Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Protecting the food chain from prions: shaping European priorities through basic and applied research (PRIORITY)

Framework: FP7 — Cooperation
Programme: Food, Agriculture and Fisheries, and Biotechnology
Destination: Fork to farm: Food (including seafood), health and well being
Action type: Collaborative project
Countries involved: Spain,Switzerland,Germany,France,Netherlands,Spain,Germany,Israel,Sweden,United Kingdom,Germany,Spain,United Kingdom,Norway,Slovakia,Italy,Netherlands,Germany,Germany
Call:  (FP7-KBBE-2007-2A, 2007)
Start date: 2009-10-01
End date: 2014-09-30
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 7904904.6
EU funding (EUR): 5999499.0
Participants: 21
Project status: CLOSED

Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) started, 20 years ago, a devastating health and food crisis throughout Europe. Classical BSE is now under control as a result of the meat and bone meal ban. However, tonsil analyses suggest that there may be an alarmingly high number of asymptomatic PrPSc positive cases. Transmission through blood transfusion is another important concern, as are recent “atypical cases” of BSE. Only a profound understanding of the molecular biology of prions will enable us to control them. Thus, to understand why BSE-contaminated food causes vCJD, we need to understand how prions get into food, what happens with them in the gut, how they reach the brain, and how they initiate the chain reaction rapidly leading to death. We have formulated 7 key questions: 1) How can we avoid a new BSE outbreak, or other possible future prion infection of livestock? 2) Why did decontamination of meat and bone meal fail; is there an effective way to decontaminate feedstuffs, soil etc? 3) What is the risk of humans being infected with each of the different prion strains known thus far? 4) Which are the best strategies to implement feasible prion eradication programs? 5) How can we develop a pre-clinical prion blood test? 6) How can we identify human cases with potential secondary transmission? And 7) What is the origin of atypical human CJD cases? We will search for decisive data on the structure of PrPSc, the molecular basis of strains and species barriers, the mechanism of prion conversion, the cell biology of PrPSc, the function of PrPC, and the mechanisms of PrP-associated pathology. This information will be translated into a better estimation of current exposure risk to humans from TSE, evaluation of current intervention strategies, and development of improved decontamination techniques and prion tests. With all this, we will be able to respond to the questions formulated and thus advise the EC on TSE policy for the protection of European consumers..

Keywords: consumer protection,decontamination,ec tse policy,prions,species barrier,strains,tses,vcjd,preclinical prion test,prpsc
Restorative Plasticity At Corticostriatal Excitatory Synapses (REPLACES)

Framework: FP7 — Cooperation
Programme: Health
Destination: Translating research for human health
Action type: Collaborative project
Countries involved: Italy,Germany,France,United Kingdom,Sweden,Spain,United Kingdom,Belgium,Switzerland
Call:  (FP7-HEALTH-2007-B, 2007)
Start date: 2008-11-01
End date: 2013-04-30
Duration (months): 54.0
Total project cost (EUR): 5454740.41
EU funding (EUR): 4219766.0
Participants: 12
Project status: CLOSED

Long-lasting, activity-dependent synaptic changes are thought to underlie the ability of the brain to translate experiences into memories and seem to represent the cellular model underlying learning and memory processes. Alteration of brain plasticity may lead to the motor and cognitive disturbances observed in neurodegenerative diseases. Therapeutic approaches targeting synaptic plasticity could prevent neuronal degeneration and restore altered motor and cognitive functions. Long-term synaptic plasticity, long-term potentiation and long-term depression, are widely expressed at excitatory synapses throughout the brain and have both been described at corticostriatal connections, at which they might underlie motor-skill learning, cognitive performance and reward mechanisms. Unique feature of corticostriatal plasticity is the observation that the loss of these opposite forms of synaptic plasticity has been observed in experimental models of neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson’s disease (PD). REPLACES will use cortical striatal plasticity and its alterations in experimental PD to explore basic mechanisms of brain plasticity and repair and to translate the new generated knowledge into novel restorative therapeutic approaches. The long-term efficacy of new treatments for PD will be conditioned by their ability to restore, structurally and functionally, the synaptic wiring of striatal neurons and physiological synaptic plasticity. REPLACES addresses the potential restorative effects of either novel pharmacological treatments or neuronal transplants on the corticostriatal microcircuitry. Since chronic treatment with DA precursor L-DOPA induces in the majority of PD patients a maladaptative plasticity causing dyskinesia, innovative strategies should prevent the development of this disabling condition. REPLACES will characterize corticostriatal synaptic plasticity from molecular aspects to clinical neurophysiology involving behavioural and morphological analysis.

Keywords: synaptic plasticity,corticostriatal network,neurodegeneration,restorative approach
European Network for Advanced Research on Olfaction for Malaria Transmitting Insect Control (ENAROMATIC)

Framework: FP7 — Cooperation
Programme: Health
Destination: Translating research for human health
Action type: Collaborative project
Countries involved: Greece,Nigeria,France,United Kingdom,Switzerland,Germany,Germany,Italy,Hungary,United States
Call:  (FP7-HEALTH-2007-B, 2007)
Start date: 2008-12-01
End date: 2012-11-30
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 3328130.0
EU funding (EUR): 2500000.0
Participants: 12
Project status: CLOSED

The specificity of odor recognition by Anopheles gambiae odorant binding proteins (OBPs) and odorant receptors (ORs) will be investigated and correlated with quantifiable physiological and behavioral responses. For olfactory proteins involved in the detection of human hosts, OBP-OR pairs residing in common antennal olfactory sensilla and recognizing common host-related ligands will be identified using high-throughput screening assays employing purified recombinant OBPs, reconstituted insect cell-based OR expression platforms and libraries of synthetic and natural compounds. OBP crystal-based structure determination and modeling of ligand fitting into OBP and OR ligand-binding pockets will also be carried out in order to design ligand mimetics with improved binding and functional properties. The effectiveness of newly identified ligands will be established by in vivo electrophysiological and behavioral assays on female mosquitoes. Finally, lead compounds acting as disruptors of normal olfactory and host seeking mosquito behavior but lacking mammalian cell toxicity will be tested in model sites in Africa where A. gambiae (and malaria) is endemic to determine efficacy characteristics under conditions that simulate the sites of possible application of newly developed products. This approach to dissecting mosquito vector olfactory function should yield results that will enhance our understanding of the mechanisms that control odor recognition in mosquitoes. The identification of multiple disruptors of host seeking behavior of female mosquitoes will provide multiple new and effective tools to be employed in the effort to reduce the incidence of contact between the human host and the insect vector carrying the malaria parasite. Last but not least, the outcome of the proposed studies should serve as a paradigm for analogous efforts aimed at a reduction in disease transmission by other disease-carrying insect vectors.

Keywords: malaria control,mosquito vector,anopheles gambiae,odorant binding proteins,odorant receptors,odor ligands,ligand mimetics,high throughput screening assays,ligand binding modelling
Quantitative pathway analysis of natural variation in complex disease signaling in C. elegans (PANACEA)

Framework: FP7 — Cooperation
Programme: Health
Destination: Translating research for human health
Action type: Collaborative project
Countries involved: Netherlands,United Kingdom,Switzerland,Netherlands,United Kingdom
Call:  (FP7-HEALTH-2007-B, 2007)
Start date: 2009-01-01
End date: 2013-03-31
Duration (months): 51.0
Total project cost (EUR): 3875060.0
EU funding (EUR): 2801230.0
Participants: 5
Project status: CLOSED

Complex human diseases account for 60% of the deaths in Europe. The genetic variation – that is the genetic make-up of all alleles at all loci - of complex disease pathways determines individual disease susceptibility and treatment prospects. Because humans are genetically diverse the EC prioritizes research which leads to a better understanding of the natural variation in genetic pathways underlying complex diseases. But for ethical reasons there is insufficient statistical power to identify these genetic mechanisms in large human populations. Therefore the extent and importance of natural variation in disease signaling pathways of complex human diseases remains largely unknown. PANACEA will investigate the influence of natural variation in genetic pathways in the worm Caenorhabditis elegans. C. elegans is an important model for the identification and characterization of genes associated with cancer in humans. Therefore PANACEA focuses on cancer signaling pathways as a prototypical example of a complex disease. The project will address two pivotal quations: i) how natural genetic variation affects complex disease signaling pathways, and ii) whether we can predict the effect of the natural genetic variation on these pathways. We will collect, store and analyse high-throughput genomic and proteomic data in genetically highly diverse populations. In conjunction with cellular developmental data we will construct a systems biology model aiming to describe and understand the effect of natural variation on cancer signaling pathways. The outcomes will provide i) an extensive data base of novel candidate genes and their genetic variation, and ii) a comprehensive systems biology analysis of how this genetic variation affects cancer development. PANACEA advances the FP6 projects ESBIC-D, CASIMIR and EURATools by providing new data and insights which will strongly benefit the field of systems biology in human health research in the EU.

Keywords: complex diseases,c. elegans,cancer,genetic variation,signaling pathways
New Approaches to Target Tuberculosis (NATT)

Framework: FP7 — Cooperation
Programme: Health
Destination: Translating research for human health
Action type: Collaborative project
Countries involved: Belgium,Germany,Sweden,United Kingdom,Germany,India
Call:  (FP7-HEALTH-2007-B, 2007)
Start date: 2008-10-01
End date: 2011-09-30
Duration (months): 36.0
Total project cost (EUR): 3938167.5
EU funding (EUR): 2994478.0
Participants: 8
Project status: CLOSED

The increasing emergence of multidrug resistant strains and extensively drug resistant strains, the last one being virtually untreatable, urgently demand novel drugs for therapy of tuberculosis. This project has the aim of bringing together a number of research scientists with expertise in a broad range of disciplines, both from Europe and from India, covering the development field from chemistry to in vivo evaluation. The selected targets belong to either the group of targets from which some proof of concept already exist (mycolic acid synthesis and ATP synthase) either to the group of completely new targets that will be validated (thymidylate synthase, acyl-CoA carboxylase, DNA helicases). One alternative strategy to target the host cellular machinery to enhance bacterial killing is, likewise, included. The selected targets are covering fatty acid metabolism, nucleoside synthesis, energy generator, the survival of the microorganism in macrophages, the nucleic acids metabolism. The systems selected include those from which we expect to generate compounds active against replicating mycobacteria or to obtain compounds targeting latent infection. The application is divided in four scientific workpackages, including target validation, the interaction with the host cellular machinery, the design and synthesis of new inhibition and in vitro and in vivo screening of drug candidates and one management workpackage. A considerable part of the drug development and assessment against drug resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis will be carried out by the Indian partners, one of which is an SME.

Keywords: mycobacterium tuberculosis,new targets inhibitors,latent infection
High yield and performance stem cell lab (HYPERLAB)

Framework: FP7 — Cooperation
Programme: Health
Destination: Biotechnology, generic tools and medical technologies for human health
Action type: Collaborative project
Countries involved: Germany,Portugal,Germany,Germany,Sweden,Chile,France,Austria,Netherlands
Call:  (FP7-HEALTH-2007-B, 2007)
Start date: 2009-09-01
End date: 2012-08-31
Duration (months): 36.0
Total project cost (EUR): 3907456.19
EU funding (EUR): 2987601.0
Participants: 9
Project status: CLOSED

The success of stem cell therapy is highly dependent on a safe and reliable supply of human stem cells and stem cell-derived differentiated cells, which must be assured by efficient and robust culture methods. Current culture of human embryonic and adult stem cells is not optimised (with regards to e.g. media, growth factors, supporting biomaterials, differentiation techniques) and is far from fulfilling the demands in terms of reproducibility and preciseness. Additionally, current methods do not allow fast screening of culture conditions for their systematic optimisation. These limitations currently slow down the development of stem cell applications and will be addressed and overcome by the Hyperlab project. To reach the overall aim of developing new and improved culture methods, media and protocols for stem cell cultivation and differentiation, Hyperlab will adapt novel microfluidics-based cell cultivation technologies to the specific needs of stem cell culture. The developed culture systems will have two major advantages over existing approaches: on the one hand, they will improve stem cell culture in terms of microenvironment control, reproducibility, robustness and efficiency. On the other hand, these microscale technologies, together with developed transgenic readout systems, will allow medium to high throughput screening of culture conditions, enabling determination of optimal protocols in shorter time. Once established, technologies, protocols and conditions will be evaluated for their upscalability and will be made GMP-compliant to form a solid basis for progress in human stem cell therapy. To implement this innovative strategy, Hyperlab follows an integrated approach, bringing together renowned experts from stem cell biology, microsystem technologies, biomaterial design and relevant regulatory bodies. Hyperlab is thus in a position to provide standardised, reproducible methods and tools to advance therapeutic stem cell research.

Keywords: stem cell culture conditions,differentiation,microscale technologies,human embryonic stem cells,adult stem cells,medium throughput screening,gmp,therapy,encapsulation,biomaterials
Signalling in life cycle stages of malaria parasites (MALSIG)

Framework: FP7 — Cooperation
Programme: Health
Destination: Translating research for human health
Action type: Collaborative project
Countries involved: France,Italy,United Kingdom,Germany,United Kingdom,Netherlands,Germany,Germany,United Kingdom,Netherlands,Italy,India
Call:  (FP7-HEALTH-2007-B, 2007)
Start date: 2009-02-01
End date: 2012-07-31
Duration (months): 42.0
Total project cost (EUR): 4078878.2
EU funding (EUR): 3000000.0
Participants: 17
Project status: CLOSED

Malaria is a major public health problem in the developing world and is endemic in many regions of India. The development of novel strategies for malaria control requires a better understanding of the biology of malaria parasites. Our project aims at bringing a significant contribution to this field, through dissecting the signalling pathways that regulate essential processes in the life cycle of malaria parasites. The proposed research will merge two lines of investigation that have thus far been conducted largely independently from each other, namely: (i) the characterisation of components of signal transduction pathways (protein kinases, nucleotide cyclases, calcium signalling mediators) in malaria parasites; (ii) the study of specific biological processes during the life cycle of malaria parasites. Merging these two fields of malaria research will ensure a high level of complementarity and synergy within the consortium. Specific workpackages will be centred on understanding signalling-dependent regulation in the following processes and stage transition within the life cycle of malaria parasites: • erythrocyte infection (invasion, parasite proliferation) • sexual development (gametocytogenesis, gametogenesis, transmission to the mosquito vector) • hepatocyte infection (invasion, parasite proliferation, egress) • membrane dynamics (trafficking, transporters) Approaches will include proteomics, reverse genetics, structural biology, and the use of animal models of malaria. The consortium is constituted of EU and Indian partners with a proven track record either in research into one of the developmental stages/processes described above, or in signal transduction in malaria parasites. The project will significantly strenghten EU-India cooperation in this highly relevant topic.

Keywords: malaria,signalling,schizogony,sporogony,erythrocyte,hepatocyte,invasion,proliferation,differentiation,phosphorylation
Combating Antibiotics Resistant Pneumococci by Novel Strategies Based on in vivo and in vitro Host – Pathogen Interactions (CAREPNEUMO)

Framework: FP7 — Cooperation
Programme: Health
Destination: Translating research for human health
Action type: Collaborative project
Countries involved: Germany,Germany,Greece,Poland,Portugal,Argentina,United Kingdom,Spain,Spain,Switzerland,India,Israel
Call:  (FP7-HEALTH-2007-B, 2007)
Start date: 2009-03-01
End date: 2012-02-29
Duration (months): 36.0
Total project cost (EUR): 3969999.0
EU funding (EUR): 2999999.0
Participants: 13
Project status: CLOSED

The diseases caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae are a major public health problem all over the world. Children, elderly people and immuno-compromised individuals are the high-risk targets for pneumococcal diseases. In spite of the availability of a large number of antibiotics the mortality and morbidity due to S. pneumoniae infections remain very high. There are two reasons for this: Firstly, the increasing antibiotic resistance among pneumococcal strains, and secondly, a current vaccine, though effective for certain serotypes, leads to serotype replacement. For the development of combat strategies it is essential to identify new intervention strategies, for which an understanding of host-pathogen interaction is a prerequisite. This proposal would apply a multi-disciplinary approach that includes epidemiology, host-pathogen interactions, infection models and intervention strategies to combat antibiotic resistant S. pneumoniae. The consortium brings together 12 research organizations and 1 SME with expertise in the above-mentioned areas. The major objectives of this consortium will be 1. monitoring of prevalent S. pneumoniae serotypes and their resistance profiles in different countries, 2. analysis of host-pathogen interactions and identification of potential therapeutic targets and vaccine candidates, 3. providing a basis for the development of improved vaccine and intervention strategies. This joint international effort would contribute towards novel control strategies, especially of antibiotic resistant S. pneumoniae strains.

Keywords: antibiotic resistance,s. pneumoniae,epidemiology,host-pathogen interaction,virulence mechanisms,vaccine
Collaborative HIV and Anti-HIV Drug Resistance Network (CHAIN)

Framework: FP7 — Cooperation
Programme: Health
Destination: Translating research for human health
Action type: Collaborative project
Countries involved: United Kingdom,Netherlands,France,Spain,United Kingdom,Italy,Denmark,France,Senegal,Slovenia,Switzerland,Sweden,Switzerland,Belgium,Germany,Spain,Belgium,Cameroon,Netherlands,Greece,Denmark,Russian Federation,Portugal
Call:  (FP7-HEALTH-2007-B, 2007)
Start date: 2009-04-01
End date: 2014-03-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 13016641.0
EU funding (EUR): 9998092.0
Participants: 28
Project status: CLOSED

CHAIN is a large scale integrating project aimed to effectively and durably combat new and existing anti-HIV drug resistance in clinical settings, with a special emphasis on Eastern Europe and in heavily affected resource-poor regions in Africa. This will be achieved through our pan-European network of surveillance and basic research activities, the involvement of all main actors in the field of HIV and anti-HIV drug resistance, monitoring how resistances develop and evolve, improved understanding of mechanisms of resistance development, performing molecular epidemiology studies, providing improved and new strategies to evaluate and limit the emergence and transmission of HIV drug resistance, setting up training and dissemination activities and supporting evidence-based public health policy and action. CHAIN brings together Europe’s leading internationally recognised scientific expertise in basic science, molecular epidemiology, bioinformatics and surveillance of HIV and HIV resistance including the WHO, strong links to Eastern Europe through the existing FP6 funded cohort network Europe HIVresistance and strategic links to relevant pan-European cohort networks and national cohort networks (PENTA/ECS, CASCADE, EuroSIDA, COHERE, ICoNa, UK-CHIC, SHCS). Our balanced programme of work is informed by optimising the synergistic skills represented by the applicants, and also through harmonising with existing initiatives, that ensures lack of duplication, but rather maximises the impact of European activities. Thus, our African and Eastern European work will be linked to WHO policy, our European surveillance studies will be guided by ECDC (through our advisory board), and our clinical research will generate questions best addressed through the NEAT clinical trial network. Finally, our partnership with the key biotechnology companies in HIV resistance will ensure maximal impact of our basis research activities.

Keywords: hiv drug resistance