Project description
Is it possible to reverse fibrosis?
When there is injury or damage to an organ, the normal healing process involves the formation of new tissue. When this process becomes dysregulated, it leads to the formation of excessive fibrous connective tissue causing fibrosis. Funded by the European Research Council, the Rewind-MF project focuses on primary myelofibrosis, a blood malignancy associated with the activation of fibrosis-driving cells in the bone marrow. The study explores the reversibility of fibrosis, particularly in cases where allogeneic stem cell transplantation is not a viable option. By delving into the mechanisms of reversing fibrosis, researchers expect to identify therapeutic targets and understand how blood cancer is sustained in the bone marrow.
Objective
Fibrosis is estimated to be involved in 45% of global mortality, and currently no specific therapies for fibrosis in most organs exist. One central and controversially discussed question in the field of organ fibrosis is: is fibrosis truly reversible? In Rewind-MF, I will address this biologically and clinically highly relevant question in a prime example: bone marrow fibrosis in a chronic blood cancer called Primary Myelofibrosis (PMF). In PMF, hematopoietic stem cells become mutated and activate fibrosis-driving cells. Fibrosis reversal in PMF is possible through allogeneic stem cell transplant (ASCT). However, the majority of patients are not eligible for this high-risk procedure. Alternative fibrosis-reversing strategies are not available, leaving this patient group without any treatment option.
My specific aims in Rewind-MF are: (1) to gain spatio-temporal insights into fibrosis reversal and mutant clone elimination mechanisms to predict, which patients will benefit from ASCT, and to identify therapeutic targets; (2) to understand how blood cancer is maintained in the bone marrow and later the spleen stroma in order to find new ways to reverse fibrosis, and eradicate the cancer cells, and (3) to validate fibrosis reversal mechanisms and translate them into clinically relevant therapeutic strategies.
What makes Rewind-MF unique is the holistic bench-to-bedside approach starting from a stem cell biological hypothesis [tested by innovative murine models and (stem) cell approaches], advanced by a broad interdisciplinary expertise with novel single cell, spatial genomic and computational technologies, to dissect mechanisms of fibrosis reversal and develop therapeutic approaches which go beyond pure target identification. The integration of all these technologies in clinically relevant specimens with follow-up data and large independent validation cohorts will truly revolutionize the prognostication and (personalized) treatment of patients with MF.
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.
- social sciences sociology demography mortality
- medical and health sciences clinical medicine oncology
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Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
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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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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.
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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 - HORIZON ERC Grants
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Call for proposal
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(opens in new window) ERC-2023-COG
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52074 Aachen
Germany
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