Proyectos internacionales en colaboración

The organisms' survival depends on energy homeostasis, involving the control of neuroendocrine functions that integrate metabolic feedback. Tanycytes are glial cells lining the floor of the third ventricle in the median eminence of the hypothalamus which control the secretion of neuropeptides by hypothalamic neurons into the pituitary portal circulation and regulate blood-brain and blood-cerebrospinal fluid exchanges. Tanycytes actively shuttle metabolic signals to hypothalamic neurons that control food intake. 

The goal of the EU-funded WATCH project is to employ state-of-the-art technologies in systems neuroscience, mouse genetics, and translational research, to elucidate the role of tanycytes and provide new directions in biomarker research and therapeutic approaches for a variety of disorders that impair healthy ageing. 

Coordinator: Institut National de la Sante et de la Recherche Medicale (France) 

Partners: Institut National de la Sante et de la Recherche Medicale (France), Centre Hospitalier Regional et Universitaire de Lille (France), Universitaet zu Luebeck (Germany) and Universidad de Santiago de Compostela (Spain).

Meniscal resection often leads to early osteoarthritis (OA), which necessitates alternative reconstructive strategies. The EU-funded MEFISTO project proposes to develop a functionalised nanomaterial-based scaffold capable of interacting with the native meniscal tissue. 

This innovative device will promote local revascularisation and help regenerate the native meniscus, especially in younger patients. 

At the same time, it will deliver drugs locally to modulate tissue inflammation in patients with advanced OA. Given the considerable number of individuals undergoing meniscectomy, the MEFISTO interventions will improve surgery outcomes and reduce OA-related co-morbidities. 

Coordinator: Geistlich Biomaterials Vertriebsgesellschaft Mbh 

Partners: Geistlich Pharma AG (Switzerland), Humanitas University (Italy), Klinikum Der Universitaet Regensburg (Germany), Tissue Click LTD (United Kingdom), University of Santiago de Compostela (Spain), Universiteit Antwerpen (Belgium), Consiglio Nazionale delle Richerche (Italy), Orthokey Italia SRL (Italy), Etablissement Francais du Sang (France), Active Implants BV (Netherlands), AIM GMBH – Assessment in Medicine Research and Consulting (Germany), Universitair Medisch Centrum Utrecht (The Netherlands) and Sciprom SARL (Switzerland).

The project SAFEMED+ was first introduced during KA-2 CBHE call 2016-2017, under name SAFEMED and with rather different formation of consortia, which was shortlisted and placed among reserve projects with best positive feedbacks and valuable recommendations for further improvement. 

Addition of "+" in acronym indicates addition of simulations to the essential body of the project, implying development of all necessary types of simulations, which may be used on the undergraduate stage of medical education, including standardized patients, mannequin-equipped clinical skills laboratory, clinical scenarios, OSCE examinations etc; in order to create a continuum of clinical competences across the curriculum, starting from the first year of studies in Competency Based Medical Education based Curriculum. 

Partners: Petre Shotadze Tbilisi Medical Academy (Georgia), University of Santiago de Compostela (Spain), Tbilisi State Medical University (Georgia), Yerevan State Medical University (Armenia), Yerevan Haybusak University (Armenia), Bukovinian State Medical University (Ukraine), Ternopil National Medical University (Ukraine), Vilniaus Universitetas (Lithuania) and University Degli Estudi di Catana (Italy). 

Associated partners: Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport of Georgia (Georgia), Sociedad Española de Médicos de Atención Primaria (SEMERGEN) (Spain) and Davit Tvildiani Tbilisi Medical University (Georgia)

Sustainability of EU-OPENSCREEN ERIC (EU-OS), the European Research Infrastructure Consortium for Chemical Biology, hinges on promoting awareness to academia and industry of its services and data. The EU-funded EU-OPENSCREEN-DRIVE project (DRIVE) will help EU-OS deliver its added value via reuse of data and chemical tools by users around the world. EU-OS provides access to a unique compound collection and a network of screening and chemistry facilities to develop these tools for basic research and therapeutics. DRIVE expands on core services by adding chemoproteomics and fragment screening competencies, by providing access to a database and central office that manages the collection and coordinates project flow and training, and by increasing the competitiveness of European industries through generating innovation in health research. 

Coordinator: European Infrastructure Of Open Screening Platforms For Chemical Biology European Research Infrastucture Consortium (Eu-Openscreen Eric) (Germany) 

Partners: Ustav Molekularni Genetiky Akademie Ved Ceske Republiky Verejna Vyzkumna Instituce (Czech Republic), Univerzita Palackeho V Olomouci (Czech Republic), Helmholtz-Zentrum Fur Infektionsforschung GMBH (Germany), Fraunhofer Gesellschaft Zur Froderung Der Angewandten Forschung EV (Germany), Fundación Centro de Excelencia en Investigación de Medicamentos Innovadores en Andalucía (Spain), Fundación de la Comunidad Valenciana Centro de Investigación Príncipe Felipe (Spain), Universidad Santiago de Compostela (Spain), Helsingin Yliopisto (Finland), Universitetet I Bergen (Norway), Universitetet I Tromsoe - Norges Arktiske Univesitet (Norway), Universitetet I Oslo (Norway), Sintef AS (Norway), Instytut Biologii Medycznej Polskiej Akademii Nauk (Poland), Instytut Chemii Bioorganicznej Polskiej Akademii Nauk (Poland), Masarykova Univerzita (Czech Republic), Danmarks Tekniske Universitet (Denmark), Agencia Estatal Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (Spain), Latvijas Organiskas Sintezes Instituts (Latvia), Instytut Biochemii I Biofizyki Polskiej Akademii Nauk (Poland), Fundació Institut Mar D Investigacions Mediques IMIM (Spain), CSC-TIETEEN Tietotekniikan Keskus OY (Finland), European Molecular Biology Laboratory (Germany), Hochschule Mannheim (Germany), Technische Universitaet Muenchen (Germany), National Center For Scientific Research "Demokritos" (Greece), Karolinska Institutet (Sweden), Instituto de Biologia Molecular e Celular IBMC (Portugal), Academisch Ziekenhuis Leiden (The Netherlands), Weizmann Institute of Science (Israel), Termeszettudomanyi Kutatokozpont (Hungary), Institutul de Chimie Coriolan Dragulescu (Romania), Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (Switzerland) and Forschungsverbund Berlin EV (Germany).

COST - Action.
Despite significant progress in understanding the individual components, signal transduction as a whole is not fully understood. Fundamental questions remain regarding how different signalling pathways are activated and modulated in precise and reproducible ways. Filling this gap in knowledge is absolutely necessary to advance the next generation of drugs that will achieve therapeutic efficacy while minimizing side effects. A prime example of this research challenge is the large family of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), which are the target of more than a third of all marketed drugs. The COST Action ERNEST (European Research Network on Signal Transduction) will tackle this challenge by uniting scientists from different disciplines spanning the molecular, cellular, physiological, and clinical perspectives. This network of diverse investigators will be uniquely able to synergistically develop an unprecedented comprehensive understanding of signal transduction that will advance drug design efforts in Europe, for the benefit of societies and human health worldwide.

The INTERREG Atlantic+Positive project "Preservation of Atlantic pollination services and control of the invasive species Vespa velutina" has as its main objective to prevent the continued expansion and minimise the impact of the invasive species Vespa velutina for the ecosystems and for the socio-economic environment. development of the Atlantic Area. This will be achieved through the establishment of a transnational cooperation network for the implementation of joint activities. New control methods and an Atlantic Strategic Plan to protect biodiversity and ecosystem services against this pest will be achieved. 

Coordinator: Fundación Centro de Estudios Euro-regionales Galicia-Norte de Portugal (Spain) 

Partners: University of Vigo; University of Santiago de Compostela; General Directorate of Natural Heritage, Department of Environment, Territory and Housing of the Xunta de Galicia; Basque Institute of Agricultural Research and Development SA; National Institute of Agricultural and Veterinary Research IP; University of Tras-os-montes e Alto Douro; Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique; University College Cork, National University of Ireland and University of Exeter. 

Associated partners: Association of Basque Municipalities; Association of Beekeepers of Gipuzkoa; Association of Beekeepers of Bizkaia; Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Food and Environment; Association de Développement de l'Apiculture en Aquitaine; Comunidade Intermunicipal do Támega e Sousa; Instituto Politécnico de Bragança; Instituto Regional de Investigación y Desarrollo Agroalimentario y Forestal; Centre d'Etudes Biologique de Chizé. Univesité de La Rochelle; Comunidade Intermunicipal do Alto Minho; Comunidade Intermunicipal do Ave; Federação Nacional de Apicultores de Portugal; Direção Geral de Alimentação e Veterinária; Comunidade Intermunicipal do Cávado; Instituto Politécnico de Viana do Castelo; Universidade das Islas Baleares; Departament for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; Animal and Plant Health Agency, National Bee Unit; Agrupación Apícola de Galicia and Asociación Gallega de Apicultura.

The overall goal of B-SMART is to design modular nanoparticles, fabricate them using a quality-by-design protocol, and achieve delivery of therapeutic RNAs to the brain and treat neurodegenerative diseases. 

In B-SMART we expect to arrive at a scale-able nanoparticle formulation with uniform characteristics that shows strong pre-clinical evidence of therapeutic efficacy and is ready for clinical translation. 

Coordinator: Universitair Medisch Centrum Utrecht (The Netherlands) 

Partners: Universidad de Santiago de Compostela (Spain), 20MED Therapeutics BV (The Netherlands), VIB VZW (Belgium), The Chancellor, Masters and Scholars of the University of Oxford (United Kingdom), Istituto Biochimico Italiano Giovanni Lorenzini Spa (Italy), Stiftelsen Sintef (Norway), Malvern Panalytical Limited (United Kingdom), Eurice European Research and Project Office GMBH (Germany) and Sintef AS (Norway).

2IQBIONEURO aims to develop a joint research and development agenda, including a training and mobility plan, collaborative R&D projects and actions in the field of technology transfer. Its objective is to cooperate in the field of R&D of the participating institutions, in order to contribute to strengthening their research and technology transfer capacity in the field of neurological diseases. 

Lead beneficiary: University of Santiago de Compostela (Groups: MetBioCat, NeurObesity, Molecular Imaging Biomarkers and Pharmacokinetic Modelling and BioNanoTools). 

Partners: Fundación Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria de Santiago de Compostela (LINC Group), University of Vigo (TeamNanoTech Group), University of Valladolid (BIOFORGE Group), University of Minho (3B's Group), University of Coimbra (UC-Biotech Group), Jesús Usón Minimally Invasive Surgery Centre Foundation, International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory (AmTheNa Group), Instituto Superior de Engenharia do Porto (BIOMARK Group) and LINCBIOTECH SL.

COST - Action.

The proposed COST actions aim to foster the development of the emerging field of epitranscriptomics in Europe. EPITRAN is based on the premise that by understanding the role of RNA modifications in physiology and pathology, powerful new disease biomarkers and drug targets could be identified. This, in turn, will lead to the development of a whole new class of diagnostic tools and targeted therapies, with a particular focus on cancer treatment. Furthermore, a mechanistic understanding of this set of phenomena will deepen our knowledge of the contribution of post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression to the proteome and thus phenotype variation. This COST action will accelerate discoveries in the field of epitranscriptomics and contribute to realising this vision through collaborative efforts, data sharing and mobility-based learning opportunities.

Unknown perpetrators of crime cannot be identified with the current forensic use of DNA. The VISAGE Project aims to overcome this major limitation by developing, validating, and implementing in the relevant forensic DNA service environment a set of prototype tools for predicting appearance, age, and ancestry in as much detail and as accurately, and effectively as possible from DNA traces. The outcome of the VISAGE Project will have a major impact on solving more crimes more rapidly by providing previously unused intelligence information from trace DNA to find unknown perpetrators, which will lead to reduced impact on victims, reduced societal distress, preventing miscarriages of justice, thereby avoiding unnecessary costs. 

Coordinator: Erasmus Universitair Medisch Centrum Rotterdam (The Netherlands). 

Partners: Uniwersytet Jagiellonski (Poland), Universidad de Santiago de Compostela (Spain), Medizinische Universitat Innsbruck (Austria), Universitat Zu Koln (Germany), King's College London (United Kingdom), Klinikum Der Universitaet Zu Koeln (Germany), Bundeskriminalamt (Germany), Institut National de Police Scientifique (France), Netherlands Forensic Institute (Netherlands), Polismyndigheten Swedish Police Authority (Sweden), Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime (United Kingdom) and Centraline Laboratorium Kryminalistyczne Policji (Poland).

The aim of B-CAST is to identify women at moderate to high risk of breast cancer, the subtype of cancer that is most likely to develop and the prognosis of that particular subtype. This will be accomplished through large-scale pathologic-molecular analyses of over 20,000 breast tumours, and the integration of these data with unique resources from existing consortia, including germline, lifestyle/environmental, mammographic breast density, pathologic and clinical data. 

This information will inform the development of risk prediction and prognostication models that will be validated in longitudinal cohorts and clinical studies, and incorporated into online tools. We will also disseminate this knowledge to relevant stakeholders, and evaluate how to translate it into risk-stratified public health and clinical strategies. 

Coordinator: Stichting Het Nederlands Kanker Instituut-Antoni Van Leeuwenhoek Ziekenhuis (The Netherlands). 

Partners: The Institute of Cancer Research: Royal Cancer Hospital (United Kingdom), The Chancellor Masters and Scholars of the University of Cambridge (United Kingdom), Karolinska Institutet (Sweden), Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum Heidelberg (Germany), Universidad de Santiago de Compostela (Spain), Fundació Parc Cientific de Barcelona (Spain), VIB VZW (Belgium), Foundation for Genomics & Population Health (United Kingdom), Universite Laval (Canada), Queensland Institute of Medical Research (Australia), Harvard Global Reasearch and Support Services INC. (United States) and Fundació Centre de Regulació Genòmica (Spain).

COST - Action.

In relation to human health, several examples highlight the importance of the processes involved in autophagy as therapeutic targets, as modulation of autophagy has a recognised potential to combat cancer, lupus erythematosus (already in phase III), neurodegeneration and infections, as well as a key strategy to slow down age-related tissue deterioration. On the biotechnological front, modulation of autophagy enables innovative applications for optimal agri-food production or alternative energy sources from microalgae. These and broader perspectives will be enhanced by TRANSAUTOPHAGY, a consortium that serves as a platform for companies, stakeholders and researchers from various disciplines. This project seeks cooperation to generate multidisciplinary advances in the regulation of autophagy, and to use this knowledge for biomedical and biotechnological purposes.