Objective
Infectious diseases have had an intimate history with humans and have shaped our genetic makeup through generating strong selective pressures. Although disease emergence and epidemics occur on a local scale, human interrelationships formed through travel and trade can lead to exchanges of pathogenic communities. While such transfers were common among the interconnected Eurasian and North African cultures throughout most of human history, the rest of the world experienced relative ecological autonomy. The terminal Pleistocene witnessed the colonisation of vast territory on the American continents, after which interactions between New and Old World peoples were limited for millennia by geographical barriers. These ecological worlds collided at the end of the fifteenth century, when improvements in navigation and the discovery of the Americas by Europeans permitted regular contact and plentiful opportunities for biological interchange. The identities of most diseases that played leading roles during this period of exchange are known, though details on the directions of their movement and temporal introductions remain the subject of scholarly debate. The work programme presented here will use an underexplored data source – ancient pathogen genomes – to identify infectious insults in pre- and post-contact New and Old World skeletal series, thus enabling an evaluation of changing disease landscapes at contact. Complementary to this goal, genomic loci for human immunity genes will be interrogated, thus permitting quantitative evaluations of disease adaptation. Ancient molecular data will be acquired through use of the most sensitive and up to date methods in the field of ancient DNA with the aim of bringing diseases not easily seen from skeletal morphology or historical documents to light in clear detail. This will permit an unprecedented resolution of past disease experience and host-pathogen interactions during this dynamic period of global ecological unification.
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.
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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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H2020-EU.1.1. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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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.
ERC-STG - Starting Grant
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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) ERC-2018-STG
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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.
80539 MUNCHEN
Germany
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.