Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Non-invasive prenatal diagnostics – Isolation of circulating trophoblast cells using a malaria protein (NIPCT)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Proof of concept grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: Prevention, Diagnosis and Treatment of Human Diseases
Panel description: Medical technologies and tools for prevention, diagnosis and treatment of human diseases, therapeutic approaches and interventions, pharmacology, preventative medicine, epidemiology and public health, digital medicine
Countries involved: Denmark
Call: ERC Proof of Concept Grant (ERC-2019-PoC, 2019)
Start date: 2020-01-01
End date: 2021-06-30
Duration (months): 18.0
Total project cost (EUR): 150000.0
EU funding (EUR): 150000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Placental biopsies are associated with high risk of miscarriage. Current non-invasive tests are not very precise. The malaria protein VAR2CSA has been evoluationary refined to bind specifically to human placent cells. This causes the syndrom placental malaria in pregnant women. Recombinant VAR2CSA binds with high specificity to syncytiotrophoblasts in the placenta as well as placental cell lines. Using this knowledge we have developed a powerful tool which captures circulating trophoblast from a blood sample from pregnant women. This tool enables non-invasive fetal diagnostic, early in pregnancy. The aim of the ERC PoC project is to A) prepare a strategic product and business plan and B) further develop and validate the methodology enabling facile and early non-invasive fetal diagnostic.

Keywords: diagnostic,non invasive
An empowering toolkit for general practitioners to prevent, detect and treat melanoma (Dermtest) (Dermtest)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Industrial Leadership
Programme: Information and Communication Technologies
Action type: SME instrument
Countries involved: Estonia
Call: Open Disruptive Innovation Scheme (implemented through the SME instrument) (H2020-SMEINST-1-2014, 2014)
Start date: 2015-06-01
End date: 2015-11-30
Duration (months): 6.0
Total project cost (EUR): 71429.0
EU funding (EUR): 50000.0
Participants: 2
Project status: CLOSED

The aim of the innovation project Dermtest is to develop a toolkit for general practitioners (GPs) to empower them in taking charge of patient management in melanoma prevention, detection and treatment. Melanoma is a growing form of cancer accounting for up to 3% of all cancer incidences in Europe. Problems regarding the health systems in Europe (cost-pressure, low access to specialists, long waiting times, lack of integration, weak primary care) set barriers for early detection and on-time treatment. Yet only if melanoma is detected and treated early, the chance of cure is high. GPs as the first contact for a patient can help, but currently they do not have the necessary tools to do that. We propose a toolkit for GPs, which will combine (1) teledermoscopy – remote and fast dermatologist consultation and diagnosis confirmation based on a digital image made by the GP, (2) a smart-phone app for pre-screening of moles, (3) decision support with new diagnostic hardware, (4) integrated software for good communication of patient data between the GP and other specialists (dermatologist, surgeon, pathology lab) and (5) an e-marketplace for allowing quick access to dermatologists’ opinion in different markets. By using teledermoscopy, already 700 remote consultations have been provided to GPs. The full toolkit is an innovative combination of state-of-the-art technologies ensuring fluent care provision and communication. The solution seeks to change the existing European market by shifting a greater role of melanoma prevention and treatment to the more than 450 000 GPs in the region. Empowering the GP in melanoma management would reduce waiting times for patients and increase earlier detection rates and provide on-time treatment – in the end, this means lower melanoma mortality in Europe. A feasibility study is needed, as phase 1, to help to assess the feasibility of such a disruptive approach and prioritize market penetration and development activities of the solution.

Keywords: dermatology,healthcare,primary care,e health,telemedicine,teledermatology,teledermoscopy
Linking the perceptual and neural mechanisms of human spatial perception using behavioral and ultra-high field fMRI signals (MappingSpatialVision)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: Marie-Sklodowska-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Individual Fellowships (IF)-Reintegration panel
Action type: Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions
Panel: Life Sciences
Countries involved: Netherlands
Call: Individual Fellowships (H2020-MSCA-IF-2017, 2017)
Start date: 2019-06-01
End date: 2021-08-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 177598.8
EU funding (EUR): 177598.8
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The present research aims to further our understanding of the mechanisms by which our brain makes sense of the visual world. Our brain cannot represent with full fidelity the overwhelming amount of information it constantly faces. Yet, understanding our visual world seems effortless. One strategy developed by the brain is to trade off poor spatial representations in the periphery for high-resolution foveal vision. Spatial attention is another strategy the brain relies on to select and prioritize visual processing at relevant areas of the visual field without having to move our eyes. Perceptually, attention benefits performance in many visual tasks, in line with heightened spatial resolution at the attended area. Physiologically, single-neuron recordings in animals have shown that attention alters the receptive-field (RF) properties of neurons, which may account for changes in human perception. Yet, human behavior depends on large-scale neuronal population codes. Thus, understanding how attention helps us represent information across the visual field requires to link human perception with changes in human neuronal populations. Here, I will do exactly that by combining a powerful behavioral approach I developed with recent neuroimaging techniques that can assess human neuronal population RF properties. Using cutting-edge, ultra-high resolution neuroimaging methods, I will pinpoint the neural mechanisms by which attention alters spatial representations at unprecedented levels of cortical organization in the human brain, further establishing the host’s recognition as a world-leading brain research center. This interdisciplinary training will reinforce my previous research skills and provide me with state-of-the-art neuroimaging expertise. The MSCA fellowship is a unique chance to expand my skills and reintegrate the European research community, putting me on the right track to pursue an independent career with a multifaceted profile of psychologist and neuroscientist.

Keywords: spatial perception,spatial attention,population receptive field,7 tesla mri,neuroimaging,reverse correlation,spatial integration,visual processing,neural mechanism,visual cortex
Unravelling Data for Rapid Evidence-Based Response to COVID-19 (unCoVer)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Societal Challenges
Programme: Health, demographic change and wellbeing
Theme: Understanding health, wellbeing and disease
Action type: Coordination and support actions
Countries involved: Italy,Spain,Spain,Ireland,Ireland,Italy,Bosnia and Herzegovina,Norway,Türkiye,Greece,Romania,Romania,Slovakia,Colombia,Korea, Republic of,Belgium,Croatia,Belgium,United States,Brazil,United Kingdom,Portugal,Portugal,Portugal,Luxembourg
Call: Networking of existing EU and international cohorts of relevance to COVID-19 (H2020-SC1-PHE-CORONAVIRUS-2020-2-RTD, 2020)
Start date: 2020-11-15
End date: 2023-05-14
Duration (months): 30.0
Total project cost (EUR): 3045573.5
EU funding (EUR): 2997440.0
Participants: 30
Project status: SIGNED

unCoVer is a functional network of research institutions collecting data derived from the provision of care to COVID-19 patients by health systems across Europe and internationally. These real-world data allow for studies into patient’s characteristics, risk factors, safety and effectiveness of treatments and potential strategies against COVID-19 in real settings, and complement findings from efficacy/safety clinical trials where vulnerable groups, and patients with comorbidities are often excluded. The network will facilitate access to otherwise scattered datasets, and build computational and analytical platforms to streamline studies on risk characterisation, and prediction modelling using standardised pooled data derived from real life practices. It will fill data gaps, unify current initiatives and create downstream exploitation opportunities for researchers and public health strategies to optimise COVID-19 strategies and minimise the impacts of future outbreaks

Keywords: real world data,covid 19 cohorts,data standardization,rapid reponse
Heavy ion collisions: collectivity and precision in saturation physics (HIEIC)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: Marie-Sklodowska-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Research and innovation staff exchange
Action type: Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions
Panel: Physics
Countries involved: Spain,Israel,Poland,United States
Call: Research and Innovation Staff Exchange (H2020-MSCA-RISE-2018, 2018)
Start date: 2019-06-01
End date: 2024-11-30
Duration (months): 66.0
Total project cost (EUR): 294400.0
EU funding (EUR): 230000.0
Participants: 4
Project status: SIGNED

The main goal of this project is to reinforce and expand a long-lasting collaboration network between research centers of excellence from EU and the USA aimed at addressing fundamental questions in the physics of dense systems produced in high energy collisions of proton-proton (pp), proton-nucleus (pA) and heavy-ion collisions (HICs). The greatest challenge is to understand whether the final state of such a collision (especially when the size of colliding objects is small) has a character of a genuine strongly interacting medium like Quark Gluon Plasma (QGP), or whether the observed characteristics (such as correlations between produced particles) can be explained by a non trivial quantum mechanical nature of the colliding objects due to saturation physics. To meet this challenge we propose a two-pronged approach: on one hand a dedicated study of quantum mechanical effects in the environment of dense partonic wave function in the saturation regime, and on the other a systematic improvement of the current quantitative approaches, based on Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD) and studying their phenomenological implications. These goals will be accomplished by means of joint research activities which will be developed through the mobility of individual researchers. The main research objectives of the proposal are: A: Quantifying importance of quantum interference in correlated particle production, specifically concentrating on effects of saturation in the wave function of energetic proton on its quantum properties. B: Development of a comprehensive theoretical framework to study saturation physics both at leading and next to leading orders in the QCD coupling constant. C: Phenomenological description of saturation-sensitive observables in pp, pA and HICs. D: Application of the results of the research to future projects, specifically electron-ion colliders under proposal in the US (the Electron-Ion Collider EIC) and at CERN (the Large Hadron-electron Collider LHeC ).

Keywords: high energy hadron collisions,quantum chromodynamics,dense parton systems,large hadron collider,relativistic heavy ion collider,electron ion collider,deep inelastic scattering
The Role of European National Health Services in the enhancement of sustainable food systems (RENASCENCE)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: Marie-Sklodowska-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Individual Fellowships (IF)-Career Restart panel
Action type: Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions
Panel: Environment and Geosciences
Countries involved: Spain
Call: Individual Fellowships (H2020-MSCA-IF-2018, 2018)
Start date: 2019-05-06
End date: 2022-09-02
Duration (months): 36.0
Total project cost (EUR): 241398.72
EU funding (EUR): 241398.72
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The European food systems are unsustainable, within a Europe confronting increased environmental degradation, diet related diseases and inequality. Healthcare systems have the capacity to influence the current status quo of food systems towards sustainable means. However, sustainable food system policies are recent and yet poorly implemented within the European health Services. A lack of assessment and target setting for decision making do not ease up the process. The objective of the present proposal is to explore the food system processes related with the economic and educative channels of the European health services from a sustainable dimension and to develop the first System of Indicators that will aid up in the decision making of those processes. The (co-)generation process of the System of Indicators will be via qualitative methodology. A transdisciplinary approach will be used when using the DELPHI methodology and the panel of expert for the theoretical validation of the System of Indicator. A practical phase will also be carried out to validate the System of Indicators against real cases. Additionally, during a secondment phase, we are going to lead the process of the development of a territorial strategy on food systems in health-care within the Basque region, bridging the research into policy making through participatory-action research. The knowledge obtained in this project will be used to develop strategies to target more efficiently the sustainable goals of the United Nations 2030 agenda in Europe. The Fellow will be up-skilled (in new research skills and techniques) to advance in the development of a career path towards sustainable science, to translate her background knowledge into a continuing research environment and to build and maintain links with other researchers in sustainable food policy throughout Europe aiming to contribute to policy making and developmental strategies towards sustainable societies.

Keywords: heath services,sustainable food system,policy development,territorial strategy
HERON Center of Excellence in Robotics (HERON)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Widening Participation and Strengthening the European Research Area
Programme: Widening participation and spreading excellence
Theme: Improved access to Excellence
Destination: Improved access to Excellence
Action type: Coordination and support actions
Panel: Information Science and Engineering
Countries involved: Greece,Italy,Germany
Call: Teaming for Excellence (HORIZON-WIDERA-2023-ACCESS-01, 2023)
Start date: 2025-01-01
End date: 2030-12-31
Duration (months): 72.0
Total project cost (EUR): 15000000.0
EU funding (EUR): 15000000.0
Participants: 3
Project status: SIGNED

This project aims to create the first Robotics Center of Excellence (CoE) in Greece for advancing the science and technology of robotics in the AI era coupled with industrial innovation. The new CoE, named HERON (Hellenic Robotics Center), will be a team effort between the Athena Research Center, an excellent team of Greek University Professors, the Italian Institute of Technology, and the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology. HERON will be driven by excellence and pursue world class research in areas that reflect current and emerging challenges of national and EU value, covering a broad spectrum of R&I directions empowered by AI: (1) Safety/Security, including aerial, ground, and marine robotics; (2) Field Robotics, including agriculture, maritime, logistics, and space; (3) Healthcare, including mobility and cognitive assistance of motor-impaired and elderly people, surgical and socially assistive robotics. HERON will build Makerspaces and Joint Labs to support validation, research demonstration, education, and maker training throughout Greece and beyond. It will initiate and coordinate actions to mobilise and collaborate with the Greek Robotics Ecosystem, emphasizing strategic collaborations between academia and industry towards innovation across the entire Robotics value chain. Such actions, backed by the compelling background, experience and synergy between the partners, and the multidisciplinary HERON team, provide a unique prospect to establish a sustainable Robotics CoE in Greece, which can transform the Greek ecosystem with major benefits to the economy and social well-being. The proposal is strongly supported by the Greek Government with matching funds and by over 70 public and private sector entities (industry, universities, research centers, clusters, regions) from Greece, Europe, USA, and the Greek Diaspora, via endorsement letters and significant complementary funding or in-kind support, ensuring HERON’s long-term sustainability beyond the Project end.

Keywords: robotics health,security safety,field,ai,automation,makerspaces,joint labs,strategic partners,industrial synergies,innovation,ecosystem,education,training,outreach
Timing the cosmic expansion with gravitational-waves dark sirens: from compact binaries to large scale structures (GravitySirens)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: Universe Sciences
Panel description: Astro -physics/ -chemistry/ -biology; solar system; planetary systems; stellar, galactic and extragalactic astronomy; cosmology; space sciences; astronomical instrumentation and data
Countries involved: Italy
Call: ERC STARTING GRANTS (ERC-2024-STG, 2024)
Start date: 2025-01-01
End date: 2029-12-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1488096.0
EU funding (EUR): 1488096.0
Participants: 2
Project status: SIGNED

For 20 years, measurements of the Universe expansion rate from close-by and far sources are in tension hinting at the presence of new physics. Our struggle to study the Universe's expansion is due to the difficulty of observing cosmological sources for which the distance is known. Gravitational Waves (GWs) from compact binary coalescences (CBCs) are emergent cosmological probes that provide directly the distance of the source thus taking the name of Standard Sirens. Unfortunately, they do not provide the other ingredient to measure the Universe expansion: the redshift. GravitySirens is an ambitious project aiming to measure the cosmic expansion with CBCs and exploit their link with the astrophysical environment to obtain implicit redshift information. GravitySirens will focus on the population and astrophysical properties of GW sources that can allow a more precise measure of the cosmic expansion. My team and I will exploit data delivered in the next 5 years from the GW detectors LIGO, Virgo, KAGRA, the satellite Euclid, and Arrays of Radio telescopes such as HERA, MeerKAT and SKAO. By using a mixture of population synthesis codes and semi-analytical models, we will jointly infer how fast the universe is expanding and how CBCs relate to galaxies and large-scale structures (LSS). We will use state-of-the-art technologies such as machine learning and graphical process units to construct efficient algorithms for population analyses and use scientific data delivered in the upcoming years. GravitySirens will provide the most accurate and precise GW-based measures of the Universe expansion and measure the link between CBCs, galaxies and LSSs. On one hand, the cosmic expansion measures that GravitySirens will provide can potentially lead us to the discovery of new physics at cosmological scales. On the other hand, inferring the relationship between CBCs, galaxies and LSS tracers will point us to the processes acting for compact object formation.

Keywords: standard sirens,gravitational wave cosmology,hierarchical bayesian inference,machine learning
Multiscale Simulations of HIV capsid assembly and RNA (SimViRNA)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Excellent Science
Programme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Postdoctoral Fellowships
Action type: Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions
Panel: Chemistry
Countries involved: Italy,United States
Call: MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2022 (HORIZON-MSCA-2022-PF-01, 2022)
Start date: 2023-07-01
End date: 2026-06-30
Duration (months): 36.0
Total project cost (EUR): 265099.2
EU funding (EUR): 265099.2
Participants: 2
Project status: SIGNED

In this project, I will perform computer simulations and develop new computational methods to elucidate viral functions and RNA. The first two years will take place in the group of Prof Voth in Chicago. Here, I will characterize and quantitatively describe proteolytic cleavage of the CA/SP1 subdomain of the Gag-protein in HIV using quantum mechanical/molecular mechanical (QM/MM) Molecular Dynamics simulations (MD). Furthermore, I will employ free energy techniques to simulate binding and unbinding of the protease to CA/SP1 to determine the binding and configurational free energies. These processes are essential for HIV maturation and hence also targeted by drugs. Subsequently, I will parameterize Coarse-grained models for the Protease/CA/SP1 system and develop a Coarse-grained Green's Function Reaction Dynamics method. This method combines the Coarse-grained description with the mesoscopic scale, and hence allows me to simulate structural assembly of the virus capsid coupled to proteolytic cleavage at physiological conditions. This coherent computational approach targets biomolecular processes of outmost relevance, and will greatly advance our understanding, but likewise also push the boundaries of molecular simulations due to the methodological innovations. The third year will be spent in Trieste, in the group of Prof Bussi. In this period, I will develop a hybrid all-atom molecular mechanics / Coarse-grained (MM/CG) model for RNA. It facilitates the simulation of RNA fragments at atomistic resolution while capturing long-range allosteric interactions due to the Coarse-grained representation of the surrounding. This will set a new standard to simulate RNA macromolecules and offers a wide range of application.

Keywords: hiv proteolytic cleavage free energy simulations coarse grained modeling green s function reaction dynamics hybrid mm cg simulation of rna