Project description
Stimulation of emotion-processing centres in the brain to treat autoimmune disorders
Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), a family of chronic inflammatory conditions affecting the gastrointestinal (GI) tract and sometimes other organ systems, can result in life-threatening complications. The cause of IBD is largely unknown, and treatments to suppress inflammation including lifelong administration of immunosuppressive drugs have limited efficacy and multiple adverse effects on health. Functional disorders of the GI tract are thought to be due to dysregulation of the gut-brain interaction and are often associated with emotional comorbidities. Funded by the European Research Council, the NEUROGUT project aims to investigate the impact of targeted stimulation of the insula, a brain region known to process emotional stimuli, in treating IBD and, more generally, autoimmune disorders.
Objective
Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) are a group of chronic inflammatory conditions affecting the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, including Crohns and Ulcerative colitis. The prevalence of IBD has been increasing globally and almost doubled from 3.7 million in 1990 to 6.8 million in 2017, with the highest prevalence rates observed in Europe and North America (422 cases per 100,000 population).
Patients with IBD suffer from chronic relapsing abdominal pain, urgency and incontinence, and depending on the severity of their presentation, are at risk of developing acute life-threatening complications (e.g. severe bleeding, fulminant colitis, perforation). Although these conditions primarily affect the GI tract, other organ systems, such as the eyes, skin, musculoskeletal system, and lungs, hepatobiliary and hematologic function might be affected as well. As of today, the etiology of the disease is largely unknown, and the current available treatments are limited in their efficiency and accompanied by significant side effects. These treatments largely target inflammatory mediators to suppress excess inflammation. These can include general immunosuppression such as high-dose corticosteroids, or more specific biological agents (e.g. anti-TNF). Patients with IBD are dependent on the lifelong administration of immunosuppressive drugs, exposing them to multiple adverse effects ranging from systemic infections to metabolic dysregulation and even cancer. Taken together, this is a systemic disease that affects many physiological systems and has a strong emotional component (). Yet, treatment with immune suppressive drugs can only alleviate some symptoms and cannot treat the source of the disease nor its broad systemic manifestations.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
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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.
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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.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
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Topic(s)
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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-ERC-POC - HORIZON ERC Proof of Concept Grants
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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) ERC-2022-POC2
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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.
32000 Haifa
Israel
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.