development. There is a significant gap in our understanding of drug teratogenicity because pregnant women are excluded from clinical trials, and preclinical animal studies have limitations due to ethical concerns and differences between species. This gap leaves the effects of many drugs on early human development uncertain. As a result, many potentially beneficial medications are often discontinued during pregnancy, despite the lack of strong scientific evidence to justify such decisions. The goal of this Proof of Concept is to develop a fully automated 3D in vitro model that replicates the first 14 days of human development. Using human pluripotent stem cells, during the ERC Starting grant, we have created a chemically defined and efficient 3D model that accurately mimics peri- and post-implantation stages, including the formation of the epiblast epithelium, primitive streak, and amniotic cavity. We now aim to validate and automate this model for rapid, high-throughput assessment of drug teratogenicity. By accurately simulating human development, enabling high-throughput screening, and reducing reliance on animal testing, our model addresses critical gaps in current testing methods. This innovative approach could lead to the identification of supplements that improve pregnancy success rates and ensure safer medication use during pregnancy, ultimately benefiting patients, healthcare providers, and regulatory agencies.
Projet ERC : REACT (Horizon Europe, appel 2023, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : Institut Pasteur — Pays : France — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 150000.0 €

Cancer immunotherapies have shown impressive success in cancer treatment. However, these therapies are limited to certain type of cancers, and success rate is still low. In particular, certain types of solid tumors containing an abundant stroma, which represent a majority of epithelial derived cancer, respond very poorly to immunotherapies. In these tumors, a major challenge for the development of novel cancer immunotherapies is represented by the tumor microenvironment (TME), a highly hypoxic and immunosuppressive environment which prevents proper tumor infiltration and functioning of effector immune cells. Recent discoveries identified tumor-activated mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) developing within the TME, and showed that they represent a major brake for efficient antitumor immunity in solid tumors. In this project, we will investigate the potential of a novel approach and therapeutic avenue to target specific populations of MSCs within the TME, and determine the synergistic effect with immunotherapies to improve treatment efficacy in solid tumors. In the long term, this project aims at overcoming a major barrier in utilizing cancer immunotherapies in solid tumors.
Projet ERC : MetaIron (Horizon Europe, appel 2022, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : Vlaams Instituut voor Biotechnologie — Pays : Belgique — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : VIB
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 150000.0 €

Metastasis formation is the leading cause of death in cancer patients. Thus, there is an unmet need for drugs that can prevent and/or treat systemic metastases. We have discovered that breast cancer cells rely on a solute carrier (SLC) transporter for metastasis formation in lung and liver. Interestingly, systemic inhibition of this SLC transporter using a therapeutic modality has likely a favorable toxicity profile because knockout mice are viable and have very few and minor phenotypic changes. Therefore, we hypothesize that targeting the SLC transporter can be exploited to inhibit metastatic growth. To valorize this SLC transporter as a drug target, we will 1. Perform a detailed mechanistic analysis of its function in samples from breast cancer patients; 2. Define the efficacy profile of the inhibition of this SLC transporter against systemic metastasis in mouse models; 3. Translate the SLC transporter inhibition beyond breast cancer; 4. Determine the efficacy and safety of targeting metastatic patient-derivedxenograft (PDX) with anti-sense oligonucleotides (ASOs) against this SLC transporter and 5. Delineate a strategy to define small molecule inhibitors against the SLC transporter. To do so, we will apply multiplex immunohistochemistry in samples from breast cancer patients and perform state-of-the-art metastasis assays in allograft, xenograft and PDX mouse models. Thus, we will deliver a comprehensive evaluation of the SLC transporter as drug target for treating metastases.
Projet ERC : TREM2MICROENGINES (Horizon Europe, appel 2022, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : Université de Padoue — Pays : Italie — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : UniPd
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 150000.0 €

The project TREM2MICROENGINES aims at demonstrating that raising and restoring TREM2 expression in the brain of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and Nasu–Hakola disease (NHD) patients, and in particular in their microglia, would result in therapeutic benefit. AD is a severe neurodegenerative disorder that represents the most frequent form of dementia among the elderly which affects approximately 5.1 million Americans and this number is supposedly tripled by 2050. AD is believed to result from the deposition of extracellular amyloid-β (Aβ)-containing plaques. TREM2-Triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells 2 is a microglia cell-surface receptor whose deficiency or haplo-insufficiency augments Aβ accumulation due to a dysfunctional response of cells, which become apoptotic. Homozygous, loss-of-function mutations in TREM2 also cause the autosomal recessive disorder NHD, a ultra-rare inherited disease of the white matter (WM) with typical onset in the adult age, and patho-physiologically characterized by microglial dysfunction (microgliopathy). The key clinical feature of NHD is progressive presenile dementia usually leading to death in the fifth decade of life NHD patients also lack curative treatments. A relevant proportion of AD cases and all forms of NHD are caused by pathogenic mutations in the Trem2 gene which lead to microglia dysfunction contributing to and/or causing the onset and manifestations of AD and NHD. Based on this provision, our working hypothesis is that transplantation of HSCs engineered by LVs to express robust TREM2 levels in response to tissue damage in CNS-engrafted myeloid/microglia cells would modulate neuroinflammation, restore physiological microglia functions and contribute preventing and reducing Aβ accumulation in the CNS of AD and NHD patients. No existing approaches currently allow targeting microglia dysfunction in AD or in NHD, nor at enhancing microglia specific function through a microglia-targeted TREM2 delivery/engineering.
Projet ERC : RAS-AlphaTAC (Horizon Europe, appel 2023, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : Vlaams Instituut voor Biotechnologie — Pays : Belgique — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : VIB
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 150000.0 €

The RAS pathway is the most frequently activated signaling node in human cancer. Activating KRAS mutations are found in approximately one in seven human cancers. KRAS signaling is also activated in a significant subset of human cancers that lack KRAS mutations. Targeting KRAS has been a central goal during the past four decades, and the efforts have intensified over the past years, ignited by the approval of the KRAS-G12C inhibitors. A targeted KRAS degradation approach is an attractive solution for blocking KRAS activity, and within the Ub-RASDisease project, we explored the degradability of wild-type and mutant KRAS proteins. In parallel, my group initiated studies to combine the Alphabody technology with the targeted protein degradation approach by designing an AlphaTAC as a novel therapeutic modality. The goal of this project is to generate and pre-clinically validate AlphaTACs targeting KRAS for degradation. This will strengthen the Proof of concept on the AlphaTAC utility in targeted protein degradation and provide support for establishing a proprietary platform in view of the creation of a new spin-off company.
Projet ERC : BED-TEM (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : Université de technologie de Darmstadt — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 150000.0 €

The proposed project, Bayesian Experimental Design for in situ (Scanning) Transmission Electron Microscopy (BED-TEM), addresses challenges in conducting in situ (S)TEM experiments, particularly in selecting optimal stimuli parameters. While recent advancements in microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) have expanded stimulus options, determining appropriate values remains elusive, often relying on time-consuming trial and error. The project aims to introduce a software platform integrating Bayesian experimental design with (S)TEM image analysis, facilitating efficient parameter selection. This platform comprises user interface, image processing, and experimental design modules, offering streamlined workflow and enhanced usability. Leveraging expertise in machine learning and (S)TEM, the project seeks to bridge the gap between complex experimental setups and practical application of Bayesian methods. The envisioned breakthrough lies in transforming offline, iterative parameter determination into an online, iterative process, revolutionizing how in situ experiments are conducted and accelerating materials research and development. The project also poses high risks, particularly in adapting machine learning to (S)TEM data and ensuring market demand for the proposed software. However, mitigation strategies include iterative development, collaboration with experts, and continuous user feedback to align the solution with customer needs and commercial viability. Ultimately, BED-TEM promises to reshape materials science by enabling precise characterization of material behaviors at the nanoscale under real-world conditions, with potential applications spanning electronics, aerospace, and beyond.

Mots-clés : bayesian,microscopy