Project description
Advancements in oocyte quality assessment
Infertility affects 1 in 6 individuals, with assisted reproductive technologies (ART) offering hope, albeit with a success rate of only about 20 %. This low success rate, coupled with the burdensome treatments and risks, underscores the need for improved approaches. Supported by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) programme, the MOM-ART project aims to address this challenge. By developing a user-friendly, non-invasive method to assess the mechanical properties of oocytes, researchers hope to identify high-quality oocytes more accurately. This interdisciplinary endeavour, merging microfluidics, developmental biology, and reproductive medicine, promises significant advancements in oocyte quality assessment and personalised diagnostics in ART. With a focus on predictive mechanical biomarkers, MOM-ART seeks to revolutionise how we approach infertility treatment.
Objective
Infertility is a major societal problem and one in six people must use assisted reproductive technologies (ART) to conceive. However, ART success rates remain low (ca. 20%), which represents a significant burden for the patients due to the heavy treatments and high risk of miscarriage. Recent studies have revealed that the mechanical properties of female gametes (oocytes) are tightly regulated and can change with advancing maternal age (AMA), leading to a higher risk of miscarriage or congenital diseases. Mechanical biomarkers have thus been proposed to score “high-quality” oocytes in ART. However, their use is hampered by (1) the lack of precise knowledge of mechanical phenotype(s) associated with AMA and oocyte quality, and (2) the absence of appropriate technology to measure oocyte mechanical properties in medical settings. In MOM-ART, I propose to develop a user-friendly and non-invasive approach for the mechanical phenotyping of oocytes based on an innovative miniaturized measurement system with computational analysis. I will characterize mechanical phenotypes associated with AMA and/or developmental defects in mouse models to establish the predictive value of mechanical biomarkers for oocyte quality. I will finally evaluate the proposed microfluidic approach in a reproductive medicine department, in the frame of a non-academic placement, and aim thereby to identify minimal requirements that my approach and device must meet to be applied for oocyte mechanical scoring in medical setting. This comprehensive and interdisciplinary project will bring significant technological, fundamental, and medical advances in oocyte mechanobiology, directly applicable to oocyte quality assessment and personalized diagnostics in ART. In MOM-ART, I will interact with experts in microfluidics, developmental biology, and human reproduction. Upon completion of the fellowship, I will have consolidated my interdisciplinary and intersectional profile, which is key for my future career.
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.
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Keywords
Programme(s)
- HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Main Programme
Funding Scheme
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European FellowshipsCoordinator
7522 NB Enschede
Netherlands