Objective
Leishmania donovani and Trypanosoma cruzi cause the neglected infectious diseases visceral leishmaniasis (VL) and Chagas disease (CD) respectively. The host normally controls the initial wave of infection but rarely, if ever, fully clears the infection. Chronic, low-level infection then often progresses to serious clinical syndromes. Infection of a limited set of favoured tissues is a parasite strategy to evade host immunity and maintain chronicity. Recent work shows the gut is a site of chronic T. cruzi infection in CD mouse models. L. donovani persists in liver and spleen, but the gut may also be a target. In cutaneous leishmaniasis, chronic persistence occurs in the skin due to unique immune responses that evolved to tolerate constant exposure to the environment. A similar situation exists in the gut, where inflammatory responses against commensal microbe and food antigens are unwarranted and potentially dangerous. As in the skin, the hypo-responsive environment of the gut may underpin host failure to clear T. cruzi and L. donovani. Persistence in the gut may compromise microbiota containment leading to secondary syndromes (as in HIV and Toxoplasmosis) or exacerbate VL/CD pathology. Project objectives include (1) assessment of relevance of the gut as a site of L. donovani persistence (2) analysis of gut-specific responses to L. donovani (3) analysis of interactions between host, parasite and commensals and impact on gut immune homeostasis and disease (4) analysis of the gut-specific responses to T. cruzi that allow persistence. The training programme will develop a broad range of new technical and conceptual competencies to investigate general and gut-specific immunity and host-commensal interactions as well as enhanced transferable skills. This hypothesis-driven project has potential to reveal novel insights into the immunopathogenesis of VL and CD and should stimulate research on novel strategies to cure chronically infected patients.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.
- medical and health sciences basic medicine immunology
- medical and health sciences health sciences infectious diseases RNA viruses HIV
- medical and health sciences basic medicine pathology
- medical and health sciences basic medicine physiology homeostasis
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Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
FP7-PEOPLE-2013-IOF
See other projects for this call
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Coordinator
WC1E 7HT London
United Kingdom
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.