Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Relating Expectations and needs to Participation and Empowerment of children in Clinical Trials. (RESPECT)

Framework: FP7 — Cooperation
Programme: Health
Destination: Other Actions across the Health Theme
Action type: Coordination and support actions
Countries involved: Sweden,Germany,Luxembourg,Slovenia,Italy,Italy,Belgium
Call:  (FP7-HEALTH-2007-A, 2007)
Start date: 2008-06-01
End date: 2011-08-31
Duration (months): 39.0
Total project cost (EUR): 560144.21
EU funding (EUR): 500000.0
Participants: 7
Project status: CLOSED

There are two objectives for this project, firstly to clarify the expectations and needs of children and their families who have participated or who might participate in clinical trials for new drugs in Europe. Secondly, to identify methods by which the expectations and needs can be translated into empowering and motivating participants in future clinical trails research. This will be achieved in three stages. The partners will be from different areas involving patients, clinicians, regulators, and researchers (industrial and academic) on a broad basis in order to cover a broad spectrum of diseases. Stage 1) The project will construct a basis for coordination and harmonization. This will involve a literature search and a preliminary workshop. We will build a web site for communication within the project and with a wider audience. Stage 2) We will ground our diverse experience and knowledge through benchmarking good practice case studies, and collecting opinions from patients’ organisations in Europe. The results will be presented at an expert harmonization workshop composed of all partners of the project. This workshop will identify the operating procedures needed to encourage empowerment and increase motivation for participation in clinical trials. Stage 3) The results of the project will be presented in a series of European conferences. This will ensure that the impact on clinical practice will be facilitated. This will help to improve translational research which depends upon the clinical trial process being undertaken with large enough populations to ensure safety of new products. Greater participation in clinical trials research will result in more valid and reliable products available for children as envisaged by the EC 1901/2006 Paediatric Regulation. In addition it will make European health businesses more competitive and will improve the global health in Europe.

Keywords: children,clinical trials,needs,health,new medication,expectations,patient empowerment
Development and validation of a microarray based automated diagnostic system for the detection of influenza virus types and subtypes at point-of-care (FLUARRAY)

Framework: FP7 — Cooperation
Programme: Health
Destination: Translating research for human health
Action type: Collaborative project
Countries involved: Italy,France,United Kingdom
Call:  (FP7-HEALTH-2007-A, 2007)
Start date: 2008-01-01
End date: 2011-06-30
Duration (months): 42.0
Total project cost (EUR): 3642702.0
EU funding (EUR): 2775993.0
Participants: 6
Project status: CLOSED

Influenza is an extremely contagious infection that is caused by distinct virus types and subtypes. Early diagnosis is crucial for disease treatment and control as it reduces the inappropriate use of antibiotics and provides the indication for antiviral therapy. Rapid diagnosis is also a key component of surveillance activity. This requires the ability to detect and accurately diagnose infection at or close to the source/outbreak with minimum delay, a tactic consistent with the global experience during the SARS epidemic in 2003. This experience underlines the need for specific, sensitive point-of-care testing capable of discriminating between influenza subtypes. None of the available influenza diagnostic assays combines a point-of-care format with the multiplex capability to identify a large repertoire of human and animal viruses. This project exploits the knowledge and the expertise of the partners to convert microarray assays, that have a powerful multiplex capability but are laborious, complex and expensive to perform, into a simple, robust and affordable automated point-of-care system for the diagnosis of influenza. The system will utilize three components: 1) a microarray immunoassay that distinguishes influenza A and B virus as well as A subtypes; 2) an innovative self-contained disposable lateral-flow device that allows the addition of specimens and reagents in a temporally-controlled manner; 3) a robust automated processing reading instrument of novel conception that employs a low cost, high performance optical module. This project will provide small laboratories, health offices, veterinary clinics and outposts (airports) with the diagnostic capability of major research institutions and reference centres, thus providing better care for patients and most importantly, facilitating the implementation of surveillance activities and guiding response measures that are being built to face a possible influenza pandemic caused by a highly virulent virus.

Keywords: micro-array,serodiagnosis,proteomics,genomics,bioinformatics,influenza,point-of-care
Do Forecasts Matter? Early Warnings and the Prevention of Armed Conflict (FORESIGHT)

Framework: FP7 — Ideas
Programme: European Research Council
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: Support for frontier research (ERC)
Panel: Institutions, values, beliefs and behaviour
Countries involved: United Kingdom
Call:  (ERC-2007-StG, 2007)
Start date: 2008-09-01
End date: 2011-10-31
Duration (months): 38.0
Total project cost (EUR): 754077.0
EU funding (EUR): 754077.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

What impact do forecasts have on political action? How are they communicated, perceived and used in order to prevent harmful events in the future? There are few policy areas as dependent on good forecasts as efforts aimed at preventing intra-state violent conflicts. Both practitioners and scholars agree that early, appropriate and sustained action on the part of various international players can help to avoid or at least alleviate many of the harmful consequences. Preventing the outbreak of such conflicts has increasingly become a priority objective of the European Union and its most influential member states. But there is a curious gap in the literature with respect to the exact linkage between early warning and political response: under what conditions do forecasts of impending conflicts lead to political action? The first objective of the project is to better understand the interplay of communication and political perception of early warnings about impending intra-state armed conflict. In a second step, the project will compare the findings about early warnings regarding armed conflict to insights about the impact of forecasts in other policy-areas such as adjusting to impending environmental and economic crises. Thus, the project aims to contribute to improving public policy by analysing the interplay of forecasting, advocacy and preventive decision-making.

Keywords: early warning,conflict prevention,knowledge,forecasting,communication,perception,decision-making
Enhancing public awareness on the results of European Health research actions through television media (HEALTH-TV)

Framework: FP7 — Cooperation
Programme: Health
Destination: Other Actions across the Health Theme
Action type: Coordination and support actions
Countries involved: Italy,France,Germany
Call:  (FP7-HEALTH-2007-A, 2007)
Start date: 2008-02-01
End date: 2009-10-31
Duration (months): 21.0
Total project cost (EUR): 831532.0
EU funding (EUR): 699911.0
Participants: 4
Project status: CLOSED

The strategic objective of HEALTH-TV is to contribute to the development of public awareness on European Health research in all European countries through television media. This objective will be reached through the exploitation and the customisation of a highly innovative TV media communication model, successfully implemented by the HEALTH-TV partnership over the past 5 years. The project will: • Fill the existing communication gap between the technical content vehiculed by the Health research and the understanding skills of the general public • Identify the key results of the Health Theme, through the permanent consultation of its relevant constituencies (including the Commission Services) and an in-depth punctual research towards individual Health projects. • Create a series of 12 high-quality free-of-rights Video News Releases (VNRs) for the general public on the basis of the key results of the research. HEALTH-TV audiovisuals will be conceived in such a way to be easily adaptable to the needs of a wide spectrum of European TV channels, either for news or features usage. The audiovisuals will mostly focus on publicly available Health projects’ results. • Include HEALTH-TV audiovisual productions into the scientific and news TV broadcasting mainstreams of major national TV channels Europe-wide by targeting broadcast media from the 27 EU Member States. • Collect actual broadcasts made by European TV stations and include them on a DVD at the end of the project, for future use and exploitation. • Monitor the progress of the project and assess its achievements and success. • Measure the media impact of the project. The project expects to have each of its audiovisual production broadcast by at least 8 major national TV stations throughout Europe and to reach an overall public TV audience of several tens of millions people.

Keywords: science communication,television media
Genetic prostate cancer variants as biomarkers of disease progression (PROMARK)

Framework: FP7 — Cooperation
Programme: Health
Destination: Translating research for human health
Action type: Collaborative project
Countries involved: Iceland,United Kingdom,United Kingdom,Netherlands,Romania,Romania
Call:  (FP7-HEALTH-2007-A, 2007)
Start date: 2008-01-01
End date: 2012-12-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 4045219.0
EU funding (EUR): 2709577.0
Participants: 6
Project status: CLOSED

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in males in Europe, causing over 87,000 deaths in 2006. Early diagnosis and treatment are key factors in determining survival but screening methods based on the commonly-used PSA blood test have low specificity and result in excessive treatment of localized lesions that might never progress to symptomatic cancer. Biomarkers that help determine which of the early stage tumors will remain confined to the prostate and which will progress to an invasive, aggressive form of the disease are urgently needed. Using genome-wide association analysis, we identified 4 distinct common genetic variants that increase the risk of prostate cancer, some of which may have a stronger association with severe disease. Furthermore, by comparing the genotypes of patients with aggressive disease to genotypes of those with a more indolent form, we have identified a large number of candiate markers of disease severity. Here, we plan to take all these inherited variants and test the hypothesis that they can serve as biomarkers for prostate cancer prognosis and outcome. In addition, we have selected two of these variants for genomic and functional studies. Specifically, we will 1. Collect DNA and clinical data from over 8000 prostate cancer cases in four European populations (Iceland, the Netherlands, Romania, UK) 2. Test the utility of inherited prostate cancer risk variants as biomarkers of disease severity, progression and outcome 3. Start dissecting the biological mechanisms that cause increased prostate cancer risk The expected outcome of the project is a) A new prognostic test that predicts clinical outcomes for localized prostate cancer more accurately than existing methods. b) Documentation of the association of genetic risk variants to clinical parameters and outcomes. c) Increased understanding of carcinogenesis of the prostate which may lead to the identification of additional biomarkers or therapeutic targets.

Keywords: prostate cancer,biomarker,genetics,predicitive markers
Normalisation of immune reactivity in old age – from basic mechanisms to clinical application (TOLERAGE)

Framework: FP7 — Cooperation
Programme: Health
Destination: Translating research for human health
Action type: Collaborative project
Countries involved: Austria,Switzerland,Sweden,Germany,France,Netherlands,Italy
Call:  (FP7-HEALTH-2007-A, 2007)
Start date: 2008-04-01
End date: 2012-09-30
Duration (months): 54.0
Total project cost (EUR): 10136875.8
EU funding (EUR): 7736931.0
Participants: 10
Project status: CLOSED

When restoration of the immune response in older age is the target of basic and clinical research, boosting innate and adaptive immunity, e.g. by more efficient vaccination strategies, is the general approach. However, TOLERAGE has a fundamentally different focus, i.e. restoring the age-dependent decline of auto-tolerance that underlies the development of the paradigmatic age-associated diseases atherosclerosis (AS) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA). These diseases represent the major medical and socioeconomic burden in aging societies. They start earlier in life but become clinically manifest with increasing age. To reach this aim a consortium of ten partner groups was formed that have an outstanding track record in areas of immunology pertinent for this task. The work of TOLERAGE will focus on three major issues, viz. 1. Investigating basic principles of the induction of central and peripheral tolerance in mice against autoantigens, including heat shock protein 60 (HSP60) that has been shown to play a major role in the development of AS and RA. 2. Determination of the mediators of central and peripheral tolerance that are responsible for the T effector/T regulatory cell dysbalance in older age in general and in AS and RA in particular. 3. Translation of the results obtained in (a) and (b) into practical application for the prevention and treatment of AS and RA by appropriate vaccines. For all partners, important technical platforms will be available, including unique transgenic and knockout mouse strains, sophisticated models for in vitro and in vivo transfection of dendritic cells (DCs) and a well established Functional Genomics Facility.

Keywords: aging,immune system,tolerisation,atherosclerosis,thymus,arthritis,biomarker,hsp60
Molecular and cellular investigation of neuron-astroglia interactions: Understanding brain function and dysfunction (NEUROGLIA)

Framework: FP7 — Cooperation
Programme: Health
Destination: Translating research for human health
Action type: Collaborative project
Countries involved: Germany,Spain,United Kingdom,Italy,Germany,Netherlands,Germany,Germany
Call:  (FP7-HEALTH-2007-A, 2007)
Start date: 2008-01-01
End date: 2012-06-30
Duration (months): 54.0
Total project cost (EUR): 3917986.4
EU funding (EUR): 2988450.0
Participants: 8
Project status: CLOSED

Astroglial cells are now recognized as active elements in the brain that sense and integrate synaptic signals and, by releasing gliotransmitters, regulate synaptic efficacy and cerebral blood flow. Despite accrued knowledge, many fundamental aspects of neuron-astroglia partnerships remain open, or have been poorly addressed in a functional context in vivo. For example, does astroglia heterogeneity reflect distinct functions? How do astroglial and neuronal networks interact locally and temporally? How does disruption of neuron-glia interactions contribute to brain disorders? Leading European research groups in the field have gathered in NeuroGLIA to address such questions using a multi-disciplinary approach, including transgenic astroglia-subtype specific mice, electrophysiology and high resolution laser scanning microscopy in vitro and in vivo (including awake mice). This will enable the consortium: i) to verify the potential of activated astroglia to signal back to neurons rapidly; ii) to define the spatial-temporal dynamics of neuron–astroglia reciprocal signalling; iii) to clarify the specific function of different astroglial subtypes in modulation of neuronal excitability and transmission, and in the control of neurovascular coupling. NeuroGLIA will also investigate how dysfunction of neuron-astroglia signalling contributes to the pathogenesis of brain disorders, focussing on epilepsy. In animal models of epilepsy, astroglial activity will be analyzed with respect to initiation, maintenance and cessation of epileptiform activity, also in relation to blood flow changes and activation of inflammatory pathways. Importantly, access to living tissue from epilepsy patients, allows NeuroGLIA to investigate neuron-astroglia interactions and its dysregulation in the human brain. NeuroGLIA is thus in the privileged position to unravel fundamental mechanisms of neuron-astroglia signalling in health and disease, opening new perspectives for specific therapeutic strategies.

Keywords: epilepsy,astroglia,neuron-glia interaction,absence epilepsy,temporal lobe epilepsy,brain vasculature,genetic mouse models,in vivo imaging,electrophysiology
Testing fundamental physics with the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT)

Framework: FP7 — People
Programme: Marie-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: International Re-integration Grants
Action type: Support for training and career development of researchers (Marie Curie)
Countries involved: Spain
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2007-4-3-IRG, 2007)
Start date: 2007-09-03
End date: 2011-09-02
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 100000.0
EU funding (EUR): 100000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Cosmology has entered the precision era, now cosmological data can be used to test fundamental physics. There are 4 area where this interplay between physics and astronomy is particularly important: the nature of dark matter, the neutrino mass, testing inflation and unveiling the nature of dark energy. To address some of these fundamental issues we have build the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT, firts light 2007): a 6 m radio telescope located in the Atacama Plateau in Chile. ACT will map about 200 square degreees of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) in three bands with unprecedented resolution and sensitivity. This is accompanied by a vigorous follow up effort in other wavelenghts (X-ray/optical/UV/IR). These maps can be used not only to study the primary CMB but also to study the secondary CMB. The interveening cosmological structures leave their imprint on the CMB fluctuations through several effects(Rees-Sciama, thermal and kinetic Sunyaev-Zeldovich effects, gravitational lensing). These signals can be used to constrain the neutrino mass, testing inflationary models by measuring the shape of the primordial power spectrum and investigating the nature of dark energy with many complementary techniques. We propose to develop the techniques to analize ACT data and to carry out the analysis.

Keywords: physical sciences,astronomy
Disseminate the Power Of Research through an on-line simulation of the scientific endeavour (POR)

Framework: FP7 — Cooperation
Programme: Health
Destination: Other Actions across the Health Theme
Action type: Coordination and support actions
Countries involved: Austria
Call:  (FP7-HEALTH-2007-A, 2007)
Start date: 2008-02-01
End date: 2011-07-31
Duration (months): 42.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1280880.0
EU funding (EUR): 617060.0
Participants: 2
Project status: CLOSED

The Science Communication actions draw their inspiration from the fact that young Europeans feel under-informed about science and are turning away from scientific studies and careers. Generally there is little opportunity for the public, to enter the world of science and apply their scientific knowledge. To reach the EC’s aim to hardwire science into youth culture, serious rethinking is required and entirely novel activities have to complement current top-down approaches of conveying science. As movies and music can not communicate complicated content, youth culture offers only one efficient way to convey health science in an appropriately complex fashion: computer games. They can transport complicated messages and players can spend an excessive time in immersive worlds. We therefore propose a revolutionary on-line computer game simulating the scientific endeavour, where knowledge of scientific facts will constitute a significant advantage. This game will create a large community of more than 100.000 players, enabled to communicate in real time via a state of the art interface to stimulate exchanges about game relevant topics including science. This game should allow players to choose one of several research fields from areas funded by the DG health. Then they can commit time and effort to carry out typical tasks of a scientist in an abstract way, in order to gain an impression of a scientists’ routine. In addition it will be essential for the game to inform about science issues and produce a constant flux of scientific information, which players have to sieve through to identify the relevant data for their projects. This will encourage players to learn about the FP7 areas of research, review some of the key findings in these fields and most importantly use this knowledge to their own advantage in the game. The objective of this proposal is therefore to create an environment where players are more informed and excited about science and associated career options.

Keywords: youth culture,scientific career,simulation of research,strategic game,browser game,online community,science in society
Evolutionary genetics in a ‘classical’ avian study system by high throughput transcriptome sequencing and SNP genotyping (AVIANEGG)

Framework: FP7 — Ideas
Programme: European Research Council
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: Support for frontier research (ERC)
Panel: Neurosciences and neural disorders
Countries involved: United Kingdom
Call:  (ERC-2007-StG, 2007)
Start date: 2008-10-01
End date: 2014-06-30
Duration (months): 69.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1560770.0
EU funding (EUR): 1560770.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Long-term studies of free-living vertebrate populations have proved a rich resource for understanding evolutionary and ecological processes, because individuals’ life histories can be measured by tracking them from birth/hatching through to death. In recent years the ‘animal model’ has been applied to pedigreed long-term study populations with great success, dramatically advancing our understanding of quantitative genetic parameters such as heritabilities, genetic correlations and plasticities of traits that are relevant to microevolutionary responses to environmental change. Unfortunately, quantitative genetic approaches have one major drawback – they cannot identify the actual genes responsible for genetic variation. Therefore, it is impossible to link evolutionary responses to a changing environment to molecular genetic variation, making our picture of the process incomplete. Many of the best long-term studies have been conducted in passerine birds. Unfortunately genomics resources are only available for two model avian species, and are absent for bird species that are studied in the wild. I will fill this gap by exploiting recent advances in genomics technology to sequence the entire transcriptome of the longest running study of wild birds – the great tit population in Wytham Woods, Oxford. Having identified most of the sequence variation in the great tit transcriptome, I will then genotype all birds for whom phenotype records and blood samples are available This will be, by far, the largest phenotype-genotype dataset of any free-living vertebrate population. I will then use gene mapping techniques to identify genes and genomic regions responsible for variation in a number of key traits such as lifetime recruitment, clutch size and breeding/laying date. This will result in a greater understanding, at the molecular level, how microevolutionary change can arise (or be constrained).

Keywords: gene mapping in wild populations. genetic architecture of fitness. genomics resources in natural populations.