Project acronym COBRAS
Project COvariance Based RAman Spectrometer (COBRAS)
Researcher (PI) Daniele FAUSTI
Host Institution (HI) ELETTRA - SINCROTRONE TRIESTE SCPA
Call Details Proof of Concept (PoC), ERC-2019-PoC
Summary In COBRAS we will establish Femtosecond Covariance Spectroscopy, a new spectroscopic technique to measure the optical response of material which is based on stochastic light pulses characterized by frequency uncorrelated intensity fluctuation. By using light with different property every repetition, each reiteration of the experiment can be considered as a measurement under new conditions rather than a repetition of the same experiment. Crucially, within the ERC_StG project INCEPT we have demonstrated that in this limit the frequency of the Raman modes of a sample can be retrieved by measuring the spectral correlations in different pulses which are induced by the interaction with the sample. This is in striking contrast with standard approaches to Raman spectroscopy which are based on the measurement of the integrated emission of Raman sidebands at a given frequency and therefore require a high stability and low noise detection which can be reached only at a significant expense. Conversely, in covariance-based methods noise is a resource that can be exploited (rather than an impediment) and a much simpler and cheaper architecture for the spectrometer can be envisioned.
The central idea of COBRAS is to set the way for commercial exploitation of covariance-based approaches to Raman spectroscopy. To this purpose we will develop a prototype spectrometer, study the general applicability of the covariance based methods and identify viable strategies for the commercialization of the spectrometer developed. We stress that the concept proposed here for Raman spectroscopy can be extended to different optical techniques and wavelength ranges. This make us confident that the COBRAS investment may represent a paradigmatic change in the approach to optical spectroscopy, potentially disclosing a new market across different industrial and scientific spectroscopic applications.
Summary
In COBRAS we will establish Femtosecond Covariance Spectroscopy, a new spectroscopic technique to measure the optical response of material which is based on stochastic light pulses characterized by frequency uncorrelated intensity fluctuation. By using light with different property every repetition, each reiteration of the experiment can be considered as a measurement under new conditions rather than a repetition of the same experiment. Crucially, within the ERC_StG project INCEPT we have demonstrated that in this limit the frequency of the Raman modes of a sample can be retrieved by measuring the spectral correlations in different pulses which are induced by the interaction with the sample. This is in striking contrast with standard approaches to Raman spectroscopy which are based on the measurement of the integrated emission of Raman sidebands at a given frequency and therefore require a high stability and low noise detection which can be reached only at a significant expense. Conversely, in covariance-based methods noise is a resource that can be exploited (rather than an impediment) and a much simpler and cheaper architecture for the spectrometer can be envisioned.
The central idea of COBRAS is to set the way for commercial exploitation of covariance-based approaches to Raman spectroscopy. To this purpose we will develop a prototype spectrometer, study the general applicability of the covariance based methods and identify viable strategies for the commercialization of the spectrometer developed. We stress that the concept proposed here for Raman spectroscopy can be extended to different optical techniques and wavelength ranges. This make us confident that the COBRAS investment may represent a paradigmatic change in the approach to optical spectroscopy, potentially disclosing a new market across different industrial and scientific spectroscopic applications.
Max ERC Funding
150 000 €
Duration
Start date: 2019-07-01, End date: 2020-12-31
Project acronym IMOS4ALL
Project InP Membrane on Silicon technology for a broad range of applications
Researcher (PI) Meint Smit
Host Institution (HI) TECHNISCHE UNIVERSITEIT EINDHOVEN
Call Details Proof of Concept (PoC), ERC-2019-PoC
Summary Photonic technologies are key enablers for high-speed, on-demand communications, precision sensors, imaging and metrology. Industry roadmapping initiatives are now showing a clear and pressing need for miniaturising photonics solutions across market segments with sustained improvements in energy-efficiency, precision and performance. Photonic integration can meet these challenges, and has been convincingly demonstrated in fiber optic systems, but there is an absence of chip scale solutions for connectorless communications and sensor circuits requiring optical wireless connectivity. The necessary combination of high-performance optoelectronics, photonics integration, and chip-scale beam forming is not available to the industry.
IMOS – Indium Phosphide membrane on Silicon enables the combination of nanophotonics, photonic integration, lasers, amplifiers and the highest efficiency electro-optic processes. Integrated nanophotonics offers a route to exquisite optical beam control within the chip, and removes the need for fiber optic connectivity, micro-mechanical-assemblies and off-chip optics. The ERC project NoLimits has pioneered a nanophotonic platform which additionally integrates lasers, semiconductor optical amplifiers, high performance detectors and low-loss, fabrication-tolerant surface grating technologies. The IMOS4ALL program will implement the most comprehensive set of active and nanophotonic building blocks as created in the ERC project NoLimits and make them available within one wafer scale process and valid the platform with industry-inspired circuits. The free placement of standard high-performance building blocks enables the project to deliver an open-access platform where designers configure circuits to enable new and unanticipated circuits. The platform approach also enables the integration of a pipeline of future high-performance building blocks for future technology nodes.
Summary
Photonic technologies are key enablers for high-speed, on-demand communications, precision sensors, imaging and metrology. Industry roadmapping initiatives are now showing a clear and pressing need for miniaturising photonics solutions across market segments with sustained improvements in energy-efficiency, precision and performance. Photonic integration can meet these challenges, and has been convincingly demonstrated in fiber optic systems, but there is an absence of chip scale solutions for connectorless communications and sensor circuits requiring optical wireless connectivity. The necessary combination of high-performance optoelectronics, photonics integration, and chip-scale beam forming is not available to the industry.
IMOS – Indium Phosphide membrane on Silicon enables the combination of nanophotonics, photonic integration, lasers, amplifiers and the highest efficiency electro-optic processes. Integrated nanophotonics offers a route to exquisite optical beam control within the chip, and removes the need for fiber optic connectivity, micro-mechanical-assemblies and off-chip optics. The ERC project NoLimits has pioneered a nanophotonic platform which additionally integrates lasers, semiconductor optical amplifiers, high performance detectors and low-loss, fabrication-tolerant surface grating technologies. The IMOS4ALL program will implement the most comprehensive set of active and nanophotonic building blocks as created in the ERC project NoLimits and make them available within one wafer scale process and valid the platform with industry-inspired circuits. The free placement of standard high-performance building blocks enables the project to deliver an open-access platform where designers configure circuits to enable new and unanticipated circuits. The platform approach also enables the integration of a pipeline of future high-performance building blocks for future technology nodes.
Max ERC Funding
150 000 €
Duration
Start date: 2019-07-01, End date: 2020-12-31
Project acronym MAREP
Project MAssive intracellular REcording for Pharmacology
Researcher (PI) Francesco DE ANGELIS
Host Institution (HI) FONDAZIONE ISTITUTO ITALIANO DI TECNOLOGIA
Call Details Proof of Concept (PoC), ERC-2019-PoC
Summary Due to the vital role of the heart, cardiac safety assessment has become one of the major gatekeepers in all stages of the drug development process, increasing costs and resources required for new drugs. Despite the recent advancements of the Comprehensive In vitro ProArrhythmia (CiPA) initiative, there are still important obstacles related to chronic cardiotoxicities and to unreliable cell models. Thus, there is a strong need for new solutions that can improve the efficacy of drug development processes.
The MAREP project aims at tackling this problem by demonstrating a novel automated system for the comprehensive pharmacologic investigation of drug effects on in-vitro cardiac cell cultures. The novel approach combines laser excitation of novel metamaterials with high density multielectrode arrays (HD-MEA), providing high quality and high throughput recording of cardiac cells activity and offering an unprecedented and affordable method for the global study of drug effects on the heart. The outcome of the project is the prototype of a system that combines electrical recording of action potentials of thousands of cardiac cells with laser-based cell poration and intracellular recording. In essence, cardiac cells can be investigated in physiological conditions while drugs are administered and their effects studied in details on a large and reliable biological sample. The MAREP technology will boost the development of new drugs through the establishment of a novel, affordable, cost-effective and automated experimental procedure.
This project intends to exploit a research innovation born, though not exploited, in the parent ERC project Neuro-plasmonics.
This innovation may bring the laser-based bio-nanotechnologies developed in Neuro-plasmonics closer to commercialization
by introducing a novel interface that is fully compatible with standard CMOS technology and with large scale production.
Summary
Due to the vital role of the heart, cardiac safety assessment has become one of the major gatekeepers in all stages of the drug development process, increasing costs and resources required for new drugs. Despite the recent advancements of the Comprehensive In vitro ProArrhythmia (CiPA) initiative, there are still important obstacles related to chronic cardiotoxicities and to unreliable cell models. Thus, there is a strong need for new solutions that can improve the efficacy of drug development processes.
The MAREP project aims at tackling this problem by demonstrating a novel automated system for the comprehensive pharmacologic investigation of drug effects on in-vitro cardiac cell cultures. The novel approach combines laser excitation of novel metamaterials with high density multielectrode arrays (HD-MEA), providing high quality and high throughput recording of cardiac cells activity and offering an unprecedented and affordable method for the global study of drug effects on the heart. The outcome of the project is the prototype of a system that combines electrical recording of action potentials of thousands of cardiac cells with laser-based cell poration and intracellular recording. In essence, cardiac cells can be investigated in physiological conditions while drugs are administered and their effects studied in details on a large and reliable biological sample. The MAREP technology will boost the development of new drugs through the establishment of a novel, affordable, cost-effective and automated experimental procedure.
This project intends to exploit a research innovation born, though not exploited, in the parent ERC project Neuro-plasmonics.
This innovation may bring the laser-based bio-nanotechnologies developed in Neuro-plasmonics closer to commercialization
by introducing a novel interface that is fully compatible with standard CMOS technology and with large scale production.
Max ERC Funding
150 000 €
Duration
Start date: 2019-11-01, End date: 2021-04-30
Project acronym SE3DPASTE
Project Structurally Engineered 3D Printed Architectures for Scalable Tissue Engineering
Researcher (PI) Jeroen ROUWKEMA
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSITEIT TWENTE
Call Details Proof of Concept (PoC), ERC-2019-PoC
Summary Engineering tissues with a hierarchical vascular network, which is the goal of our ERC project VascArbor, is challenging. Developments in the field of biofabrication, including 3D bioprinting, are promising to cope with this challenge. However, current strategies lack the capacity to create hierarchical, high resolution, cost efficient, upscalable constructs in a standardized manner with a single approach.
Embedded bioprinting, allowing the deposition of complex constructs without the need of a supporting substrate, provides a potential solution. However, embedding baths used so far consist of inert materials and therefore cannot become a functional component of the tissue. Also, the embedding bath should be patternable to allow for multistructural tissues, but printing of the bath itself is currently challenging due to clogging of the nozzle.
SE3DPASTE will develop a dehydrated precursor of a free standing embedding bath that is storable for “off-the-shelf” use and tissue specific. Additionally, SE3DPASTE will develop a bespoke 3D printing nozzle that will allow for the creation of patterned embedding baths. SE3DPASTE will lead to storable, transportable, tissue specific embedding baths that act as a patterning template and can be used for embedded bioprinting of tissue. This combination of features, which does currently not exist in embedding baths for 3D printing, will be a key enabler for the generation of standardized 3D tissue environments that lead to predictable tissue development for research-, clinical-, or drug screening purposes.
SE3DPASTE will not only develop the technology to make this possible, but will also take vital steps to bring this technology to the market. By securing the IP, and analyzing the market and the willingness of investors to support SE3DPASTE technology, a fruitful basis for translation will be formed. Finally, this will lead to a business plan providing a roadmap on the necessary future steps to create a market ready product.
Summary
Engineering tissues with a hierarchical vascular network, which is the goal of our ERC project VascArbor, is challenging. Developments in the field of biofabrication, including 3D bioprinting, are promising to cope with this challenge. However, current strategies lack the capacity to create hierarchical, high resolution, cost efficient, upscalable constructs in a standardized manner with a single approach.
Embedded bioprinting, allowing the deposition of complex constructs without the need of a supporting substrate, provides a potential solution. However, embedding baths used so far consist of inert materials and therefore cannot become a functional component of the tissue. Also, the embedding bath should be patternable to allow for multistructural tissues, but printing of the bath itself is currently challenging due to clogging of the nozzle.
SE3DPASTE will develop a dehydrated precursor of a free standing embedding bath that is storable for “off-the-shelf” use and tissue specific. Additionally, SE3DPASTE will develop a bespoke 3D printing nozzle that will allow for the creation of patterned embedding baths. SE3DPASTE will lead to storable, transportable, tissue specific embedding baths that act as a patterning template and can be used for embedded bioprinting of tissue. This combination of features, which does currently not exist in embedding baths for 3D printing, will be a key enabler for the generation of standardized 3D tissue environments that lead to predictable tissue development for research-, clinical-, or drug screening purposes.
SE3DPASTE will not only develop the technology to make this possible, but will also take vital steps to bring this technology to the market. By securing the IP, and analyzing the market and the willingness of investors to support SE3DPASTE technology, a fruitful basis for translation will be formed. Finally, this will lead to a business plan providing a roadmap on the necessary future steps to create a market ready product.
Max ERC Funding
150 000 €
Duration
Start date: 2019-09-01, End date: 2021-02-28
Project acronym TRACER
Project TRAF-STOP therapy to reduCe inflammation in athERosclerosis.
Researcher (PI) Esther LUTGENS
Host Institution (HI) ACADEMISCH MEDISCH CENTRUM BIJ DE UNIVERSITEIT VAN AMSTERDAM
Call Details Proof of Concept (PoC), ERC-2019-PoC
Summary Atherosclerosis, the underlying cause of the majority of cardiovascular diseases, is a lipid driven, inflammatory disease of
the large arteries. Despite a 25% relative risk reduction achieved by lipid-lowering treatment, the vast majority of
atherosclerosis induced cardiovascular disease risk remains unaddressed. Therefore, characterizing mediators of the
inflammatory aspect of atherosclerosis is a widely recognized scientific goal with great therapeutic implications. Blocking the
co-stimulatory CD40L-CD40 dyad reduces atherosclerosis. However, long-term inhibition of CD40L or its receptor CD40
results in suppression of the immune system and poses a risk for thromboembolic events. Therefore, we focused on the
downstream signaling pathways of CD40, and found that the interaction between CD40 and TNF-receptor-associated factor
6 (TRAF6) is the driving force for atherosclerosis. Using virtual ligand screening, we identified several small molecule
inhibitors termed TRAF-STOPs that were modeled to bind to the CD40-binding domain of TRAF6. TRAF-STOPs significantly
reduce (existing) atherosclerosis and treatment was well tolerated. The first toxicology results in mice show that there are no
side effects. Here we pursue the hypothesis that TRAF-STOPs are excellent candidates to pass the translational pipeline
towards a clinical application to treat atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. Prof. Lutgens is one of the founders of the
recently established start-up company Cartesio Therapeutics to be able to valorise our novel TRAF-STOPs. By the end of
the PoC grant, we expect to have an oral drug available and to have completed toxicology and bio-distribution analysis in a
large animal model (mini-pig) and have tested TRAF-STOPs in a pig model of atherosclerosis. This way, we hold a solid
business case in our hands. The resulting business- and (pre-)clinical development plan and patent portfolio will then be
ready for seed investment and venture capital funding.
Summary
Atherosclerosis, the underlying cause of the majority of cardiovascular diseases, is a lipid driven, inflammatory disease of
the large arteries. Despite a 25% relative risk reduction achieved by lipid-lowering treatment, the vast majority of
atherosclerosis induced cardiovascular disease risk remains unaddressed. Therefore, characterizing mediators of the
inflammatory aspect of atherosclerosis is a widely recognized scientific goal with great therapeutic implications. Blocking the
co-stimulatory CD40L-CD40 dyad reduces atherosclerosis. However, long-term inhibition of CD40L or its receptor CD40
results in suppression of the immune system and poses a risk for thromboembolic events. Therefore, we focused on the
downstream signaling pathways of CD40, and found that the interaction between CD40 and TNF-receptor-associated factor
6 (TRAF6) is the driving force for atherosclerosis. Using virtual ligand screening, we identified several small molecule
inhibitors termed TRAF-STOPs that were modeled to bind to the CD40-binding domain of TRAF6. TRAF-STOPs significantly
reduce (existing) atherosclerosis and treatment was well tolerated. The first toxicology results in mice show that there are no
side effects. Here we pursue the hypothesis that TRAF-STOPs are excellent candidates to pass the translational pipeline
towards a clinical application to treat atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. Prof. Lutgens is one of the founders of the
recently established start-up company Cartesio Therapeutics to be able to valorise our novel TRAF-STOPs. By the end of
the PoC grant, we expect to have an oral drug available and to have completed toxicology and bio-distribution analysis in a
large animal model (mini-pig) and have tested TRAF-STOPs in a pig model of atherosclerosis. This way, we hold a solid
business case in our hands. The resulting business- and (pre-)clinical development plan and patent portfolio will then be
ready for seed investment and venture capital funding.
Max ERC Funding
150 000 €
Duration
Start date: 2020-01-01, End date: 2021-06-30
Project acronym ZeoMemRx
Project Greenhouse gases to valuable liquid chemicals: High-flux zeolite membrane-based reactor for the efficient conversion of CH4 and CO2
Researcher (PI) Bert Weckhuysen
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSITEIT UTRECHT
Call Details Proof of Concept (PoC), ERC-2019-PoC
Summary Both methane (CH4) and carbon dioxide (CO2) are greenhouse gases, but are available in large supply, and are often flared or vented. A promising strategy to efficiently utilize these abundant molecules is their transformation to easily transported liquid chemicals, which is particularly attractive because this conversion not only reduces emissions of the greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, but also produces commodity chemicals that can be either used as fuels or as precursors for many industrial processes. We propose the fabrication of a prototype membrane reactor, containing catalytically active, highly oriented zeolite ZSM-5 thin-films for the conversion of CO2 and CH4. We have recently demonstrated a method for fabricating catalytically active, highly oriented thin-films of zeolite ZSM-5 on various dense substrates. In this Proof of Concept proposal, we will develop the fabrication of zeolite ZSM-5 thin-films on porous substrates to serve as membranes for catalysis and to convert CH4 and CO2 into liquid commodity chemicals, especially aromatics. The membranes will be incorporated into a prototype reactor, to be designed and implemented as part of the proposal, for reaction testing and optimization. Along with the experimental work we will create a market analysis and seek potential industrial partners, key to this will be pursuing intellectual property coverage through a patent application.
Summary
Both methane (CH4) and carbon dioxide (CO2) are greenhouse gases, but are available in large supply, and are often flared or vented. A promising strategy to efficiently utilize these abundant molecules is their transformation to easily transported liquid chemicals, which is particularly attractive because this conversion not only reduces emissions of the greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, but also produces commodity chemicals that can be either used as fuels or as precursors for many industrial processes. We propose the fabrication of a prototype membrane reactor, containing catalytically active, highly oriented zeolite ZSM-5 thin-films for the conversion of CO2 and CH4. We have recently demonstrated a method for fabricating catalytically active, highly oriented thin-films of zeolite ZSM-5 on various dense substrates. In this Proof of Concept proposal, we will develop the fabrication of zeolite ZSM-5 thin-films on porous substrates to serve as membranes for catalysis and to convert CH4 and CO2 into liquid commodity chemicals, especially aromatics. The membranes will be incorporated into a prototype reactor, to be designed and implemented as part of the proposal, for reaction testing and optimization. Along with the experimental work we will create a market analysis and seek potential industrial partners, key to this will be pursuing intellectual property coverage through a patent application.
Max ERC Funding
150 000 €
Duration
Start date: 2019-09-01, End date: 2021-02-28
