CORDIS Express: Tackling disease with EU-funded research projects
Researchers have made impressive progress in tackling some of the most devastating viruses and diseases of our time. They continue to seek out new ways of preventing diseases, developing better diagnostics and more effective therapies and treatments. However, our knowledge is still far from complete and much remains to be discovered. While we have immensely improved tools to prevent and treat HIV/AIDS, this has not been sufficient to halt the spread of the virus or to find a definitive cure. In 2012, more than 131 000 new HIV infections were reported in Europe and Central Asia - up 8 % from 2011. Of these new cases, 29 000 were reported in the EU and the European Economic area (EU/EEA) - 1 % more than the previous year. And while cancer and anti-cancer therapies have been researched since the beginning of medicine, it is thought that cancer will likely remain one of the biggest killers of the 21st century. Global research efforts to fight the disease have been ongoing since the 1970's. The aim is to turn this disease into a chronic, instead of a fatal one. Most researchers and clinicians will admit that this is a formidable challenge. EU-funded projects are working to offer us a better understanding of the causes of these and other diseases. This edition of CORDIS Express takes a look at the range of medical research projects that are helping us to improve diagnostics, therapies and treatments and deliver breakthrough research and innovation. - Trending science: Researchers use HIV to fight HIV(opens in new window) - Targeting cancerous tumours with precision(opens in new window) - New tool in battle against Alzheimer's, Parkinson's(opens in new window) - Breaking the Hepatitis C lifecycle(opens in new window) - New-generation HIV vaccines(opens in new window) - Early cancer detection(opens in new window) - Ancestral genes coding for cancer(opens in new window)