Project description
Non-invasive tool for monitoring pig welfare
The EU is the world’s second-largest pork producer. While biosecurity and management practices help limit the spread of pathogens, they do not guarantee high animal welfare or optimal sanitary conditions. Supported by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the PoWe project aims to create a tool to monitor pig welfare through non-invasive saliva sample collection. This approach combines expertise in molecular biology, clinical chemistry, pathology, proteomics, and veterinary clinical analysis. The tool will use salivary gland biomarkers identified from cultures of major salivary glands exposed to experimental infection and heat stress. By enabling early disease detection, it will help prevent mortality, lower treatment costs, reduce antimicrobial misuse, and ultimately improve animal welfare.
Objective
The European Union has 134.32 million heads of pigs and produces the second-largest amount of pork in the world. In view of the importance of the livestock sector, the EU is increasingly interested in animal welfare measures across its entire livestock production system. This is because optimized biosecurity measures and management practices which are preventive tools for spread of pathogens does not guarantee high animal welfare or optimal sanitary status. The project, Porcine Welfare (PoWe) aims to develop an innovative analytical tool for monitoring pig welfare using non-invasive analytical tool for monitoring pig welfare using non-invasive and painless saliva sample collection. To achieve the objective of PoWe, the researcher will combine her knowledge in molecular biology, clinical chemistry and pathology with the expertise in proteomics, organoid technology and veterinary clinical analysis of the supervisors in the host and secondment institutions. The analytical tool will be constructed by utilising the best salivary gland (SG)-derived biomarkers identified in single-cell and organoid cultures of the three major SG subjected to experimental infection and heat stress. The gender-specific biomarkers identified by proteomics in-vitro will be validated in saliva samples of pigs in field conditions and will reveal gender-based differences in the biomarkers that are produced in response to welfare dysregulation. The proposed tool will enhance early and optimal disease monitoring that could prevent avoidable mortality, reduce financial investment on therapeutic treatments, and reduce the overuse or misuse of antimicrobial agents and thus improve animal welfare. The biomarkers that will be validated in PoWe will be used to develop saliva-based diagnostic test kits or point-of-care devices for an early detection of pathological conditions by farmers before the arrival of a veterinarian. Thus healthier pigs and increased safety pork product will be obtained.
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.
- natural sciences biological sciences biochemistry biomolecules proteins proteomics
- social sciences sociology demography mortality
- medical and health sciences basic medicine pathology
- agricultural sciences animal and dairy science domestic animals animal husbandry
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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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HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
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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.
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
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Call for proposal
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Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2024-PF-01
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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.
30003 Murcia
Spain
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.