Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Living Therapeutic and Regenerative Materials with Specialised Advanced Layers (NextSkins)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Innovative Europe
Programme: The European Innovation Council (EIC)
Theme: EIC Pathfinder
Destination: Challenges
Action type: EIC actions
Countries involved: Netherlands,Finland,United Kingdom
Call: Engineered Living Materials (HORIZON-EIC-2021-PATHFINDERCHALLENGES-01, 2021)
Start date: 2022-11-01
End date: 2027-10-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 2856441.0
EU funding (EUR): 2856441.0
Participants: 3
Project status: SIGNED

Skin is a living interface with layers of specialised functions (sensing, regeneration, protection). The level of complexity in skins is currently unreached in engineered living materials (ELMs). Here we will create skin-inspired ELMs with layers with living cells, specialised properties and functions. Our living skins are based on a grown matrix hosting engineered multicellular consortia that build and functionalise different layers. Spatiotemporal patterning is realised by genetic control and the physicochemical properties of cells and biomolecules. Our aim is to generate platform technologies to advance biological ELMs and make two proof-of-concept engineered living skins with different applications: We will fabricate a self-encapsulated Living Therapeutic Skin (LTS) made of a bacterial cellulose hydrogel matrix with sense-and-respond cells. LTS will have an interactive layer with sensing functions, a core layer for responsive living cells, and a barrier layer for biocontainment and hydration. An example LTS will be designed to sense pathogenic skin bacteria in eczema and release biosynthesised therapeutic molecules. A dry and tough Living Regenerative Skin (LRS) consisting of biomineralized biopolymers hosting bacterial spores will be fabricated as an alternative to traditional inert materials (ceramics, plastics) in protective garments. The LRS biomineralized core will arrange in microscale layers, like tough biominerals in nature (nacre, bone, dentin). LRS will be encapsulated in an activator shell, engineered to prevent water penetration and to memorize local mechanical experience, giving local self-reinforcement of mechanically stressed regions, a unique property compared to current materials and other ELMs. As a powerful strategy to accelerate the adoption of our living materials in society, we will systematically involve the potential end-users and designers in our research for the materials and product development to happen in synergy.

Keywords: engineered living materials,adaptive materials,genetic engineering,protein materials,bacterial cellulose,composite,self assembly,encapsulation,biomineralization,material driven design
A novel non-invasive and non-ionizing medical device for monitoring patients with implanted stents (NIMBLE WOMENTECHEU)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Innovative Europe
Programme: European innovation ecosystems
Theme: Elevating the scalability potential of European business
Destination: Elevating the scalability potential of European business
Action type: Coordination and support actions
Countries involved: Spain
Call: Women TechEU (HORIZON-EIE-2022-SCALEUP-02, 2022)
Start date: 2023-06-01
End date: 2024-05-31
Duration (months): 12.0
Total project cost (EUR): 107142.86
EU funding (EUR): 75000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Susana Amorós is the CTO and co-founder of NIMBLE Diagnostics, a MedTech company developing a first in class microwave-based medical device for the continuos, non-invasive, non-ionizing monitoring of patients with implanted stents. Stents are one of the most implanted devices worldwide and are used to restore the correct flow of blood or other fluids. They are especially useful to prevent heart attacks or to treat their lasting symptoms, but once implanted can become blocked or damaged, which occur in 30% of the cases. The symptoms only appear after a stent is already 90% dysfunctional, which increases the incidence of serious complications, including strokes, heart attacks or sudden death. The standard-of-care is still symptom-driven and is based on an invasive procedure called catheter angiography, involving anesthesia, X-ray exposure and 24h hospitalization recovery. This complex procedure is not standardized for recurrent monitoring, not allowing clinicians to act upon the problem until it has already manifested. The NIMBLE System can read the electromagnetic signature of the stent non-invasively, providing information on stent satus and malfunction that can be correlated with relevant clinical outcomes. Thus, NIMBLE enables early treatments to prevent negative outcomes and personalization of pharmacological therapy, shifting from reactive to proactive care. Our technology is currently at TRL5 with an MVP that has shown and excellent results in on-going validations. However, before we can offer our solution to cardiologists and primary care clinicians, we must complete key activities in our action plan. WomenTechEU will help us to better understand pricing and reimbursement strategies for the NIMBLE System in European markets, gain visibility with investors and collaborators, and support and mentoring from being one of the growing numbers of female entrepreneurs. Susana expects that this program supports her in bringing NIMBLE System to the market.

Keywords: stent monitoring,cardiovascular diseases,preventive care,personalized care
Causes and consequences of higher host specialisation in the tropics – the role of ecological and evolutionary processes, and of data bias (SPECTRO)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: Environmental B iology, Ecology  and E volution
Panel description: For all organisms : Ecology, biodiversity, environmental change , evolutionary biology, behavioural ecology, microbial ecology , marine biology, ecophysiology, theoretical developments and mod elling
Countries involved: Sweden
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): 1500000.0
EU funding (EUR): 1500000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

While the latitudinal diversity gradient is one of the rare patterns that might be considered general and widely accepted in ecology, the latitudinal specialisation gradient remains controversial. Ecological specialisation varies greatly across the tree of life, with clades that depend on a host organism for survival being among the most specialised. Understanding the processes that produce the global pattern of increasing host specialisation with decreasing latitude would be a breakthrough in the field of evolutionary ecology. This project will investigate the causes and consequences of higher host specialisation in the tropics, focusing on fundamental repertoires (expressed and non-expressed host use abilities). First, we will test if tropical species are genetically more specialised to their hosts by identifying host-associated gene modules and reconstructing their evolution across tropical and temperate species in the tribe Nymphalini. Then, we will test if higher specialisation is an artifact of data scarcity in the tropics. For that, we will develop an efficient approach for data collection based on interaction prediction, and produce a comprehensive dataset of fundamental and realised host repertoires for tropical Melitaeini butterflies. Then, including the entire Nymphalidae family, we will test if evolution of species interactions in the tropics favours specialisation. We will apply a combination of phylogenetic and network analyses to existing global datasets (augmented with all data produced in this project) to unravel how fundamental host repertoires evolve and whether current theory is able to explain tropical interactions equally well as the better-studied temperate interactions. Finally, we will quantify the consequences of host specialisation in a changing world in terms of risk of coextinction. The frameworks developed here can be easily expanded to other symbiont-host systems, increasing the significance of this research far beyond butterflies.

Keywords: butterfly plant interactions,specialisation,interaction prediction,phylogenetic inference,ancestral networks,coextinction
Bugs4Urate - Precision Nutrition Strategies for Investigating Probiotic, Diet, Glycan, and Microbiome Factors in Hyperuricemia and Gout Prevention (Bugs4Urate)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Innovative Europe
Programme: The European Innovation Council (EIC)
Theme: EIC Pathfinder
Destination: Challenges
Action type: EIC actions
Countries involved: Denmark,Sweden,Netherlands,France,Portugal
Call: EIC Pathfinder Challenge: Precision Nutrition (HORIZON-EIC-2023-PATHFINDERCHALLENGES-01, 2023)
Start date: 2024-09-01
End date: 2027-08-31
Duration (months): 36.0
Total project cost (EUR): 4323350.75
EU funding (EUR): 4323350.75
Participants: 6
Project status: SIGNED

Gout is a prevalent lifestyle related NCD on the rise in Europe causing low quality of life, yet with inefficient means for treatment. An effective approach to manage hyperuricemia, the precursor to gout, would significantly enhance health outcomes and have a profound impact. Using a novel probiotic food-ingredient with urate-lowering properties we target the gut microbiome to eradicate urate in a precision nutrition framework where contextualizing factors of the habitual diet, host gut microbiome, and host genetics is used to establish a responder / non-responder instrument. We will employ a diverse array of methods, encompassing machine learning applied to existing clinical and omics observational data, ex-vivo dietary fiber and probiotic refinement, and two human intervention studies. In healthy adults (n = 8) we will conduct a mode-of-action study utilizing a crossover design including small intestine biopsy sampling to assess local activity. In hyperuricemic participants (n = 99) we will conduct a three-armed, placebo-controlled proof-of-concept study to access the efficacy of probiotic treatment (with and without fibre), combined with a responder / non-responder instrument. Using comprehensive longitudinal analyses in metabolomics, microbiome, transcriptomics, and glycomics, we aim to uncover the molecular dynamics between dietary patterns, established bacterial enzymatic processes, urate breakdown, and the resultant shifts in inflammation within the gut and throughout the circulatory system. By innovating the glycomics technology to accommodate alternative bio-specimens, we hope to enable straightforward home sampling and initiate early diagnostic procedures for broad population oversight. Through the application of multi-omics, we aim to develop an effective responder / non-responder instrument to probiotic intervention for serum urate reduction, inflammation control, and gout prevention.

Keywords: food for special medical purposes,precision nutrition,clinical nutrition,microbiology,gout,inflammation,glycomics,gut microbiome
Understanding how endocrine disruptors and chemical mixtures of concern target the immune system to trigger or perpetuate disease (ENDOMIX)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Global Challenges and European Industrial Competitiveness
Programme: Health
Theme: Health
Destination: Living and working in a health promoting environment
Action type: Research and Innovation actions
Countries involved: Germany,France,Spain,United Kingdom,Netherlands,Czechia,Austria
Call: Health impacts of endocrine-disrupting chemicals: bridging science-policy gaps by addressing persistent scientific uncertainties (HORIZON-HLTH-2023-ENVHLTH-02, 2023)
Start date: 2024-01-01
End date: 2027-12-31
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 6488875.0
EU funding (EUR): 6488875.0
Participants: 11
Project status: SIGNED

The ENDOMIX project addresses the urgent need to understand the true impact of endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) on human health in order to inform regulators and advise citizens. ENDOMIX will tackle this challenge by revealing associations and causality between EDCs and adverse health outcomes by focusing on exposure to multiple EDCs during life course including windows of susceptibility and making use of already existing robust data from multiple European cohorts. Modelling how real-life EDC mixtures target the immune system to initiate, trigger or perpetuate diseases combined with high throughput bioassays will reveal health-relevant mixtures of concern whose impact will be studied using ground-breaking methodology while delivering valuable information on mechanistic pathways and transgenerational impact of exposure to EDCs. This strategy will lead to the identification of biomarkers and patterns of exposure that are easy to measure, available for big sample sizes, and indicative of health endpoints. Finally, we will provide evidence synthesis of in vitro, in silico and in vivo data for strengthening causal inference and use a weight of evidence approach to generate artificial intelligence-assisted knowledge graphs. This unique loop approach with a novel focus on the immune system as EDC target is only made possible by the consortium’s interdisciplinary expertise and extensive access to existing data and biosamples as well as a meticulous study design. The knowledge generated by this consortium will be disseminated to the scientific community provide a thorough new evidence base for policy making and will reach citizens of all ages to raise awareness about the risks of EDC exposure and promote health-preserving behaviour. Hence, the outcomes of ENDOMIX do not only provide essential new knowledge and understanding but also and have far-reaching implications for the health and well-being of society, including significant savings in European health care systems.

Keywords: endocrine disrupting chemicals,mixtures,immune system,cohort studies,target organs,immunotoxicity,placenta,organoids,organ systems,immune mediated pathologies,toxicity modelling,bioassays
Addressing Unknowns and Unmet Needs of VEXAS Syndrome by Multiomics Clonal Tracking and Targeted Gene Editing (ResolVE-XAS)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: Prevention,  Diagnosis and T reatment 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: Italy
Call: ERC STARTING GRANTS (ERC-2024-STG, 2024)
Start date: 2025-03-01
End date: 2030-02-28
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1500000.0
EU funding (EUR): 1500000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) accumulate somatic mutations during aging, which may drive clonal expansion of their progeny. This clonal imbalance promotes cancer and often establish systemic inflammation contributing to frequent diseases of aging. Disentangling and tackling clonal imbalance of hematopoiesis is thus an urgent challenge with substantial medical implications for a progressively aging population. VEXAS syndrome is a novel, adult-onset, devastating disease with growing number of patients. It is caused by the expansion of pro-inflammatory hematopoietic clones acquiring somatic mutations of the UBA1 gene. Its pathophysiology is elusive, and treatments are unsatisfactory leading to dismal prognosis. In this project I will address knowledge gaps and unmet medical needs of VEXAS syndrome, here proposed as paradigmatic example of a hematologic disease of aging caused by clonal expansion. To unveil the uncharted pathogenesis underlying VEXAS clonal expansion and inflammation I will develop and apply to patients’ samples innovative multiomics technologies simultaneously informing on phenotype and genetic mutations of clones while reconstructing hierarchical relationships and retrospectively tracing expansion dynamics. To validate these findings in stringent settings I will leverage cutting-edge gene editing systems for the generation of VEXAS models by installing in human wild-type HSCs the pathogenic mutations found in patients, and study differentiation, clonal expansion and inflammatory properties of their outgrowth in transplanted immunodeficient mice. Finally I will investigate an autologous HSC gene editing approach in VEXAS models based on the hypothesis that targeted disruption or correction of mutant UBA1 alleles can erase fitness advantage of pathogenic clones. This project will transform current understanding and management of clonal imbalance of hematopoiesis by developing new models and technologies and proposing ambitious strategies to tackle it.

Keywords: vexas syndrome,clonal hematopoiesis,clonal tracking,single cell multiomics
Innovative ligands for nuclear receptors to eradicate cancer relapse. (eRaDicate)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Excellent Science
Programme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Doctoral Networks
Action type: Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions
Panel: Life Sciences
Countries involved: Austria,Poland,Ireland,Australia,Germany,Israel,Italy,United Kingdom,Spain,Netherlands
Call: MSCA Doctoral Networks 2022 (HORIZON-MSCA-2022-DN-01, 2022)
Start date: 2024-01-01
End date: 2027-12-31
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 2642789.83
EU funding (EUR): 2526933.6
Participants: 23
Project status: SIGNED

The aim of the “eRaDicate” international, multidisciplinary, and intersectoral cancer drug research and development programme is to empower 10 young scientists to become specialists in cancer research and drug development, while developing new therapies against cancer stem cell-driven relapse and metastasis. Nuclear receptors, such as retinoic acid receptor (RAR) and vitamin D receptor (VDR), play key roles in many hallmarks of cancer and constitute effective targets for modern cancer therapy. To address the EU priority “Mission Cancer”, we will 1) test the anti-cancer activity of RAR and VDR targeting compounds; 2) design and synthesise a highly innovative dual action hybrid compound acting simultaneously as RARγ antagonist and VDR agonist; 3) devise pre-formulation strategies for our compounds; 4) and develop a novel, deep learning-based cancer analysis and diagnostics method. We will test how our RAR and VDR-targeting compounds affect stemness and metastatic potential in leukaemia, breast, prostate, colorectal, and ovarian cancer. In parallel, we will assess if the pan-RAR antagonist is effective against chemotherapy-induced neutropenia. For the development of the RAR and VDR targeting compounds into administrable medicines, ready for eventual commercialisation, we will develop pre-formulation strategies. We will generate a novel and highly innovative label-free image analysis method based on histoplasmonic cytometry. The project will have lasting scientific, economic, and societal impact. In order to be prepared for a wide spectrum of career opportunities, we will train the doctoral candidates (DCs) not only to perform original and independent research on an internationally competitive level, but also endow them with creative, critical and entrepreneurial mindset, coupled with persistence in following their objectives. Our consortium consists of 8 academic and 1 industrial beneficiary, as well as 12 associated partners to provide training and secondments.

Keywords: metastasis,relapse,new chemical entities,genomics,medicinal chemistry,molecular biology,nuclear receptors,preformulation,breast prostate ovarian and colorectal cancer,leukaemia,cytometry
PREFERABLE-II - Personalised Exercise-Oncology for improvement of supportive care: a super umbrella trial to demonstrate the (cost)effectiveness of live-remote exercise in cancer survivors (PREFERABLE-II)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Global Challenges and European Industrial Competitiveness
Programme: Health
Theme: Health
Destination: Tackling diseases and reducing disease burden
Action type: Research and Innovation actions
Countries involved: Netherlands,Sweden,Germany,Portugal,Australia,Spain
Call: Improved supportive, palliative, survivorship and end-of-life care of cancer patients (HORIZON-HLTH-2021-DISEASE-04, 2021)
Start date: 2022-11-01
End date: 2027-10-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 6011450.0
EU funding (EUR): 5925462.5
Participants: 16
Project status: SIGNED

With over 12 million cancer survivors relying on supportive care across the EU, it is essential to provide them with (cost-)effective interventions tailored to their specific needs. Many survivors suffer from long-term side effects that can lower their quality of life (QoL), functioning, and productivity. Exercise interventions have proven to be uniquely beneficial in managing both physical and psychological complaints. However, their effects are strongest when tailored to a patient's specific burden, e.g. fatigue, low physical fitness, anxiety and depressive symptoms or chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy. Moreover, the use of exercise interventions in supportive cancer care is still limited due to a lack of availability, a lack of accessibility caused by time and travel constraints and low awareness. To tackle these hurdles, the PREFERABLE-II consortium sets out to design and demonstrate the (cost-)effectiveness of a novel exercise intervention that: 1) will be tailored to the side effect that bothers the survivor the most, by use of a modular design, 2) can be implemented at home, with live-remote supervision from a national broadcast centre, 3) is available to all cancer survivors, and 4) incorporates improved patient-centred communication and shared decision making. Results of our RCT, enrolling 350 cancer survivors, will be translated into guideline recommendations for exercise-oncology. Extensive ethical, legal and social impact components of the project will reveal barriers and facilitators of live-remote supervised exercise and provide policy recommendations to further support implementation. Finally, we will create communication standards and an education module for healthcare professionals to train the future workforce. As such, PREFERABLE-II contributes to improving the QoL of cancer survivors by lowering the burden of side effects, while also improving availability, access and awareness off exercise-based supportive care interventions.

Keywords: personalised exercise,supportive care,quality of life,cancer survivors,cancer and treatment related side effects,live remote supervision