Centre for Excellence in Diagnostic and Advanced Therapeutics based on Extracellular Vesicles

Projektinformationen

EVCA

ID Finanzhilfevereinbarung: 101079264

DOI

10.3030/101079264

Projekt abgeschlossen

EK-Unterschriftsdatum 9 September 2022

Startdatum 1 November 2022

Enddatum 30 April 2026

Finanziert unter

• Widening participation and spreading excellence

Gesamtkosten

€ 1 487 209,13

EU-Beitrag

€ 1 487 208,75

Koordiniert durch

UNIVERSIDADE NOVA DE LISBOA
Portugal

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - EVCA (Centre for Excellence in Diagnostic and Advanced Therapeutics based on Extracellular Vesicles)

Berichtszeitraum: 2022-11-01 bis 2024-01-31

Zusammenfassung vom Kontext und den Gesamtzielen des Projekts

Advancing Medical Research with Extracellular Vesicles

EVCA, which stands for Extracellular Vesicles in Clinical Applications, is a project focused on using tiny particles called extracellular vesicles (EVs) to improve diagnostics and therapies. The project's full title is "Centre for Excellence in Diagnostic and Advanced Therapeutics based on Extracellular Vesicles".

The main goal of EVCA is to help NOVA Medical School (NMS) become a world-renowned center for using EVs in medical research and treatments. To achieve this, NMS is collaborating with two top research institutions: Institut Curie in France and CIC bioGUNE in Spain.

Through this partnership, EVCA aims to:

1. Combine the diverse knowledge and experience from each institution.
2. Share the best practices in research and training.
3. Expand collaborative networks.
4. Enhance the skills and management of researchers at NMS.
5. Establish new medical research areas with focus on EVs.

In essence, EVCA is working to push the boundaries of medical science by making NMS a leader in the innovative use of extracellular vesicles for clinical purposes.

Arbeit, die ab Beginn des Projekts bis zum Ende des durch den Bericht erfassten Berichtszeitraums geleistet wurde, und die wichtigsten bis dahin erzielten Ergebnisse

To achieve the above-mentioned objectives, EVCA consortium members have executed a wide range of activities:

1. Seed money for internal projects targeting medical questions by applying EV research was provided through a competitive call.
2. Training of senior and early-career researchers in state-of-the-art EV research methodologies.
3. A summer school was organized, which will soon take place at NMS.
4. Staff exchange programs were executed to improve the management of research.
5. Scientific conferences, outreach activities to the general public, and participation in national and international conferences were supported through competitive calls.
6. Applications for international grants were submitted to enable the consortium to continue activities in the long run. A Marie Curie staff exchange program, were approved.
7. One provisional patent was submitted, and another one is in the planning stage.
8. Three research papers were accepted, and three are currently under review.
9. Two clinical consortia were established to test novel EV-based diagnostic methods for cancer.

Fortschritte, die über den aktuellen Stand der Technik hinausgehen und voraussichtliche potenzielle Auswirkungen (einschließlich der bis dato erzielten sozioökonomischen Auswirkungen und weiter gefassten gesellschaftlichen Auswirkungen des Projekts)

EVCA has developed novel quality control measures, which are essential for moving EV research to the clinic. Furthermore, a novel EV enrichment methodology was established, which we have demonstrated can be interfaced with omics technologies. Finally, we are moving forward in our attempts to provide evidence of clinical usability for novel EV-based early detection methods for cancer.