The four academic and three non-academic and industrial groups that made up the transMed consortium had recruited thirteen early stage researchers (ESRs) who worked in four different areas of translational research, namely: 1) design and application of new drugs to be used both for treatment of retinal diseases and identification of disease mechanisms and targets, 2) efficient formulation and delivery of such drugs, 3) their validation in various test systems, and 4) pharmaceutical development of active substance and formulation to allow for manufacturing according to the standards of good manufacturing practice (GMP), at appropriate quantities needed for clinical development. These four research areas were combined with an innovative training programme covering all aspects of translational medicine that were difficult to cover by research projects directly and that also included a variety of different soft skills. This concerned among others clinical trial design, scientific writing, career development, research policy, etc.
In the further progress of the transMed project its ESRs have successfully identified new compounds with therapeutic potential, as well as new molecular probes that can be used for biomarker purposes. The ESRs also worked on new and more accessible cell culture models and produced and evaluated new nanoscale formulations designed to facilitate entry of therapeutic compounds or molecular biomarker probes into the neuroretina. transMed ESRs worked on the ocular pharmacokinetics of such compounds and suitable formulations, and developed corresponding new manufacturing and purification processes for their large-scale production.
In parallel to their research work, the transMed ESRs participated in theoretical and practical hands-on training courses held across Europe, at the laboratories of the various academic and industrial partners. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic has restricted travels to consortium meetings, conferences, and secondments. The transMed consortium compensated for this by resorting to virtual meetings and promoting information exchanges through video-conferencing or data sharing platforms. Even so, the transMed ESRs could attend a number of in-person events, including the Vision Camp conference that was dedicated to give young researchers an international venue for their presentations. Moreover, most ESRs still managed to perform two inter-sectoral secondments from industry to academia and vice versa, permitting further insight and networking in the European biotech industry.
The results of the transMed project were published in over 20 peer-reviewed scientific journals, with many further publications still set to come out in 2022/23. Project results were also publicly presented in national and international conferences (in person and virtual) in the form of posters or talks. Furthermore, the ESRs also participated and actively organized themselves numerous public outreach activities such as lectures in high-schools and for the general public, virtual patient information days, etc.
