Project acronym BioELCell
Project Bioproducts Engineered from Lignocelluloses: from plants and upcycling to next generation materials
Researcher (PI) Orlando Rojas Gaona
Host Institution (HI) AALTO KORKEAKOULUSAATIO SR
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), PE8, ERC-2017-ADG
Summary BioELCell will deliver ground-breaking approaches to create next material generation based on renewable resources, mainly cellulose and lignin micro- and nano-particles (MNC, MNL). Our action will disassemble and re-engineer these plant-based polymers into functional materials that will respond to the demands of the bioeconomy of the future, critically important to Europe and the world. My ambitious, high gain research plan is underpinned in the use of multiphase systems with ultra-low interfacial tension to facilitate nanocellulose liberation and atomization of lignin solution streams into spherical particles.
BioELCell will design novel routes to control MNC and MNL reassembly in new 1-D, 2-D and 3-D structures. The systematic methodologies that I propose will address the main challenges for lignocellulose processing and deployment, considering the important effects of interactions with water. This BioELCell action presents a transformative approach by integrating complementary disciplines that will lead to a far-reaching understanding of lignocellulosic biopolymers and solve key challenges in their use, paving the way to functional product development. Results of this project permeates directly or indirectly in the grand challenges for engineering, namely, water use, carbon sequestration, nitrogen cycle, food and advanced materials. Indeed, after addressing the key fundamental elements of the research lines, BioELCell vindicates such effects based on rational use of plant-based materials as a sustainable resource, making possible the generation of new functions and advanced materials.
BioELCell goes far beyond what is known today about cellulose and lignin micro and nano-particles, some of the most promising materials of our century, which are emerging as key elements for the success of a sustainable society.
Summary
BioELCell will deliver ground-breaking approaches to create next material generation based on renewable resources, mainly cellulose and lignin micro- and nano-particles (MNC, MNL). Our action will disassemble and re-engineer these plant-based polymers into functional materials that will respond to the demands of the bioeconomy of the future, critically important to Europe and the world. My ambitious, high gain research plan is underpinned in the use of multiphase systems with ultra-low interfacial tension to facilitate nanocellulose liberation and atomization of lignin solution streams into spherical particles.
BioELCell will design novel routes to control MNC and MNL reassembly in new 1-D, 2-D and 3-D structures. The systematic methodologies that I propose will address the main challenges for lignocellulose processing and deployment, considering the important effects of interactions with water. This BioELCell action presents a transformative approach by integrating complementary disciplines that will lead to a far-reaching understanding of lignocellulosic biopolymers and solve key challenges in their use, paving the way to functional product development. Results of this project permeates directly or indirectly in the grand challenges for engineering, namely, water use, carbon sequestration, nitrogen cycle, food and advanced materials. Indeed, after addressing the key fundamental elements of the research lines, BioELCell vindicates such effects based on rational use of plant-based materials as a sustainable resource, making possible the generation of new functions and advanced materials.
BioELCell goes far beyond what is known today about cellulose and lignin micro and nano-particles, some of the most promising materials of our century, which are emerging as key elements for the success of a sustainable society.
Max ERC Funding
2 486 182 €
Duration
Start date: 2018-08-01, End date: 2023-07-31
Project acronym BONDS
Project Bilayered ON-Demand Scaffolds: On-Demand Delivery from induced Pluripotent Stem Cell Derived Scaffolds for Diabetic Foot Ulcers
Researcher (PI) Cathal KEARNEY
Host Institution (HI) ROYAL COLLEGE OF SURGEONS IN IRELAND
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), PE8, ERC-2017-STG
Summary This program’s goal is to develop a scaffold using a new biomaterial source that is functionalised with on-demand delivery of genes for coordinated healing of diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs). DFUs are chronic wounds that are often recalcitrant to treatment, which devastatingly results in lower leg amputation. This project builds on the PI’s experience growing matrix from induced-pluripotent stem cell derived (iPS)-fibroblasts and in developing on-demand drug delivery technologies. The aim of this project is to first develop a SiPS: a scaffold from iPS-fibroblast grown matrix, which has never been tested as a source material for scaffolds. iPS-fibroblasts grow a more pro-repair and angiogenic matrix than (non-iPS) adult fibroblasts. The SiPS structure will be bilayered to mimic native skin: dermis made mostly by fibroblasts and epidermis made by keratinocytes. The dermal layer will consist of a porous scaffold with optimised pore size and mechanical properties and the epidermal layer will be film-like, optimised for keratinisation.
Second, the SiPS will be functionalised with delivery of plasmid-DNA (platelet derived growth factor gene, pPDGF) to direct angiogenesis on-demand. As DFUs undergo uncoordinated healing, timed pPDGF delivery will guide them through angiogenesis and healing. To achieve this, alginate microparticles, designed to respond to ultrasound by releasing pPDGF, will be interspersed throughout the SiPS. This BONDS will be tested in an in vivo pre-clinical DFU model to confirm its ability to heal wounds by providing cells with the appropriate biomimetic scaffold environment and timed directions for healing. With >100 million current diabetics expected to get a DFU, the BONDS would have a powerful clinical impact.
This research program combines a disruptive technology, the SiPS, with a new platform for on-demand delivery of pDNA to heal DFUs. The PI will build his lab around these innovative platforms, adapting them for treatment of diverse complex wounds.
Summary
This program’s goal is to develop a scaffold using a new biomaterial source that is functionalised with on-demand delivery of genes for coordinated healing of diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs). DFUs are chronic wounds that are often recalcitrant to treatment, which devastatingly results in lower leg amputation. This project builds on the PI’s experience growing matrix from induced-pluripotent stem cell derived (iPS)-fibroblasts and in developing on-demand drug delivery technologies. The aim of this project is to first develop a SiPS: a scaffold from iPS-fibroblast grown matrix, which has never been tested as a source material for scaffolds. iPS-fibroblasts grow a more pro-repair and angiogenic matrix than (non-iPS) adult fibroblasts. The SiPS structure will be bilayered to mimic native skin: dermis made mostly by fibroblasts and epidermis made by keratinocytes. The dermal layer will consist of a porous scaffold with optimised pore size and mechanical properties and the epidermal layer will be film-like, optimised for keratinisation.
Second, the SiPS will be functionalised with delivery of plasmid-DNA (platelet derived growth factor gene, pPDGF) to direct angiogenesis on-demand. As DFUs undergo uncoordinated healing, timed pPDGF delivery will guide them through angiogenesis and healing. To achieve this, alginate microparticles, designed to respond to ultrasound by releasing pPDGF, will be interspersed throughout the SiPS. This BONDS will be tested in an in vivo pre-clinical DFU model to confirm its ability to heal wounds by providing cells with the appropriate biomimetic scaffold environment and timed directions for healing. With >100 million current diabetics expected to get a DFU, the BONDS would have a powerful clinical impact.
This research program combines a disruptive technology, the SiPS, with a new platform for on-demand delivery of pDNA to heal DFUs. The PI will build his lab around these innovative platforms, adapting them for treatment of diverse complex wounds.
Max ERC Funding
1 372 135 €
Duration
Start date: 2017-10-01, End date: 2022-09-30
Project acronym CABUM
Project An investigation of the mechanisms at the interaction between cavitation bubbles and contaminants
Researcher (PI) Matevz DULAR
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERZA V LJUBLJANI
Call Details Consolidator Grant (CoG), PE8, ERC-2017-COG
Summary A sudden decrease in pressure triggers the formation of vapour and gas bubbles inside a liquid medium (also called cavitation). This leads to many (key) engineering problems: material loss, noise and vibration of hydraulic machinery. On the other hand, cavitation is a potentially a useful phenomenon: the extreme conditions are increasingly used for a wide variety of applications such as surface cleaning, enhanced chemistry, and waste water treatment (bacteria eradication and virus inactivation).
Despite this significant progress a large gap persists between the understanding of the mechanisms that contribute to the effects of cavitation and its application. Although engineers are already commercializing devices that employ cavitation, we are still not able to answer the fundamental question: What precisely are the mechanisms how bubbles can clean, disinfect, kill bacteria and enhance chemical activity? The overall objective of the project is to understand and determine the fundamental physics of the interaction of cavitation bubbles with different contaminants. To address this issue, the CABUM project will investigate the physical background of cavitation from physical, biological and engineering perspective on three complexity scales: i) on single bubble level, ii) on organised and iii) on random bubble clusters, producing a progressive multidisciplinary synergetic effect.
The proposed synergetic approach builds on the PI's preliminary research and employs novel experimental and numerical methodologies, some of which have been developed by the PI and his research group, to explore the physics of cavitation behaviour in interaction with bacteria and viruses.
Understanding the fundamental physical background of cavitation in interaction with contaminants will have a ground-breaking implications in various scientific fields (engineering, chemistry and biology) and will, in the future, enable the exploitation of cavitation in water and soil treatment processes.
Summary
A sudden decrease in pressure triggers the formation of vapour and gas bubbles inside a liquid medium (also called cavitation). This leads to many (key) engineering problems: material loss, noise and vibration of hydraulic machinery. On the other hand, cavitation is a potentially a useful phenomenon: the extreme conditions are increasingly used for a wide variety of applications such as surface cleaning, enhanced chemistry, and waste water treatment (bacteria eradication and virus inactivation).
Despite this significant progress a large gap persists between the understanding of the mechanisms that contribute to the effects of cavitation and its application. Although engineers are already commercializing devices that employ cavitation, we are still not able to answer the fundamental question: What precisely are the mechanisms how bubbles can clean, disinfect, kill bacteria and enhance chemical activity? The overall objective of the project is to understand and determine the fundamental physics of the interaction of cavitation bubbles with different contaminants. To address this issue, the CABUM project will investigate the physical background of cavitation from physical, biological and engineering perspective on three complexity scales: i) on single bubble level, ii) on organised and iii) on random bubble clusters, producing a progressive multidisciplinary synergetic effect.
The proposed synergetic approach builds on the PI's preliminary research and employs novel experimental and numerical methodologies, some of which have been developed by the PI and his research group, to explore the physics of cavitation behaviour in interaction with bacteria and viruses.
Understanding the fundamental physical background of cavitation in interaction with contaminants will have a ground-breaking implications in various scientific fields (engineering, chemistry and biology) and will, in the future, enable the exploitation of cavitation in water and soil treatment processes.
Max ERC Funding
1 904 565 €
Duration
Start date: 2018-07-01, End date: 2023-06-30
Project acronym COSMOS
Project Computational Simulations of MOFs for Gas Separations
Researcher (PI) Seda Keskin Avci
Host Institution (HI) KOC UNIVERSITY
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), PE8, ERC-2017-STG
Summary Metal organic frameworks (MOFs) are recently considered as new fascinating nanoporous materials. MOFs have very large surface areas, high porosities, various pore sizes/shapes, chemical functionalities and good thermal/chemical stabilities. These properties make MOFs highly promising for gas separation applications. Thousands of MOFs have been synthesized in the last decade. The large number of available MOFs creates excellent opportunities to develop energy-efficient gas separation technologies. On the other hand, it is very challenging to identify the best materials for each gas separation of interest. Considering the continuous rapid increase in the number of synthesized materials, it is practically not possible to test each MOF using purely experimental manners. Highly accurate computational methods are required to identify the most promising MOFs to direct experimental efforts, time and resources to those materials. In this project, I will build a complete MOF library and use molecular simulations to assess adsorption and diffusion properties of gas mixtures in MOFs. Results of simulations will be used to predict adsorbent and membrane properties of MOFs for scientifically and technologically important gas separation processes such as CO2/CH4 (natural gas purification), CO2/N2 (flue gas separation), CO2/H2, CH4/H2 and N2/H2 (hydrogen recovery). I will obtain the fundamental, atomic-level insights into the common features of the top-performing MOFs and establish structure-performance relations. These relations will be used as guidelines to computationally design new MOFs with outstanding separation performances for CO2 capture and H2 recovery. These new MOFs will be finally synthesized in the lab scale and tested as adsorbents and membranes under practical operating conditions for each gas separation of interest. Combining a multi-stage computational approach with experiments, this project will lead to novel, efficient gas separation technologies based on MOFs.
Summary
Metal organic frameworks (MOFs) are recently considered as new fascinating nanoporous materials. MOFs have very large surface areas, high porosities, various pore sizes/shapes, chemical functionalities and good thermal/chemical stabilities. These properties make MOFs highly promising for gas separation applications. Thousands of MOFs have been synthesized in the last decade. The large number of available MOFs creates excellent opportunities to develop energy-efficient gas separation technologies. On the other hand, it is very challenging to identify the best materials for each gas separation of interest. Considering the continuous rapid increase in the number of synthesized materials, it is practically not possible to test each MOF using purely experimental manners. Highly accurate computational methods are required to identify the most promising MOFs to direct experimental efforts, time and resources to those materials. In this project, I will build a complete MOF library and use molecular simulations to assess adsorption and diffusion properties of gas mixtures in MOFs. Results of simulations will be used to predict adsorbent and membrane properties of MOFs for scientifically and technologically important gas separation processes such as CO2/CH4 (natural gas purification), CO2/N2 (flue gas separation), CO2/H2, CH4/H2 and N2/H2 (hydrogen recovery). I will obtain the fundamental, atomic-level insights into the common features of the top-performing MOFs and establish structure-performance relations. These relations will be used as guidelines to computationally design new MOFs with outstanding separation performances for CO2 capture and H2 recovery. These new MOFs will be finally synthesized in the lab scale and tested as adsorbents and membranes under practical operating conditions for each gas separation of interest. Combining a multi-stage computational approach with experiments, this project will lead to novel, efficient gas separation technologies based on MOFs.
Max ERC Funding
1 500 000 €
Duration
Start date: 2017-10-01, End date: 2022-09-30
Project acronym GULAGECHOES
Project Gulag Echoes in the “multicultural prison”: historical and geographical influences on the identity and politics of ethnic minority prisoners in the communist successor states of Russia Europe.
Researcher (PI) Judith PALLOT
Host Institution (HI) HELSINGIN YLIOPISTO
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), SH3, ERC-2017-ADG
Summary "The project will examine the impact of the system of penality developed in the Soviet gulag on the ethnic identification and political radicalisation of prisoners in the Soviet Union and the communist successor states of Europe today. It is informed by the proposition that prisons are sites of ethnic identity construction but that the processes involved vary within and between states. In the project, the focus is on the extent to which particular ""prison-styles"" affect the social relationships, self-identification and political association of ethnic minority prisoners. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the communist successor states all set about reforming their prison systems to bring them into line with international and European norms. However, all to a lesser or greater extent still have legacies of the system gestated in the Soviet Gulag and exported to East-Central-Europe after WWII. These may include the internal organisation of penal space, a collectivist approach to prisoner management, penal labour and, as in Russian case, a geographical distribution of the penal estate that results in prisoners being sent excessively long distances to serve their sentences. It is the how these legacies, interacting with other forces (including official and popular discourses, formal policy and individual life-histories) transform, confirm, and suppress the ethnic identification of prisoners that the project seeks to excavate. It will use a mixed method approach to answer research questions, including interviews with ex-prisoners and prisoners' families, the use of archival and documentary sources and social media. The research will use case studies to analyze the experiences of ethnic minority prisoners over time and through space. These provisionally will be Chechens, Tartars, Ukrainians, Estonians, migrant Uzbek and Tadjik workers and Roma and the country case studies are the Russian Federation, Georgia and Romania."
Summary
"The project will examine the impact of the system of penality developed in the Soviet gulag on the ethnic identification and political radicalisation of prisoners in the Soviet Union and the communist successor states of Europe today. It is informed by the proposition that prisons are sites of ethnic identity construction but that the processes involved vary within and between states. In the project, the focus is on the extent to which particular ""prison-styles"" affect the social relationships, self-identification and political association of ethnic minority prisoners. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the communist successor states all set about reforming their prison systems to bring them into line with international and European norms. However, all to a lesser or greater extent still have legacies of the system gestated in the Soviet Gulag and exported to East-Central-Europe after WWII. These may include the internal organisation of penal space, a collectivist approach to prisoner management, penal labour and, as in Russian case, a geographical distribution of the penal estate that results in prisoners being sent excessively long distances to serve their sentences. It is the how these legacies, interacting with other forces (including official and popular discourses, formal policy and individual life-histories) transform, confirm, and suppress the ethnic identification of prisoners that the project seeks to excavate. It will use a mixed method approach to answer research questions, including interviews with ex-prisoners and prisoners' families, the use of archival and documentary sources and social media. The research will use case studies to analyze the experiences of ethnic minority prisoners over time and through space. These provisionally will be Chechens, Tartars, Ukrainians, Estonians, migrant Uzbek and Tadjik workers and Roma and the country case studies are the Russian Federation, Georgia and Romania."
Max ERC Funding
2 494 685 €
Duration
Start date: 2018-11-01, End date: 2023-10-31
Project acronym ISLAM-OPHOB-ISM
Project Nativism, Islamophobism and Islamism in the Age of Populism: Culturalisation and Religionisation of what is Social, Economic and Political in Europe
Researcher (PI) Ayhan KAYA
Host Institution (HI) ISTANBUL BILGI UNIVERSITESI
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), SH3, ERC-2017-ADG
Summary The main research question of the study is: How and why do some European citizens generate a populist and Islamophobist discourse to express their discontent with the current social, economic and political state of their national and European contexts, while some members of migrant-origin communities with Muslim background generate an essentialist and radical form of Islamist discourse within the same societies? The main premise of this study is that various segments of the European public (radicalizing young members of both native populations and migrant-origin populations with Muslim background), who have been alienated and swept away by the flows of globalization such as deindustrialization, mobility, migration, tourism, social-economic inequalities, international trade, and robotic production, are more inclined to respectively adopt two mainstream political discourses: Islamophobism (for native populations) and Islamism (for Muslim-migrant-origin populations). Both discourses have become pivotal along with the rise of the civilizational rhetoric since the early 1990s. On the one hand, the neo-liberal age seems to be leading to the nativisation of radicalism among some groups of host populations while, on the other hand, it is leading to the islamization of radicalism among some segments of deprived migrant-origin populations. The common denominator of these groups is that they are both downwardly mobile and inclined towards radicalization. Hence, this project aims to scrutinize social, economic, political and psychological sources of the processes of radicalization among native European youth and Muslim-origin youth with migration background, who are both inclined to express their discontent through ethnicity, culture, religion, heritage, homogeneity, authenticity, past, gender and patriarchy. The field research will comprise four migrant receiving countries: Germany, France, Belgium, and the Netherlands, and two migrant sending countries: Turkey and Morocco.
Summary
The main research question of the study is: How and why do some European citizens generate a populist and Islamophobist discourse to express their discontent with the current social, economic and political state of their national and European contexts, while some members of migrant-origin communities with Muslim background generate an essentialist and radical form of Islamist discourse within the same societies? The main premise of this study is that various segments of the European public (radicalizing young members of both native populations and migrant-origin populations with Muslim background), who have been alienated and swept away by the flows of globalization such as deindustrialization, mobility, migration, tourism, social-economic inequalities, international trade, and robotic production, are more inclined to respectively adopt two mainstream political discourses: Islamophobism (for native populations) and Islamism (for Muslim-migrant-origin populations). Both discourses have become pivotal along with the rise of the civilizational rhetoric since the early 1990s. On the one hand, the neo-liberal age seems to be leading to the nativisation of radicalism among some groups of host populations while, on the other hand, it is leading to the islamization of radicalism among some segments of deprived migrant-origin populations. The common denominator of these groups is that they are both downwardly mobile and inclined towards radicalization. Hence, this project aims to scrutinize social, economic, political and psychological sources of the processes of radicalization among native European youth and Muslim-origin youth with migration background, who are both inclined to express their discontent through ethnicity, culture, religion, heritage, homogeneity, authenticity, past, gender and patriarchy. The field research will comprise four migrant receiving countries: Germany, France, Belgium, and the Netherlands, and two migrant sending countries: Turkey and Morocco.
Max ERC Funding
2 276 125 €
Duration
Start date: 2019-01-01, End date: 2023-12-31
Project acronym MISFIRES
Project Misfires and Market Innovation: Toward a Collaborative Turn in Organising Markets
Researcher (PI) Susi Geiger
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSITY COLLEGE DUBLIN, NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF IRELAND, DUBLIN
Call Details Consolidator Grant (CoG), SH3, ERC-2017-COG
Summary MISFIRES opens up new theoretical and empirical horizons for analysing and innovating ‘concerned markets’, where multiple actors’ interests, values and concerns clash. It asks how actors can engage with a market’s failures to challenge its organisation and make it more collaborative, more open to civic values and to social or political concerns. Concerned markets are contested by diverse actors with equally diverse perspectives and value measures. Evaluating such a market’s efficiency is as much of an illusion as redesigning its inner workings on a blackboard. We need new conceptual frameworks to understand how to innovate concerned markets from the inside to make them ‘better’ (as defined by concerned actors), and we urgently need empirical insights into how collaborative action in markets with such social and political stakes may translate into market change. MISFIRES relies on science and technology studies, pragmatic sociology and critical market studies to shift thinking around market organisation from failure and design to collaboration and experimentation. I devise an ethnographic and participatory inquiry to explore how a market’s failures can lead us to markets that are more attentive to and accommodating of the concerns they create. I choose three exemplary contested markets in healthcare (licensing of antiretroviral drugs, Hepatitis C pricing, and the sale of DNA information) and two emergent controversies to investigate the activities concerned actors undertake, and the instruments and devices they experiment with, to re-organise that market. MISFIRES will comprehensively map, engage in, and conceptualise this collaborative turn in organising markets. With this, MISFIRES will guide new academic and policy thinking by establishing how:
1) concerned actors voice and mobilise around the notion that a market has ‘failed’ them;
2) concerned actors seek to negotiate and address market failures;
3) this process may lead to ‘better’ markets.
Summary
MISFIRES opens up new theoretical and empirical horizons for analysing and innovating ‘concerned markets’, where multiple actors’ interests, values and concerns clash. It asks how actors can engage with a market’s failures to challenge its organisation and make it more collaborative, more open to civic values and to social or political concerns. Concerned markets are contested by diverse actors with equally diverse perspectives and value measures. Evaluating such a market’s efficiency is as much of an illusion as redesigning its inner workings on a blackboard. We need new conceptual frameworks to understand how to innovate concerned markets from the inside to make them ‘better’ (as defined by concerned actors), and we urgently need empirical insights into how collaborative action in markets with such social and political stakes may translate into market change. MISFIRES relies on science and technology studies, pragmatic sociology and critical market studies to shift thinking around market organisation from failure and design to collaboration and experimentation. I devise an ethnographic and participatory inquiry to explore how a market’s failures can lead us to markets that are more attentive to and accommodating of the concerns they create. I choose three exemplary contested markets in healthcare (licensing of antiretroviral drugs, Hepatitis C pricing, and the sale of DNA information) and two emergent controversies to investigate the activities concerned actors undertake, and the instruments and devices they experiment with, to re-organise that market. MISFIRES will comprehensively map, engage in, and conceptualise this collaborative turn in organising markets. With this, MISFIRES will guide new academic and policy thinking by establishing how:
1) concerned actors voice and mobilise around the notion that a market has ‘failed’ them;
2) concerned actors seek to negotiate and address market failures;
3) this process may lead to ‘better’ markets.
Max ERC Funding
1 923 780 €
Duration
Start date: 2018-08-01, End date: 2023-07-31
Project acronym REACT
Project REsponsive theranostic nanosystems for Advanced Cancer Treatment
Researcher (PI) Eduardo RUIZ-HERNANDEZ
Host Institution (HI) THE PROVOST, FELLOWS, FOUNDATION SCHOLARS & THE OTHER MEMBERS OF BOARD OF THE COLLEGE OF THE HOLY & UNDIVIDED TRINITY OF QUEEN ELIZABETH NEAR DUBLIN
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), PE8, ERC-2017-STG
Summary REACT aims to dramatically impact the targeted release of diagnostic agents and drugs with nanomedicines that respond to biological cues or changing pathophysiological conditions, thus enabling ultrasensitive diagnosis and exquisite therapy selectivity. Nanomedicine research against cancer focuses on the local targeted delivery of chemotherapeutics to enhance drug efficacy and reduce side effects. Despite all the efforts in the design of chemotherapeutic agents as nanomedicines, hardly any improvement has been translated into benefits for patients’ survival. There is an urgent need for improved carrier systems able to deliver high doses of diagnostic agents and anti-cancer drugs to the tumor. Stimuli responsive carriers are promising candidates since the release of the cargo can be triggered locally in the tumor environment. Currently, there exists an unparalleled effort to identify genes, proteins and metabolites implicated in human disease and utilize systems biology and mathematical approaches in order to develop new prognostic tools for the treatment of cancer and develop more targeted therapies for patients. As an expert in drug delivery systems, the PI intends to bring all these efforts and advances into the design of stimuli responsive organic-inorganic hybrid nanoparticles that can adapt their response to the biological milieu. The novel engineered delivery systems will consist of an inorganic porous matrix surface-modified with tumor-specific molecules with the ability to sense changes in the environmental conditions and react by providing a proportional release. These nanosystems can potentially be employed for early in vitro diagnosis through effective screening of deadly tumors, such as neuroblastoma and glioblastoma. Moreover, through the sustained delivery of the nanosystems from injectable gels that can be locally implanted in patients at risk of developing a tumor, a clinically relevant tool for in vivo diagnosis and targeted therapy can be achieved.
Summary
REACT aims to dramatically impact the targeted release of diagnostic agents and drugs with nanomedicines that respond to biological cues or changing pathophysiological conditions, thus enabling ultrasensitive diagnosis and exquisite therapy selectivity. Nanomedicine research against cancer focuses on the local targeted delivery of chemotherapeutics to enhance drug efficacy and reduce side effects. Despite all the efforts in the design of chemotherapeutic agents as nanomedicines, hardly any improvement has been translated into benefits for patients’ survival. There is an urgent need for improved carrier systems able to deliver high doses of diagnostic agents and anti-cancer drugs to the tumor. Stimuli responsive carriers are promising candidates since the release of the cargo can be triggered locally in the tumor environment. Currently, there exists an unparalleled effort to identify genes, proteins and metabolites implicated in human disease and utilize systems biology and mathematical approaches in order to develop new prognostic tools for the treatment of cancer and develop more targeted therapies for patients. As an expert in drug delivery systems, the PI intends to bring all these efforts and advances into the design of stimuli responsive organic-inorganic hybrid nanoparticles that can adapt their response to the biological milieu. The novel engineered delivery systems will consist of an inorganic porous matrix surface-modified with tumor-specific molecules with the ability to sense changes in the environmental conditions and react by providing a proportional release. These nanosystems can potentially be employed for early in vitro diagnosis through effective screening of deadly tumors, such as neuroblastoma and glioblastoma. Moreover, through the sustained delivery of the nanosystems from injectable gels that can be locally implanted in patients at risk of developing a tumor, a clinically relevant tool for in vivo diagnosis and targeted therapy can be achieved.
Max ERC Funding
1 498 346 €
Duration
Start date: 2019-01-01, End date: 2023-12-31
Project acronym ReCaP
Project Regeneration of Articular Cartilage using Advanced Biomaterials and Printing Technology
Researcher (PI) Fergal O'BRIEN
Host Institution (HI) ROYAL COLLEGE OF SURGEONS IN IRELAND
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), PE8, ERC-2017-ADG
Summary Adult articular cartilage has a limited capacity for repair and when damaged or injured, experiences a loss of function which leads to joint degeneration and ultimately osteoarthritis. Biomaterials-based treatments have had very limited success due to the complex zonal structure of the articular joint, problems with biomaterial retention at the joint surface and achieving integration with the host tissue while also maintaining load bearing capacity. Stem cell therapies have also failed to live up to significant hype for a number of reasons including the challenges with achieving formation of stable hyaline cartilage which does not undergo hypertrophy. Building on a wealth of experience in the area, we propose a solution. ReCaP will initially overcome the problems with traditional biomaterials approaches by utilising recent advances in the area of advanced manufacturing and 3D printing to develop a 3D printed multi-layered scaffold with pore architecture, mechanical properties and bioactive composition tailored to regenerate articular cartilage, intermediate calcified cartilage and subchondral bone. Following this, and building on internationally recognised pioneering research in the applicant’s lab on scaffold-mediated nanomedicine delivery, this system will be functionalised for the controlled non-viral delivery of nucleic acids (including plasmid DNA and microRNAs) to direct host stem cells to produce stable hyaline cartilage at the joint surface and encourage the rapid formation of vascularised bone in the subchondral region. A new paradigm-shifting surgical procedure will then be applied to allow this system to be anchored to the joint surface while directing host cell infiltration and tissue repair, thus promoting restoration of even large regions of the damaged joint through a joint surfacing approach. The proposed ReCaP platform is thus a paradigm shifting disruptive technology that will revolutionise the way joint injuries are treated.
Summary
Adult articular cartilage has a limited capacity for repair and when damaged or injured, experiences a loss of function which leads to joint degeneration and ultimately osteoarthritis. Biomaterials-based treatments have had very limited success due to the complex zonal structure of the articular joint, problems with biomaterial retention at the joint surface and achieving integration with the host tissue while also maintaining load bearing capacity. Stem cell therapies have also failed to live up to significant hype for a number of reasons including the challenges with achieving formation of stable hyaline cartilage which does not undergo hypertrophy. Building on a wealth of experience in the area, we propose a solution. ReCaP will initially overcome the problems with traditional biomaterials approaches by utilising recent advances in the area of advanced manufacturing and 3D printing to develop a 3D printed multi-layered scaffold with pore architecture, mechanical properties and bioactive composition tailored to regenerate articular cartilage, intermediate calcified cartilage and subchondral bone. Following this, and building on internationally recognised pioneering research in the applicant’s lab on scaffold-mediated nanomedicine delivery, this system will be functionalised for the controlled non-viral delivery of nucleic acids (including plasmid DNA and microRNAs) to direct host stem cells to produce stable hyaline cartilage at the joint surface and encourage the rapid formation of vascularised bone in the subchondral region. A new paradigm-shifting surgical procedure will then be applied to allow this system to be anchored to the joint surface while directing host cell infiltration and tissue repair, thus promoting restoration of even large regions of the damaged joint through a joint surfacing approach. The proposed ReCaP platform is thus a paradigm shifting disruptive technology that will revolutionise the way joint injuries are treated.
Max ERC Funding
2 999 410 €
Duration
Start date: 2018-08-01, End date: 2023-07-31
