Periodic Reporting for period 1 - P4 FIT (Perspectives For Future Innovation in Tendon Repair)
Reporting period: 2021-01-01 to 2022-12-31
Innovation in tendon medicine is a promising frontier to respond to the urgent societal/economic healthcare demand determined by the worldwide growing incidence of the health problems on tendinopathy. Perspectives For Future Innovation in Tendon repair (P4 FIT) fosters to build a new generation of 15 early stage researchers with adequate skills to explore non-conventional therapeutic and diagnostic solutions by exploiting the technological advances in nanomedicine. The network brings together world-renowned academic and non-academic EU institutions, covering most of the basic and technological disciplines of the fields to launch a unique EJD. The inter-disciplinary, inter-sectoral, and international high quality educational environment aims to booster innovation-driving training and research leadership grounded in excellence for widening success in P4 medicine (predictive, preventive, personalized and participatory), promoting tendinopathy resolution.
By training the new generation of scientists, P4 FIT brings together a network of world-renowned researchers and entrepreneurs in biomedical engineering, nanotechnology, drug delivery, digital health, regenerative medicine, and veterinary and human orthopaedics to develop advanced solutions to solve the tendon related diseases. Understanding clinic and market demands a broad range of interdisciplinary skills and advanced technologies to be developed through an excellent training ground, providing a solid basis for careers in academia and research, will tremendously impact the ESRs and, ultimately, bring new technologies to the market for patient care.
Societal and medical need place tendinopathy and tendon ruptures at the frontier of advanced responses to health challenges and sectoral policy targets, with an awareness that solutions may lead to a new generation of ESRs equipped with technical and transferable skills necessary for thriving careers in a burgeoning area that underpins innovative technological development across a range of different disciplines. P4 FIT aims to generate a modern mind-set to answer to (a) research, (b) medical, (c) human resources and (d) industrial challenges related to tendon medical sector. P4 FIT aims to reach this overall objective tanking advantage from the interdisciplinary of the consortium, unique for putting together experts that instead all-too-often work separately that will collaborate in strict connection with substantial worldwide private companies working in human pharmacology and medical devices, in veterinary regenerative medicine, hospitals, and companies related to AI and big data.
By training the new generation of scientists, P4 FIT brings together a network of world-renowned researchers and entrepreneurs in biomedical engineering, nanotechnology, drug delivery, digital health, regenerative medicine, and veterinary and human orthopaedics to develop advanced solutions to solve the tendon related diseases. Understanding clinic and market demands a broad range of interdisciplinary skills and advanced technologies to be developed through an excellent training ground, providing a solid basis for careers in academia and research, will tremendously impact the ESRs and, ultimately, bring new technologies to the market for patient care.
Societal and medical need place tendinopathy and tendon ruptures at the frontier of advanced responses to health challenges and sectoral policy targets, with an awareness that solutions may lead to a new generation of ESRs equipped with technical and transferable skills necessary for thriving careers in a burgeoning area that underpins innovative technological development across a range of different disciplines. P4 FIT aims to generate a modern mind-set to answer to (a) research, (b) medical, (c) human resources and (d) industrial challenges related to tendon medical sector. P4 FIT aims to reach this overall objective tanking advantage from the interdisciplinary of the consortium, unique for putting together experts that instead all-too-often work separately that will collaborate in strict connection with substantial worldwide private companies working in human pharmacology and medical devices, in veterinary regenerative medicine, hospitals, and companies related to AI and big data.
The major work was done before and after hiring all the 15 ESRs, according to the workpackages (WPs) of the P4 FIT project. In WP1 we have coordinated and management of the project, which deal with the organization of different meetings, internal communication, website preparation and maintenance, finances, administration, advice to all network, etc. To mention a few, we have organized the P4 FIT Welcome Week, the 1st P4 FIT progress meeting, the P4 FIT Mid-Term Meeting, and the 1st P4 FIT Annual Meeting+Summer School. In WP 2, all ESRs have been acquired a large set of training in soft and hard skills/knowledge at their host institutions and partner organizations, aiming to receive general and specific interdisciplinary knowledge. These activities ranged from career development activities, dissemination scientific and to a lay audience (for societal outreach), general knowledge in a research field, intellectual property rights or regulatory affairs, project management, research ethics and integrity, technical research skills, commercialisation of research outputs, entrepreneurship, language courses, scientific communications (e.g. oral and poster presentations in conferences and public meetings), project management, computational skills, journal clubs, to scientific writing, etc. Altogether this P4 FIT skills and knowledge activities acquired by the ESRs has led to the accomplishment of 160.5 ECTS and 177*ESRs attendances. In WP3-5, the research activities of all ESRs have led to master soft and hard skills for their research work. The research results so far have demonstrated:(i) a unknown role of dendritic cells in the regulation of proliferation and collagen production in human fibroblasts and tenocytes;(ii) treated dendritic cells have the capacity to activate diseased tenocytes;(iii) some factors may contribute to the immuno-modulatory function of human amniotic mesenchymal cells;(iv) hybrid lipid nanoparticles co-loaded with an anti-inflammatory drug and siRNA can tackle complex conditions of macrophage dysregulation;(v) a synergistic anti-inflammatory and anti-fibrotic activity was achieved with a nanosystem developed for the inflammatory disease;(vi) different mesenchymal-related lineages led to specific teno-inductive signals;(vii); specific hydrogel microspheres showed high-protein loading capacity and cell encapsulation possibility;(viii) fabrication of polymer-based electrospun tendon biomimetic scaffolds;(xi) immuno-modulatory factors strengthen the phagocytic cell system in tendinopathy;(x) spontaneous healing does not provide a complete tendon healing, and thus, a complete recovery of the biomechanics;(xi) a method was developed to generate new and realistic samples of human motion and forces based on a new sensor, which can be used invasively to directly measure strain and strain rates or used directly on skin to non-invasively monitor motion and estimate biomechanics. In WP6, the Communication and Dissemination Strategy/Plan was achieved throughout the enhanced visibility of the P4 FIT network via the website of the project, social media (e.g. Twitter, YouTube and Facebook), multimedia content, and press releases. In WP7, the Dissemination and exploitation was achieved by sharing the obtained research results with peers in the field, industry and other commercial players and policymakers to maximize the potential applications (both social and economic), via conferences, technical and industry meetings, workshops and joint contacts/interactions with other (EU) networks/projects in topics related to P4 FIT.
Within the future biomedical market trends, a new generation of creative, entrepreneurial and innovative open-minded individuals with a wide vision of advanced healthcare solutions and a broad knowledge-base from which to devise solutions will be trained and skilled. P4 FIT builds-up professionals that will be in charge of the development of these advanced solutions applied to tendon problems at any level in clinics, research centers, pharmaceutic, and Red biotech and high-tech companies. The expected results and impacts beyond academia, are for example:
- to lead to an in-depth view of innovation and cutting-edge research knowledge and skills that can be applied in different environments;
- new know-how for technological transfer and application of the results to other innovate solutions;
- to develop the abilities to communicate results or to produce scientific publications;
- to develop an entrepreneurial mindset, which can be applied in own companies, where the discoveries are transformed into products for increasing the health/welfare of the European citizens;
- to create a wide and tight network within academia and with industry;
- to generate double PhD degrees within different EU institutions;
- to publish 15 high-quality PhD theses.
- to lead to an in-depth view of innovation and cutting-edge research knowledge and skills that can be applied in different environments;
- new know-how for technological transfer and application of the results to other innovate solutions;
- to develop the abilities to communicate results or to produce scientific publications;
- to develop an entrepreneurial mindset, which can be applied in own companies, where the discoveries are transformed into products for increasing the health/welfare of the European citizens;
- to create a wide and tight network within academia and with industry;
- to generate double PhD degrees within different EU institutions;
- to publish 15 high-quality PhD theses.