Project description
Nano-enabled technology for damaged retinal-network restoration
Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) and age-related macular degeneration (AMD) are marked by severe retinal degeneration and loss of high-resolution vision. Current retinal prostheses have low resolution and indiscriminately activate the inner retina. Moreover, strategies targeting ON-bipolar cells (BCs) face challenges in efficacy and clinical readiness. The EU-funded NanoFlash project aims to develop nano-enabled technology to restore damaged retinal networks and treat RP and AMD. The project will create nanoparticles that target specific retinal receptors, optimising their design for effective stimulation. These particles will be tested in models to evaluate their potential for visual restoration, advancing therapies for currently incurable retinal diseases in the EU.
Objective
NanoFlash aims to develop disruptive nano-enabled technology to restore damaged neuronal networks through precise stimulation of specific retinal cells. Focusing on non-genetic reactivation of physiological vision, NanoFlash targets treatment of retinitis pigments (RP) and age-related macular degeneration (AMD), both marked by severe retinal degradation and loss of high-resolution vision. Current retinal prostheses suffer from low resolution and indiscriminate activation of inner retina, while ontogenetic strategies targeting ON-bipolar cells (BCs) face significant limitation in efficacy and translational readiness.
Circumventing these challenges, NanoFlash will engineer photovoltaic polymer nanoparticles (NPs) functionalist to target mGluR6 receptors, a unigue hallmark on PN-BCs. Using state-of-the-art modelling and bioelectronic in vitro platforms, the project will drive the rational design and optimisation of NPs, tailoring their size, architecture, spectral sensitivity, and transduction efficiency. Advanced organ-on-chip devices will be developed to screen and validate NP targeting and retinal reactivation performance in retinal organdies and explants. Lead NP candidates will then be tested in rod-cone degeneration rodent models, assessing targeting precision, suspension stability, and visual restoration outcomes.
NanoFlash represents a major leap forward in retinal prosthetics by restoring the ON/OFF pathway segregation critical for spatial resolution, contrast sensitivity, and motion detection. This highly interdisciplinary effort will push the frontiers of bio-organic optoelectronics and neurophysiology, providing essential preclinical data toward therapies for currently incurable retinal diseases, addressing a pressing unmet medical need in the EU.
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.
- natural sciences physical sciences electromagnetism and electronics optoelectronics
- medical and health sciences clinical medicine ophthalmology
- engineering and technology nanotechnology nano-materials
- engineering and technology other engineering and technologies microtechnology organ on a chip
- medical and health sciences medical biotechnology implants
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
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.3.1 - The European Innovation Council (EIC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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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.
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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) HORIZON-EIC-2025-PATHFINDEROPEN
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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.
CB2 1TN CAMBRIDGE
United Kingdom
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.