Objective
The frequency of infectious disease emergence has increased over the last decades, a phenomenon attributed to modern global sociodemographic and environmental changes. However, major transformations of human lifestyles and technologies associated with large-scale repercussions on the planet's ecosystems have occurred since prehistory. Measuring the epidemiological impacts of these changes on large time scales could provide precious lessons to anticipate the consequences of ongoing processes. Recent advances in the field of paleogenetics have opened promising perspectives in this regard by allowing the identification of various pathogens from skeletal remains dating back several millennia. The use of ancient DNA evidence for quantitative assessments of past disease distribution and determinants has, however, largely been missing so far. With this project, my group will leverage tens of thousands of ancient DNA libraries and sequencing datasets produced during recent years at the host and partner institutions to undertake large-scale paleoepidemiological investigations covering the past 12,000 years of human history in western Eurasia. Novel laboratory, bioinformatic and statistical approaches will be developed to maximize pathogen detection sensitivity and estimate variations in disease frequency from ancient metagenomic data while accounting for expected sources of biases. This will be combined with epidemiological modelling and phylodynamic analyses of large sets of ancient pathogen genomes to unveil paleoepidemiological dynamics and their associations with sociocultural transitions and environmental changes throughout the Holocene. This project will provide unprecedented insights into the inseparable history of humans and their pathogens, a multi-millennial perspective on current global health challenges, and strong foundations for future paleoepidemiological studies.
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.
- humanities history and archaeology history prehistory
- natural sciences biological sciences genetics DNA
- natural sciences physical sciences astronomy planetary sciences planets
- natural sciences biological sciences ecology ecosystems
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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)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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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-ERC - HORIZON ERC 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-2025-STG
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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.
75007 PARIS CEDEX 07
France
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.