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Organoid technologies for disease modeling, drug discovery and development for rare diseases

Project description

Advancing personalised treatments for rare diseases

Rare diseases, often of genetic origin, affect millions worldwide, yet most have no cure or effective treatment. This is particularly true for cystic fibrosis (CF) and cystinosis, two severe paediatric disorders that manifest early in life. While CF research has advanced, leading to new drug developments, cystinosis remains a major clinical challenge. Innovative approaches are needed to bridge the gap between research and personalised therapies. Supported by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the ORGESTRA project is harnessing the power of stem cell-derived organoids to develop new treatment strategies. By training doctoral candidates across disciplines, ORGESTRA aims to identify druggable targets, and create a living-technologies toolset to accelerate clinical applications.

Objective

The vast majority of rare diseases are characterized by genetic origin, often severe in pathology and with limited or no treatment options. This also includes the paediatric disorders cystic fibrosis (CF) and cystinosis. Both diseases usually manifest in the first year of life. In recent year, great progress has been made in CF research allowing a swift transfer of novel drugs from bench to bedside. This is fueled by the application of advanced in vitro models, viz. organoids, in phenotyping patients and personalize treatment options. In ORGESTRA, we propose to use stem cell-derived organoids to train 13 Doctoral Candidates (DCs) in developing personalized disease models for the lung and kidney diseases, CF and cystinosis, with significant unmet clinical needs. Research will aim to identify pathogenetic mechanisms and druggable targets, drug mode of action for effective and innovative treatment strategies, classify the pathway to clinic and address ethical and regulatory issues to foster acceptance and implementation of the organoid models. Eventually, a living technologies toolset will be developed for a swift transfer from bench to bedside. ORGESTRA will provide an international, intersectoral and interdisciplinary training by creating a new expert framework of 14 partners from 7 countries, combining molecular biologists, engineers, pharmacologists, clinicians, epidemiologists and ethicists, giving each DC unique, joint-doctoral training and tailored experience in industry and/or patient organisations, complemented with a rich workshop programme. The ORGESTRA objectives contribute perfectly to the Horizon Europe goals of the societal challenge on improving the health and well-being of the EU citizens.

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Programme(s)

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Topic(s)

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Funding Scheme

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HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-DN-JD - HORIZON TMA MSCA Doctoral Networks - Joint Doctorates

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Call for proposal

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(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2022-DN-01

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Coordinator

UNIVERSITEIT UTRECHT
Net EU contribution

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.

€ 548 740,80
Address
HEIDELBERGLAAN 8
3584 CS Utrecht
Netherlands

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Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
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Total cost

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Participants (6)

Partners (7)

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