Objective
Malaria is one of the three major communicable disease linked to poverty identified in Priority Thematic Area 1.1.1.ii.c. It is estimated to cause up to 500 million clinical cases and over one million deaths each year, with the African child the parasite's main target. The host organization will participate to the work package number WP 4.1.2.4 of the Integrated Project ANTIMAL, supported by EEC under the 6th FP. Chemotherapy has been and will remain the central strategy for malaria treatment. Currently the emergence of resistance, particularly to the first and second line treatments (chloroquine and Fansidar respectively), coupled with the dearth of new anti-malarial drugs under development, has compromised the ability to deal with this major human pathogen. Thus there is an urgent need for new drugs.
The objective of this proposal is to approach antimalarial drug design by means of an innovative computational protocol which combines ab-initio calculations on metal-organic complexes with a classical drug design approach. Albeit marketed antimalarials are very old drugs, their mechanism of action is still being debated. Nevertheless it is current opinion that, at the basis of their activity and/or toxicity, despite wide structural differences, there is the common capability to interact with redox processes leading to surviving parasite, through a metal-mediated radical formation. Among computational methods, ab initio calculations represent the more suitable tool to evaluate radical formation and stability.
Therefore, in order to develop effective antimalarial drugs, the host organization needs to implement the skills in rational drug design, by the acquisition of expertise in the quantum chemistry field. Moreover, the transfer of knowledge will contribute to the strengthening and growth of a high-level research group in the field of medicinal chemistry, which may be for catalyst of new enterprise activities in one of the less-favoured regions of the Community.
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.
- medical and health sciences health sciences infectious diseases malaria
- medical and health sciences basic medicine medicinal chemistry
- natural sciences chemical sciences physical chemistry quantum chemistry
- natural sciences computer and information sciences computational science
- natural sciences chemical sciences catalysis
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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.
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.
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.
FP6-2005-MOBILITY-3
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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.
Data not available
Coordinator
Italy
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.