Objective
After obtaining my PhD at the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands, I moved to San Diego for a 1-year postdoc at the La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology. I now propose to move to Newcastle University in the United Kingdom to undertake a project on a new cell-based therapy for rheumatoid arthritis (RA), a destructive joint disease. This project is important since this new therapy could provide long-term benefit to RA patients. So far I have conducted all my work in mouse models. This project will enable me to acquire new expertise in human immunology and translational research. The host team at Newcastle University has developed a new immunotherapy for RA with tolerogenic dendritic cells (tolDC). These tolDC have been designed to switch-off destructive immune responses in the joint via the induction of regulatory T cells. The team has completed a phase I trial with tolDC in RA, and has found that the therapy is safe. However, in order to conduct a phase II efficacy trial, one crucial aspect of tolDC therapy must be improved: loading of tolDC with a relevant (auto)antigen so that they can induce antigen-specific regulatory T cells in the joint. However, selecting a suitable auto-antigen has been problematic. I propose that heat shock proteins (HSPs) are suitable antigens for loading of tolDC. HSPs are ubiquitously expressed in the rheumatoid synovium and pathogenic T-cell responses to these HSPs are found in RA patients. I hypothesise that by loading tolDC with exogenous synthetic peptides from HSPs, the pathogenic response can be suppressed through the induction of HSP-specific regulatory T cells. My project aims to i) establish a suitable HSP-peptide selection for tolDC-induced peptide-specific tolerance in RA patients and ii) test the therapeutic potential of HSP-peptide-loaded tolDC in a mouse arthritis model. A successful outcome of this work would form the basis of a new clinical trial with HSP-loaded tolDC in RA patients.
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 clinical medicine rheumatology
- natural sciences biological sciences biochemistry biomolecules proteins
- medical and health sciences clinical medicine allergology
- medical and health sciences basic medicine immunology immunotherapy
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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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H2020-EU.1.3. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
MAIN PROGRAMME
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H2020-EU.1.3.2. - Nurturing excellence by means of cross-border and cross-sector mobility
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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.
MSCA-IF-EF-ST - Standard EF
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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) H2020-MSCA-IF-2014
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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.
NE1 7RU Newcastle Upon Tyne
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.