Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Biomarker assay development to expedite ALS experimental therapeutic advancement (DEALS)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Societal Challenges
Programme: Health, demographic change and wellbeing
Theme: Treating and managing disease
Action type: SME instrument
Countries involved: Netherlands
Call: Clinical research for the validation of biomarkers and/or diagnostic medical devices (H2020-SMEINST-1-2014, 2014)
Start date: 2015-05-01
End date: 2015-10-31
Duration (months): 6.0
Total project cost (EUR): 71429.0
EU funding (EUR): 50000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The unique Dutch SME Treeway B.V. was founded in 2012 by two highly experienced and successful entrepreneurs that both have been diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). It is Treeway’s mission to eradicate ALS from the face of the earth by speeding up ALS research and bringing new therapies in the market as soon as possible. Treeway already has one new therapy in clinical development, which has recently received EMA’s Orphan Medicinal Product Designation. ALS is a rare disease that is characterised by muscle spasticity and rapidly progressive weakness due to muscle wasting. This results in difficulties in walking, moving, speaking, swallowing, and breathing. Most ALS patients die from respiratory failure within three years. ALS diagnosis currently is mainly aimed at excluding other diseases with similar symptoms. As a result there is a 9–14-month delay between symptom onset and final diagnosis of ALS. For similar reasons, there is also a lack of accurate and practical diagnostic tests for monitoring the benefit of potential therapeutic interventions for ALS. This is severely slowing down the progression of clinical drug development in this field. As ALS drug developer, Treeway will greatly benefit from the availability of a (combination of) quick diagnostic assay(s) to be used in monitoring therapeutic efficacy in clinical trials. In addition, the ALS diagnostic tool may also proof to be instrumental for (speeding up) the initial diagnosis of the disease. Therefore, within DEALS, Treeway will perform a mostly paper study to investigate the technical and economic feasibility of developing a quick and reliable diagnostic tool. These developments will be based on known and detectable biomarkers of the disease. Economic benefit will stem from the ability of the assays to enable earlier diagnosis and to speed up clinical drug development; per one month gained in development time for a new ALS drug, about €25 million additional revenues can be foreseen.

Keywords: amyotrophic lateral sclerosis,diagnosis,prognosis,monitoring,clinical study,orphan disease,neurofilament,neurodegradation,genetics,mutations
Virtual Image Holographic Optical Elements for Windscreens, Enabling the Next Generation of Automobile Head-up Displays (VIEW-AHEAD)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Industrial Leadership
Programme: Innovation in SMEs
Action type: SME instrument
Countries involved: United Kingdom
Call: SME instrument (H2020-SMEInst-2018-2020-2, 2019)
Start date: 2019-07-01
End date: 2022-06-30
Duration (months): 36.0
Total project cost (EUR): 2003287.5
EU funding (EUR): 1402301.25
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Head-up Displays (HUDs) represent the next generation of information display in cars. Every major automotive manufacturer (OEM) is seeking low-cost, compact HUDs that can display information across a wide field of view (FOV). Analysts predict an $11.8 billion market opportunity by 2025. However, existing solutions based on conventional optics cannot meet these market needs. Using current technology, a HUD covering the driver’s FOV would be too bulky for all but the largest vehicles and cost €4000+. At Ceres, we have broken the link between size and performance by replacing part of the complex HUD optics with a photopolymer Holographic Optical Element (HOE) laminated within a vehicle windshield. This dramatically reduces the size of the HUD unit, allowing 'windshield display' HUDs to be fitted to any vehicle. Our primary customer, a major European OEM, has successfully demonstrated our technology in full size windscreen laminated prototypes. They are now so excited by the technology’s potential that they have a stated aim to fit at least 2 million of the 1st generation VIEW-AHEAD HUDs across their vehicle range by 2025. However, to manufacture in volumes required by the market we must adapt our latest flat-bed replication machine to work on a continuous reel-to-reel basis and prove the HOE integration with the windshield interlayer material and final lamination process. Our prospective customers are asking for volume manufacture to be demonstrated before 2021, meaning we urgently need to accelerate the development of the manufacturing technology. With help from Horizon 2020, we will deliver a game-changing technology to a hungry market, resulting in cumulative sales of over 3.9 million HOE units by 2025. Across multiple revenue streams we anticipate turnover of €162m and net profits of €93m cumulative within 3 years, with over €2.6 billion revenue across the supply chain.

Keywords: head up display,holographic optical element,in car entertainment
SME Instrument for Innovative Companies from Latvia (InnoSME-LV)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Industrial Leadership
Programme: Innovation in SMEs
Action type: Coordination and support actions
Countries involved: Latvia
Call: INNOSUP (H2020-Adhoc-2014-20, 2014)
Start date: 2014-07-01
End date: 2014-12-31
Duration (months): 6.0
Total project cost (EUR): 7875.0
EU funding (EUR): 6300.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The overall objective of the project is to contribute to smart growth in the European Union by increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of investments in research, development and innovation and by contributing to a better and more efficient connection of actors along the innovation chain. To achieve this objective the following measures are foreseen: • To support SMEs, as the beneficiaries of the SME Instrument to identify bottlenecks to the creation of economic impact in companies benefitting from grants by Horizon2020's SME instrument and address these bottlenecks with the help of capable coaches; • To increase the efficiency and effectiveness of innovation processes in small and medium sized enterprises with significant innovation activities that could potentially become beneficiaries of European support to research and innovation but would not have effective access to consulting services for innovation management. In practice at least six (6) specialised 7-day service packages will be delivered to SMEs to assist them in successful participation in the SME Instrument programme under Horizon 2020 and increase their innovation management capacity beyond this programme. The new services addressed by the current proposal will be integrated in already existing Enterprise Europe Network services.

Keywords: sme instrument,key account manager,innovation management capacity
Bacterial isoprene metabolism: a missing link in a key global biogeochemical cycle (IsoMet)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Advanced grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: Environmental Biology, Ecology and Evolution
Panel description: Ecology, biodiversity, environmental change, evolutionary biology, behavioural ecology, microbial ecology, marine biology, ecophysiology, theoretical developments and modelling
Countries involved: United Kingdom
Call: ERC Advanced Grant (ERC-2015-AdG, 2015)
Start date: 2016-11-01
End date: 2022-12-31
Duration (months): 74.0
Total project cost (EUR): 2494693.0
EU funding (EUR): 2494693.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Isoprene is a very important climate-active biogenic volatile organic compound with both global warming and cooling effects. Globally, terrestrial plants emit huge amounts (~500-750 million tonnes) of isoprene per year. This is approximately the same quantity as methane released to the amosphere. Isoprene emissions are predicted to rise due to global warming and increased use of isoprene-emitting trees (oil palm, poplar) for biofuel production but almost nothing is known about its biogeochemical cycle. Microbes are a sink for isoprene and through their activity in soils and on the leaves of isoprene-emitting plants, they will be important in removal of isoprene in the biosphere before it gets released to the atmosphere. The aim of the project is to obtain a critical, fundamental understanding of the metabolism and ecological importance of biological isoprene degradation and to test the hypothesis that isoprene degrading bacteria play a crucial role in the biogeochemical isoprene cycle, thus helping to mitigate the effects of this important but neglected climate-active gas. Key objectives are to elucidate the biological mechanisms by which isoprene is metabolised, establish novel methods for the study of isoprene biodegradation and to understand at the mechanistic level how isoprene cycling by microbes is regulated in the environment. Bacteria that metabolise isoprene will be isolated from a range of terrestrial and marine environments and characterised using a multidisciplinary approach and a wide range of cutting edge techniques. We will elucidate the pathways of isoprene metabolism and their regulation by characterising genes/enzymes catalysing key steps in isoprene degradation, use innovative molecular ecology methods to determine distribution, diversity and activity of isoprene degraders and assess the contribution that microbes make in the removal of isoprene from the biosphere, thereby mitigating the effects of this climate-active compound.

Keywords: biogeochemistry,environmental microbiology,microbial metabolism
Towards a FAIR and open data ecosystem in the low carbon energy research community (EERAdata)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Societal Challenges
Programme: Secure, clean and efficient energy
Theme: Robust decision making and public engagement
Action type: Coordination and support actions
Countries involved: Austria,Italy,Belgium,Türkiye,Poland,Norway
Call: Support for the opening of low-carbon energy research databases in Europe (H2020-LC-SC3-2019-Joint-Actions-1, 2019)
Start date: 2020-03-01
End date: 2023-02-28
Duration (months): 36.0
Total project cost (EUR): 999912.5
EU funding (EUR): 999912.5
Participants: 6
Project status: CLOSED

The majority of databases are unfit for deploying advanced analytical tools by humans and machines, causing forgone opportunities arising from advanced ICT solutions. It adds to the problem that the transition towards low carbon and sustainable energy systems requires the integration of interdisciplinary and complex data. It means that it is not sufficient to only account for physical and technical attributes, but also socio-economic and environmental ones. Otherwise, society is misinformed about the consequences of upcoming fundamental systemic changes, affecting acceptance building and the creation of ownership for the energy transition. Transparent and integrated management of energy data with useful metadata information and quality assurance provides the basis for society to choose, monitor, and implement sustainable transition pathways; and for the industry to be innovative. Therefore, databases need to adhere to the principles of open and FAIR data (findability, accessibility, interoperability, re-usability). However, the concepts and infrastructures for FAIR and open data management are currently not existing in low carbon energy research. The overall objective of EERAdata is to develop, explore, and test a FAIR and open data ecosystem. This new data infrastructure is established through the broad involvement of the energy research community in a series of workshops and is applied in four selected use cases, covering essential aspects of data-driven low carbon energy research. EERAdata also implements an open platform for uniform and seamless access to energy data and establishes a pool of experts and data stewards to facilitate a mental shift in the community towards FAIR and open data practices. A key element is the active linking of EERAdata to national initiatives, the European Open Science Cloud, the Research Data Alliance, and others. In this way, the project builds a critical mass to explore the prospects of large-scale FAIR and open energy data.

Keywords: fair,open,data driven energy research,low carbon research,community platform
Specificity of cortico-thalamic interactions and its role in frontal cortical functions (FRONTHAL)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Advanced grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: Neuroscience and Disorders of the Nervous System
Panel description: Nervous system development, homeostasis and ageing, nervous system function and dysfunction, systems neuroscience and modelling, biological basis of cognitive processes and of behaviour, neurological and mental disorders
Countries involved: Hungary
Call: ERC Advanced Grant (ERC-2016-ADG, 2016)
Start date: 2017-09-01
End date: 2023-05-31
Duration (months): 69.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1597575.0
EU funding (EUR): 1597575.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

Frontal cortical areas are responsible for a wide range of executive and cognitive functions. Frontal cortices communicate with the thalamus via bidirectional pathways and these connections are indispensable for frontal cortical operations. Still, we have very little information about the specificity of connections, synaptic interactions and plasticity between frontal cortex and thalamus and the roles of these interactions in frontal cortical functions. In the present proposal, we will test the hypothesis that frontal cortical areas developed a highly specialized connectivity pattern with the thalamus. This supports unique interactions between the cortex and the thalamus according to the specific requirements of frontal cortical activity, including experience-dependent plastic changes. The project will use cell type-specific viral tracing in mice and 3D electron microscopic reconstructions in mice and humans to identify circuit motifs that are evolutionarily conserved, yet, still specific to fronto-thalamic pathways. The physiological approach will employ in vivo optogenetics combined with intra-, juxta- and extracellular recordings. We will perform behavioral experiments by bidirectional modulation of well-defined elements in the network, in learning paradigms, which depend on the integrity of frontal cortex. The project is the first systematic approach which aims to understand the nature of interaction between the frontal cortex and the thalamus. It will not only fill the tremendous gap in our knowledge regarding these pathways but will help us elucidate the functional organization of non-sensory thalamus in general. Frontal cortices are involved in a wide range of major neurological disorders (e.g. Parkinson’s disease, epilepsy, schizophrenia, chronic pain) which affect executive functions and involve fronto-thalamic pathways. We believe that understanding fronto-thalamic interactions will lead to fundamentally novel insight into the nature of these diseases.

Keywords: thalamocortical,plasticity,inhibition,spine,oscillations,electron micrsoscopy,optogenetics
Bugs as Drugs: Understanding Microbial Interaction Networks to Prevent and Treat Infections (BugDrug)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: Integrative Biology: from Genes and Genomes to Systems
Panel description: Genetics, epigenetics, genomics and other ‘omics studies, bioinformatics, systems biology, genetic diseases, gene editing, innovative methods and modelling, ‘omics for personalised medicine
Countries involved: Germany
Call: ERC STARTING GRANTS (ERC-2020-STG, 2020)
Start date: 2021-01-01
End date: 2025-12-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1494437.0
EU funding (EUR): 1494437.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

Our body is inhabited by an enormous number of microbes which are crucial for our health. The bacteria in our gut for example help us to digest food but can also make us sick in case of an infection. The overall composition and function of those communities are strongly shaped by the interactions of the microbes within them e.g. how the microbes influence each others growth. These interactions are especially important in the case of microbial infections. Since pathogens have to interact with the microbial communities that already inhabit the host, the native microbes can repel or support the pathogens and thus protect the host from diseases or even facilitate them. Although microbial assemblages are pivotal for our health we have currently no satisfying way to get a mechanistic understanding of them which would be crucial to specifically manipulate these communities e.g. for therapeutic interventions. The aim of this proposal is to develop a microscopy method that allows to obtain interaction networks within complex communities. Since bacteria can only share the same space if they tolerate each other but avoid each other in case of competition, interaction networks of complex communities can be derived from the spatial co-occurence of the bacteria that form them. With this technology I especially want to investigate how pathogens embed into the native gut microbial community of the model organism Caenorhabditis elegans. I want to understand how interactions between pathogens and native gut microbiota can protect a host from infections. Finally, I want to use this technology to identify bacteria in the native gut community that can outcompete pathogens and work as specific probiotic against microbial infections. This approach could revolutionize the usage of probiotics and offer completely new ways to prevent and treat infectious diseases, which are especially valuable in times where we see more and more pathogens become resistant against antibiotics.

Keywords: ecological system biology,gut microbiota,microbial interactions,pathogenesis
Intervention in Neurodegenerative disorders via Mechanistic INsight into liquid-like Droplets (InMIND)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: Marie-Sklodowska-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Individual Fellowships (IF)-Standard European Fellowships
Action type: Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions
Panel: Life Sciences
Countries involved: Denmark
Call: Individual Fellowships (H2020-MSCA-IF-2020, 2020)
Start date: 2021-06-01
End date: 2023-05-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 219312.0
EU funding (EUR): 219312.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

With population ageing and the lack of effective treatments, neurodegenerative diseases (NDs) are expected to pose an increasingly severe challenge to healthcare systems worldwide. A hallmark of NDs is the presence of insoluble aggregates of intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) and proteins with disordered regions in neuronal cells. Growing evidence suggests that these disease-associated proteins condense into liquid-like droplets through liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS). Dysregulation of this process results in the maturation of the liquid-like droplet into a dynamically arrested state, promoting the formation of putatively neurotoxic oligomers and amyloid fibrils. In this project, I will first develop a molecular model that accurately predicts LLPS of IDPs from amino acid sequence and solution conditions. Second, through large-scale simulations of IDPs, I will elucidate the influence of mutations and post-translational modifications on the material properties of protein condensates. Third, I will employ the model to identify small molecules that preferentially partition into the protein-dense phase and enhance the dynamics of the protein network of the condensate. My findings will shed light on the molecular determinants of LLPS and contribute to explore an innovative therapeutic strategy for NDs, wherein small-molecule compounds prevent aberrant liquid-to-hydrogel-like transitions of biomolecular condensates. The project will enable me to apply my expertise in physical chemistry to therapeutically-relevant biological systems, acquire new competencies in chemoinformatics and project management, and establish myself as a high-quality researcher in the field of biomolecular condensates. The group of Prof. Kresten Lindorff-Larsen in the SBiN-Lab section at the University of Copenhagen will provide an excellent environment with world-leading experts in integrative structural biology and biophysics.

Keywords: liquid liquid phase separation,intrinsically disordered proteins,biomolecular condensates
Tumor targeting through a TME-specific regulatory code and programmable CAR T cells (TRAP-CART)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: Marie-Sklodowska-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Individual Fellowships (IF)-Society and Enterprise panel
Action type: Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions
Panel: Life Sciences
Countries involved: Austria
Call: Individual Fellowships (H2020-MSCA-IF-2020, 2020)
Start date: 2021-04-01
End date: 2023-03-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 174167.04
EU funding (EUR): 174167.04
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Two major issues hamper successful treatment of solid cancers with CAR T cells. First, immunosuppression imposed by the tumor microenvironment (TME) can compromise CAR T cell function. Second, CAR T cells require specific antigens for precise tumor recognition to limit/avoid toxicities associated with on-target/off-tumor activity. Initial attempts to overcome these challenges included immune checkpoint blockade and tunable CAR T cells. Here, we propose to develop a conceptually new framework for solid tumor therapy that introduces genetically modified, blood-derived TME cells as Trojan horses to deliver inflammation and broadcast “intratumor” signals that activate programmable CAR T cells. Overall, we will design a hematopoietic stem cell (HSC)-directed strategy for Tumor microenvironment-Regulated Activation of Programmable CAR T (TRAP-CART). This project builds on the host lab’s expertise in high-throughput genomics, bioinformatics, and CAR T cells, and on my own background in HSC engineering. Through epigenome/transcriptome profiling, we will systematically identify gene-regulatory elements that are specific to blood-derived cells in the TME. We will use such regulatory sequences for HSC-directed gene therapy, such that their progeny will express a programmed transgene only in the immediate vicinity of tumor cells. This TME-regulated transgene will induce inflammation (to help overcome the hostile immune environment of many solid tumors) and/or release localized activatory signals for CAR T-cells (making it possible to use weakly specific CARs while avoiding on-target/off-tumor activity elsewhere in the body). We will focus on melanoma as our “model cancer”, which has a high mutational burden, good mouse models and is widely used for testing cutting-edge immunotherapies. Specific Objectives: 1)Develop a promoter/enhancer toolbox for HSC gene therapy targeting the TME 2)Induce a CAR T-supportive TME that activates programmable CAR T-cells in situ

Keywords: cancer immunotherapy,tumor microenvironment,car t cells,cell engineering,single cell,analysis