Project description
Insight into immune system maturation in early life
Our immune system is educated early on in life through interaction with microbes and environmental factors. This encounter is central, as it influences the development of immune-related diseases later on in childhood or adulthood. However, technical challenges have prohibited the investigation of the process. The EU-funded INITIALISE project aims to shed light on the mechanism of maturation of the immune system, using existing biobanks and cohorts. Researchers will investigate how exposure to different factors impacts immune-related health and drives immune system maturation. Moreover, a clinical study will help determine the outcome of immune system targeting on disease prevention.
Objective
The development of the human immune system in early life, including in utero, impacts the risks of several diseases later in life, particularly immune-mediated diseases such as allergies, asthma, and autoimmunity. Yet, the mechanisms of early life immune imprinting have been poorly understood in humans due to the difficulty in obtaining samples and the challenges of deriving the most important data from small sample volumes available. Furthermore, these studies are complicated by the many simultaneous exposures with potential impact on developing immune cells, colonising microbes, and immune-microbe mutualism. To better understand such interactions, a combinations of large population studies with longitudinal data and long-term follow-up and more detailed studies in smaller sets of children will be needed.
Here we propose such a combined and interdisciplinary approach by intersecting multiple cohorts and existing biobanks, applying state-of the art technologies for exposure analyses and immune system investigation. This will enable us to understand the environmental factors shaping human immune systems early in life, their mechanisms of action, and impact on life-course health.
The specific objectives of INITIALISE are:
1. to elucidate how exposures and genome impact gut microbiome, host immune system and metabolism, and how the interplay of these factors impact life-course health.
2. to define the role of the maturation of the immune system as a mediator between exposures and life-course health.
Functional studies will be performed, to test specific mechanisms of environmental factors differing among children with different health outcomes and their imprinting on developing immune cells.
3. to perform a pilot clinical study, targeting the immune system, for personalised disease prevention.
4. to set up a collaborative data science platform for the studies of early-life factors linked with life-course health.
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: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- medical and health sciences clinical medicine pneumology asthma
- medical and health sciences clinical medicine allergology
- natural sciences biological sciences biological behavioural sciences ethology biological interactions
- natural sciences biological sciences microbiology
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
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.
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HORIZON.2.1 - Health
MAIN PROGRAMME
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HORIZON.2.1.1 - Health throughout the Life Course
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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.
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.
HORIZON-RIA - HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions
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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.
(opens in new window) HORIZON-HLTH-2022-STAYHLTH-02
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
20014 Turku
Finland
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.