Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-erc-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet ERC : AEROTARG (Horizon Europe, appel 2022, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : Technion - Institut de technologie d'Israël — Pays : Israël — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 150000.0 €

The pulmonary tract is an attractive route for direct treatments of lung diseases. Yet, our ability to confine the deposition of inhalation aerosols to specific lung regions, and notably local airways, remains still widely beyond reach with common inhalation therapy. It has been hypothesized that by coupling magnetic particles to inhaled therapeutics the ability to locally target airway sites can be substantially improved. Yet, virtually all practical implementations to date have come short of delivering efficient localized airway targeting. Here, we demonstrate an engineered inhalation framework to leverage magnetically-loaded aerosols for airway targeting in the presence of a custom-designed external magnetic field. By coupling the delivery of a short pulsed bolus of sub-micron (~500 nm diameter) droplet aerosols, laden with super-paramagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPION), with a custom ventilation machine that tracks the volume of air inhaled past the bolus, focused targeting can be maximized during a breath-hold manoeuvre. Our aerosol inhalation platform allows for the first time to deposit inhaled particles to specific airway sites while minimizing superfluous deposition across the respiratory track. This represents a dramatic effort to augment the targeting efficiency (i.e. deposition ratio between targeted and untargeted aerosols). Our first application of focus is aimed at lung cancer. We aim to achieve point targeted delivery of chemotherapeutics directly to lung tumours and lesions through inhalation, thus increasing effective doses and dramatically reducing side effects, in particular relative to detrimental systemic toxicity. AEROTARG embodies a significant paradigm shift in drug delivery modalities aimed for lung cancer therapy.
Projet ERC : 3D-Optics (Horizon Europe, appel 2022, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : Technion - Institut de technologie d'Israël — Pays : Israël — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 150000.0 €

Diffractive Optical Elements (DOEs) are used to shape the wavefront of incident light in complex patterns, and are ubiquitous across optical applications, ranging from laser processing through lithography to communication and imaging. Despite their popularity, fabricating DOEs is non-trivial, mostly due to their nanoscale-precision requirements, necessitating highly precise, expensive and cumbersome fabrication methods (typically using photolithography), which are also limited in the design flexibility they allow. During the PI’s ERC-StG, we developed a method to enable simple, fast, and high-quality fabrication of DOEs, by combining 3D printing with near-index matching by liquid-immersion. This results in DOEs comparable in performance to the state-of-the art, yet manufactured at a fraction of the cost and time. Still, at this point, these DOEs need to be immersed in a small liquid-containing chamber to operate, which prevents mass adoption of the technique by the market. Hence the main goals of this PoC: We will adapt our 3D-printing based near-index matching technique to yield fully solid DOEs, fabricate and demonstrate several proof-of-concept industry-relevant elements, and explore various strategies to bring our technique to the market. Our technology has the potential to transform the world of DOE fabrication by drastically simplifying the fabrication process, shifting the relevant scales from weeks to hours, from thousands of dollars to a few dollars per element, and finally – alleviating the need for a cleanroom environment, which will significantly democratize the process of DOE fabrication, making it available in low-resource settings.
Projet ERC : TRIXi (Horizon Europe, appel 2025, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : Linkopings universitet holding ab — Pays : Suède — Rôle : Partner
Acronyme de l'entité : LIU HOLDING AB
Type d'entité : Organismes privés (hors enseignement)
Financement ERC de l'entité : 90000.0 €

Disease-causing mutations on the X-chromosome (‘X-linked’ disorders) typically only affect men. However, due to a genetic phenomenon called skewed X-inactivation (sXCI), thousands of girls and women in Europe also develop serious and often life-threatening X-linked disorders every year. As there is no reliable test for sXCI in humans, women carrying mutations are typically unaware of their risk, and when symptoms do develop, diagnosis is delayed. We have developed a method for quick, cheap and accurate detection of sXCI; Tandem Repeat-based Identification of X-chromosome Inactivation (TRiXi). We will take TRiXi from a cutting-edge research method to an in vitro diagnostic test for sXCI in female carriers of X-linked mutations. Following requests from clinical colleagues, TRiXi has been used to assess disease risk or confirm diagnoses for multiple life-threatening X-linked disorders in patients from Clinical Genetics Units across Sweden, confirming its real-world clinical utility and the unmet need for a standardized assay for sXCI in the clinic. TRiXi has additional commercial potential as a Research Use Only test kit to serve the large and expanding field of research into female medical health. I have filed a priority patent application for TRiXi, joined the business incubator at Linköping University, and assembled a team with expertise in business, patenting, and regulatory affairs to successfully translate my innovation. Over 1 million women are carriers of mutations for serious X-linked disorders, in Europe alone. This represents a large patient population requiring a better standard of care, that can be delivered by TRiXi, and a significant and largely untapped commercial potential. Over the next 18 months, we plan to: (i) establish a regulatory strategy for each market path, (ii) validate the unmet need through thorough market verification, (iii) continue IP protection, and (iv) finalize technical improvements/tests to prepare TRiXi for commercialization.
Projet ERC : Fluidic Lens Maker (Horizon Europe, appel 2025, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : Technion - Institut de technologie d'Israël — Pays : Israël — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 150000.0 €

In this PoC we propose to develop the Fluidic Lens Maker - a device which will enable rapid, wasteless, and automated end-to-end fabrication of ophthalmic lenses (i.e. vision correction eyeglasses), without relying on complex and expensive infrastructure or elaborate supply chains. The Fluidic Lens Maker will be based on a technology that we have developed as part of our ERC project ‘Fluidic Shaping’, which allows to shape curable liquids into high-quality optics by utilizing the surface tension of the liquid. The lenses are produced in minutes and have an outstanding surface quality without the need for any machining or post-processing. The method provides a reduction of >90% in material waste, which translates to major reductions in the overall cost of the lens. During this PoC we will:  1. Develop full automation of the fabrication steps, which are currently done manually, making the fabrication process independent of the environmental conditions or of the skill level of its operator, thus allowing to improve precision and consistency of the resulting lenses.  2. Explore new materials, both commercially available and specially designed, that are particularly well suited for ophthalmic applications and are compatible with our approach.  3. Test the quality of the resulting lenses using our in-house measuring equipment, and at our industrial partners’ facilities. 4. Connect with key players in developed and developing countries, map potential strategic partners, reach out to receive inputs from VC funds, define the features of an MVP, perform a market research, and develop a preliminary business model.  The project, if successful, would pave the way to an entirely new approach for ophthalmic manufacturing that would reduce costs in the developed world and open up markets that have thus far been untapped – those of developing countries where there are currently over 1 billion people who suffer from uncorrected vision impairment and do not have access to eyewear.
Projet ERC : IPIC (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : Technion - Institut de technologie d'Israël — Pays : Israël — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 150000.0 €

In recent years, there has been a revolution in imaging, with a new generation of polarization-sensitive cameras entering mass markets. As we have found out in our ERC-Synergy project (CloudCT), there is a gap in calibrating such cameras. This leads to degraded imaging data in downstream applications, preventing such cameras from reaching their full potential. We will develop a system for modular calibration of such imagers, that would be fast, easy to use and reliable under harsh working conditions, while generalizing the imaging capabilities of previous camera generations. In our ERC-Synergy CloudCT project, we developed an automated research-grade calibration system for polarization sensitive cameras on a small scale. In the PoC project, we aim to make a system which better suits industrial operation, harnessing our expertise in software development, optomechanics and environmental control. In addition, we will explore the commercialization potential of our calibration system in relevant markets. Our calibration system will significantly enhance quality control using industrial calibrated polarimetric imagers, as used in inspection of displays, circuits, automotive sensors and airborne and spaceborne cameras.
Projet ERC : RELAI (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : Imperial College London — Pays : Royaume-Uni — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : ICL
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 150000.0 €

RELAI will design and exploit a toolbox of innovative bioelectronic technologies and surgical constructs that will enable new possibilities in neural interfacing and revolutionise the way we transduce information to and from the human body. This new class of living bioelectronics will leverage bespoke electrode arrays and electrical stimulation paradigms to guide neural regeneration within autologous surgical constructs in vivo. The reinnervated constructs are hypothesised to form living high-resolution interfaces that will enable precise modulation of somatic and autonomic functions via injured and intact nerves. This innovative class of biohybrid interfaces will enable a broad array of applications ranging from the treatment of chronic conditions (such as diabetes) to the enhanced operation of advanced neuroprostheses, and the realisation of supraphysiological sensing.

Mots-clés : biohybrid interfaces,peripheral nerve interfaces,neural regeneration,living bioelectronics,neuromodulation,surgical constructs,bionics
Projet ERC : NARRATE (Horizon Europe, appel 2023, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : Leibniz-Gemeinschaft — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : WLG
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 150000.0 €

Rapid care tests and patient-oriented bedsite testing, termed as point of care (POC) testing, have proven unanticipated relevance for the fast detection and containment of the pathogen in the course of the corona pandemic. We have developed RNA aptamer based sensors as a basis for a novel rapid care test. The sensor will give a florescent signal once the target molecule attaches to its aptameric site. The sensor as the main component of a novel POC test will be produced by a cheap and scalable biotechnological synthesis. The unique selling points of our invention are the cheap and scalable production of the sensor molecule and the high flexibility in terms of analytes that can be covered by aptamers. To proof our concept and to demonstrate the applicability of our aptamer sensors we will choose the avian influenza virus as an use case, based on the high relevance of this disease in veterinary medicine and its perception as a high risk disease for the next human pandemic. Our test will comply with the ASSURED criteria of the WHO: affordability, sensitivity, specificity, user friendliness, rapid and robust, equipment-free and deliverable to end-users Our aim is to establish a RNA aptamer based sensor as a basis for a cheap single-use test according to the ASSURED criteria. In this action, we will establish the applicability of our highly sensitive and selective RNA based sensor. We will devolop a prototype of a POC test and test the novel sensor principle under laboratory and environmental conditions. In addition, we will analyse the market and patent situation and the stepstones to be taken for an approval by the European authorities. We will finally establish our own IPR position as a basis for the further road-to-the-market.
Projet ERC : Peptide Tracers (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : Université de Vienne — Pays : Autriche — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : Uni Wien
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 150000.0 €

Breast cancer impacts one in eight women globally, resulting in over half a million deaths each year. Current diagnostic methods fall short, with ~40% of breast cancers having already spread at the time of diagnosis and mammography often producing high rates of false positives. Additionally, there is a lack of reliable tools for monitoring treatment responses, tracking recurrences, or providing real-time tumour visualisation to aid surgical tumour removal.  This project addresses these challenges by developing theranostic peptide tracers targeting the oxytocin receptor (OTR), a promising new target for imaging, diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer. OTR is highly overexpressed in primary breast cancers, including metastatic and triple-negative cases, which remain difficult to treat. Our team has successfully developed potent, OTR-specific peptide tracers capable of visualising OTR in cells and tissues. Building on this progress, the project will refine and expand the design of these tracers and provide proof-of-concept data that they can be used to efficiently visualise and remove breast tumours.  Expected outcomes include theranostic tracers that can enhance breast tumour detection, support breast-conserving surgical tumour removal, and targeted radiotherapy, including subtypes that currently do not have targeted approaches. This combined approach of improved detection and targeted therapy has the scope to considerably enhance patient care, treatment options, and survival rates while reducing healthcare costs. The development of these tracers, supported by preclinical data and intellectual property protection, is expected to attract further investments and foster industry partnerships to accelerate clinical translation.

Mots-clés : peptide tracers,theranostics,cancer,pharmacology,medicinal chemistry
Projet ERC : ArcHealth (Horizon Europe, appel 2023, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : Université de Vienne — Pays : Autriche — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : Uni Wien
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 110000.0 €

Beside Bacteria and fungi, Archaea, the "third domain of life" have been described as a stable component of the human microbiome. Yet, only few archaea have so far been isolated from humans. The project aims to demonstrate that a fundamentally new product, derived from archaea, revolutionizing current standards of treatments for human health, can be developed from our initial breakthrough achievement, the cultivation of these archaea. The benefits of using archaea derived from human bodies, promise a sustainable, safe and beneficial treatment in the future.
Projet ERC : 5G-Spin (Horizon Europe, appel 2022, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : Université de Vienne — Pays : Autriche — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : Uni Wien
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 150000.0 €

Our everyday life is unimaginable without wireless information and communication technologies. Since 2019, 5G digital systems offer improved speed, bandwidth, and decreased energy consumption. Mobile operators invest $160 billion worldwide in the deployment of 5G each year. Over the last decades, RF filters based on Surface Acoustic Wave (SAW) occupied the entire market. But their usage for 5G high-band (26 GHz in EU) is impossible. Moreover, the utilisation of Bulk Acoustic Waves (BAWs) is still left to be explored due to their significant damping, challenges with confinement, and complex fabrication. The solution is offered by the propagating excitation in the spin system of a solid magnetic body - Spin Waves (SWs), which can efficiently replace acoustic waves in the RF devices for all frequency bands. The key advantages of SWs are: (i) frequency range from 1GHz up to hundreds of GHz, (ii) manufacturability of SW transducers using conventional photolithography, (iii) strong confinement of SWs, and (iv) additional nonlinear functionalities. The ERC StG MagnonCircuits finished with utmost success (40 articles) and delivered the methodology and know-how for fabrication and characterisation of magnonic nano-structures; explored SW physical properties in them; and identified robust, reliable, and efficient phenomena for applications. In the 5G-Spin project, I will develop fully functioning, bias field-free, and industry-ready SW-based RF filters and multiplexers for mid- and high-band 5G communication systems.
Projet ERC : MultiCloneSeq (Horizon Europe, appel 2023, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : Université hébraïque de Jérusalem — Pays : Israël — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : HUJI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 150000.0 €

Cancer led to one in six death worlds wildly. By nature, cancer is characterized by abnormal and uncontrolled cellular growth caused primarily by genetic mutations. Despite of the high cellular heterogeneity, only a small number of somatic mutations shown to be directly associated with tumorigenesis, hence driving cancer growth. The first hurdle in the cancer diagnosis is to identify these rare populations that have the potential to develop drug resistance. A second hurdle is to be able to associate mutations in the genetic level to the RNA expression level, which will improve the chance of pinpointing a specific mutation with the relevant activity. Therefore, it is of crucial importance to develop a single-cell multi-omics sequencing tool to simultaneously study the heterogeneity of expression and DNA-based regulation of cancer-associated genes. Recently, several multi-omics tools have emerged that allow for the interrogation of both gene expression and open chromatin regions. However, there are some notable limitations constrain the capability and applicability of these tools: 1) The expensive and disposable apparatuses and reagents of these methods is extremely expensive, and thus limits their extensive application and potential as a diagnosis tool; 2) The transcriptome derived from all these technologies only captures the 3 ' RNA termini of polyadenylated transcripts. It excludes the capture of non-polyadenylated transcripts which plays a vital role in cancer development, and the interrogation of somatic mutation from full length RNA. (3) The low input of single-cell material leads to the sparse data. To overcome these hurdles, our novel technology is based on three methods that we have developed leveraging the power of microfluidics: 1. single-clone sequencing, 2.Full-length RNA, and 3. A cost efffective open chromatin extraction method. MultiCloneSeq will be the first method providing low-cost and full-scale multiomic profiling with high resolution.
Projet ERC : WOKEGATE (Horizon Europe, appel 2022, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : Leibniz-Gemeinschaft — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : WLG
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 150000.0 €

Severe neuronal disorders such as dementia affect more than 1 billion people globally and account for economic burden far exceeding that of cancer. Our only chance of treating dementia is improving our understanding of how brains function at diverse levels of complexity. This will only be possible through better technologies, which already reflects in synchronised actions worldwide, such as the US Brain Initiative and EU Human Brain project. The origin ERC project LIFEGATE has developed minimally invasive (hair-thin) endoscopes for advanced applications in neuroscience, and brought about a solid route to their commercial outreach. The instruments rely on state-of-the-art digital holographic methods combined with high-performance computing. They offer uniquely detailed observations in unprecedented depths of living, yet anaesthetized, animal models, making them particularly suitable to studies of connectivity of neuronal cells inside their natural environment. This proposal, entitled WOKEGATE, represents a powerful extension of this concept, enabling imaging-informed, single-cell specific activity monitoring and control of deep neuronal circuits in fully awake and behaving animals. The prospect is centred around a novel M3CF fibre probes which emerged within the origin ERC project LIFEGATE, outside its proposed research agenda. The project aims for (i) necessary technological amendments to incorporate this opportunity into the holographic endoscope geometries, (ii) a direct verification of this prospect in in-vivo studies through the network of existing research partners and (iii) paving the way for commercial translation of such empowered scientific instrumentation. Successful acquisition and execution of the WOKEGATE will enable future perspectives of this promising technology through new opportunities such as the EIC Accelerator grant.
Projet ERC : STEDGate (Horizon Europe, appel 2023, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : Leibniz-Gemeinschaft — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : WLG
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 50000.0 €

Neurological disorders have emerged as a significant global societal burden, exemplified by afflictions like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, impacting over one billion individuals globally and surpassing the combined economic burden of cancer and diabetes. This has spurred a concerted global effort, with increased support for neuroscience research. These disorders often target deep brain regions and profoundly influence the structural connectivity of neuronal cells within functional circuits. Synapses, where neurons exchange information, exhibit plasticity, altering information transmission efficiency, shape, and position. Understanding the mechanisms underlying these structural changes, especially in neuronal circuits, remains limited in both healthy and affected individuals. The ERC PoC project STEDGate seeks to advance our understanding of neuronal connectivity and plasticity by developing STED-enabled holographic endo-nanoscopy for neuroscience. This ground-breaking technology promises atraumatic nanoscale in-vivo imaging of deep brain structures reaching depths up to 5 mm beneath the brain's surface. Collaborating with the start-up endeavour DeepEn, the team aims to facilitate the commercial transition of this technology. Making deep-tisue nanoscopy available globally will revolutionize our ability to monitor and understand neurological disorders and, ultimately, offer new avenues for intervention and treatment..