Descrizione del progetto
Una ricerca multidisciplinare nell’ambito delle malattie vascolari
Le anomalie vascolari sono malattie rare prive di trattamenti efficaci che provocano dolore cronico, disabilità e persino morte improvvisa. Il progetto V.A. Cure, finanziato dall’UE, intende scoprire i meccanismi di insorgenza e mantenimento della malattia, per poi avvalersi di queste informazioni per definire nuove strategie terapeutiche. Il consorzio è composto da sette laboratori accademici di spicco a livello mondiale e cinque aziende. Il progetto si occuperà di individuare nuovi geni coinvolti nelle anomalie vascolari dei pazienti, analizzando i meccanismi molecolari alla base delle malattie mediante modellizzazione in vitro, eseguendo un’analisi approfondita dei meccanismi tissutali in presenza di condizioni fisiopatologiche mediante modelli in vivo e sperimentazioni precliniche delle strategie di trattamento identificate. V.A. Cure formerà 14 ricercatori in fase iniziale di carriera in diverse tecnologie avanzate, rendendoli futuri leader nella ricerca vascolare.
Obiettivo
Vascular anomalies (VAs) is a group of rare diseases defined by blood- or lymph vessel dysfunction causing chronic pain, disabilities, and even sudden death, and for which effective treatments are lacking. The European V.A. Cure network aims to address this unmet medical need by uncovering core mechanisms of disease initiation and maintenance and by leveraging this information for establishing novel therapeutic strategies for VAs.
V.A. Cure has assembled 7 world-leading academic laboratories and 5 companies, which will apply an intersectoral four-step approach: (1) identification of novel genes involved in VAs in patients, (2) dissection of molecular mechanisms behind the diseases by in vitro modelling, (3) in-depth analysis of tissular mechanisms in pathophysiological conditions through in vivo models, and (4) pre-clinical testing of identified treatment strategies. The knowledge gained will not only be relevant for VAs but also for understanding aberrant vascular function in other vascular-related diseases.
The composition of V.A. Cure and close interaction between the 14 ESRs, through secondments in academia and industry, guarantee a unique intersectoral training program at the highest level, ensuring a comprehensive perception of research and drug/technology development in pharma industry/biotech and academia. ESRs will be trained in a plethora of cutting-edge technologies including next-generation sequencing (up to single-cell RNA-Seq), CRISPR-Cas genome editing, generation of animal models with inducible deletion and mosaic analyses, generation of iPSCs, microfluidics, in vivo phage display to identify endothelial targets, and light sheet-, confocal-, and multiphoton live-imaging. In combination with advanced training in management and communication including writing, presentation, e-media and outreach, the graduates of the V.A. Cure network will be future leaders in vascular research, and also highly competitive candidates for positions outside academia.
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Meccanismo di finanziamento
MSCA-ITN - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Innovative Training Networks (ITN)Coordinatore
1200 Bruxelles / Brussel
Belgio