Descrizione del progetto
Ispirare i giovani scienziati nell’ingegnerizzazione delle cellule T del recettore dell’antigene chimerico
Esiste un modo per far sì che le cellule immunitarie lottino contro il cancro. La terapia a base di cellule T del recettore dell’antigene chimerico (CAR, Chimeric Antigen Receptor) preleva le cellule T dal paziente e apporta loro un piccolo cambiamento. Queste cellule T appositamente alterate contrastano il cancro. In questo contesto, il progetto InnoCAR-T, finanziato dal programma di azioni Marie Skłodowska-Curie, fornirà una formazione e condurrà ricerche rivoluzionarie per sviluppare la prossima generazione di terapia a base di cellule T del recettore dell’antigene chimerico (CAR-T). Nello specifico, il progetto svilupperà innovative soluzioni di fabbricazione per la produzione di CAR-T, anche di prossima generazione e più efficienti. Il progetto è pensato per assistere i giovani scienziati nella formulazione di idee rivoluzionarie nel campo dell’immunologia, dell’ingegnerizzazione CAR e dell’editing genico.
Obiettivo
InnoCAR-T is a Doctoral Network designed to provide training and carry out breakthrough research on the high impact field of Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T cell immunotherapy in a carefully integrated academic and inter-sectoral programme. We aim to develop next-generation CAR-T therapy and deliver a set of young researchers uniquely qualified for a career in academia and/or industry.
CAR-T cell therapy represents a revolutionary advance in oncology, particularly for B cell lymphoma patients. However, long-term response is still restricted to ~50% of patients, with resistance being even more prominent in other cancers. Thus, additional innovations to overcome resistance are needed to improve CAR-T responses. Unfortunately, the currently centralized production of CAR-T hampers rapid innovation and associates with prohibitive costs, long vein-to-vein time, and poor carbon footprint due to inter-continental delivery.
InnoCAR-T aims touse innovative academic and industrial concepts to address these issues by 1. developing innovative manufacturing solutions for CAR-T production at local academic hospitals and 2. developing the next-generation of more effective CAR-Ts.
At the core of InnoCAR-T is its training objective to offer a cutting-edge multidisciplinary training programme. Herewith, outstanding young scientists can generate breakthrough ideas and assume leading positions in academia and industry. The training programme includes an array of disciplines, ranging from biomedical sciences (e.g. immunology, CAR engineering, gene-editing), physical sciences to mechanical engineering.
Industrial partners are central to the programme and provide pivotal expertise on how to translate scientific discoveries into commercial reality. Inter-sectoral partners will host Doctoral Candidates, provide key secondments and network-wide training events. Further, InnoCAR-T will foster long-term multi-disciplinary research and bilateral co-operations between academia and industry.
Campo scientifico
Parole chiave
Programma(i)
- HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Main Programme
Meccanismo di finanziamento
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-DN - HORIZON TMA MSCA Doctoral NetworksCoordinatore
9713 GZ Groningen
Paesi Bassi