Project description
The next generation of intestinal organoids for inflammatory bowel disease research
Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) represents a spectrum of conditions that involve chronic inflammation of the digestive tract. The development of novel disease model platforms is essential for the understanding of fundamental mechanisms of the disorder. The EU-funded SYNMAT FOR ORGANOIDS project aims to develop the next generation of human intestinal organoids (HIOs) using microfluidics encapsulation in synthetic niches. This technology will enable the controlled mass production of HIOs for disease modelling, drug screening and regenerative medicine applications. The co-culturing of HIOs with immune cells and microbiota will recreate physiological conditions and provide the next generation of HIOs, which recapitulate the complex spectrum of IBD, bringing new insights into the aetiology of the disorder.
Objective
Intestinal bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic immune-mediated disorder characterized by a complex spectrum of multifactorial disorders, which affects 2.5-4 million people in Europe with a total annual healthcare cost of 4.6-5.6 billion. The unknown aetiology of IBD, along with its heterogeneous and multifactorial nature, make essential the development of novel disease model platforms that enable the fundamental understanding of the disorder. My project aims to develop the next generation of human intestinal organoids (HIOs) in reproducible and high-throughput fashion by microfluidics encapsulation in synthetic niches. This scalable technology will provide a well-controlled mass production of HIOs for disease modelling, drug screening of novel therapeutic targets, and regenerative medicine applications, filling the translational gap with organoids research. I will co-culture HIOs with immune cells and microbiota to obtain native physiological similarities and to develop the next generation of HIOs, which can effectively recapitulate the complex multifactorial spectrum of IBD and allow the identification of new insights into the pathophysiology of the disorder. MSCA Fellowship will provide me with a unique opportunity to exploit my diverse skill set and take fully advantage of available facilities and partnerships of Prof. Andrs Garca and Prof. Abhay Pandit, who are uniquely positioned to maximize the output of this project and benefit my future career. I will be trained in both discipline-specific and complementary technical training and generic and complementary transferable skills training through an inter-sectoral secondment on a CRAMs industrial partnership to translate this innovative therapeutic technology to the clinic. The disruptive technology developed through this proposal will represent a step change in our understanding of intestinal disorders and advanced therapies, entailing a great contribution to the European knowledge-based economy and society.
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. This project's classification has been validated by the project's team.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. This project's classification has been validated by the project's team.
Keywords
Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)Coordinator
H91 Galway
Ireland