Obesity and cardio-metabolic disease represent major health problems with vast impacts on the European healthcare
systems. Recent advances in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine can be used to design novel techniques
aiming to boost human metabolism; thus being promising candidates for human metabolic disease treatment.
However, the development of these techniques requires the creation of new technology and knowledge in chemistry,
biomaterials, toxicology, physiology, molecular biology as well as business management and marketing. SMEs do
not have the technical capabilities or the facilities to conduct R&D activities at the level of excellence required for
such development. Academic institutions have the capacity and facilities to conduct research and design activities
necessary to develop the concept into a market product. However, they do not have a viable supply chain to develop
the prototype post project and to exploit the product in the market. To solve this intersectoral problem, the SCAFFY
project will create an effective intersectoral co-operation between academia institutions and SMEs to advance the
concept of bio-scaffold for brown adipose tissue (BAT) regeneration.
The regeneration of BAT has been largely ignored in tissue engineering thus far.
This is because relevant R&D attempts were led by either the public or the private sector alone but
never by a joint-venture of the two. As a result, academic organizations have faced challenges in
finding the right application for the consumer market, while SMEs have been struggling to find the
resources to conduct the necessary state of the art research.
Therfore, the main objectives of the SCAFFY consortium are: putting together knowledge, research
expertise and resources from two large academic participants with business, market and commercialization experience
from three SMEs to: i) ensure a high degree of collaboration between academic and industrial participants though
Networking Activities, ii) go beyond the current state of the art though Researcher & Training Activities, iii) increase
intersectoral transfer of knowledge though Workshop Activities, iv) ensure high level of innovation capacity though
Innovation Activities, v) ensure communication to the scientific community and to the public though Dissemination
and Outreach Activities.
