iPLACENTA — Innovation in modelling Placenta for Maternal and Fetal Health

Results in brief

Innovation in modelling Placenta for Maternal and Fetal Health

iPlacenta is an EU Horizon2020 ITN which trained 15 PhD early stage researchers to model and image the placenta for maternal and fetal health. The consortium was developed and coordinated by Dr Colin Murdoch at the University of Dundee. Two of the most common complications during pregnancy, preeclampsia (PE) and intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) are thought to stem from abnormal development and function of the placenta. The WHO reported PE and IUGR as one of the least funded areas of medical research, and there has been comparatively little progress in developing diagnostic tests and therapies. Yet, PE and IUGR cause a great personal, societal and economic impact. PE claims the lives of 76,000 mothers and 500,000 babies annually worldwide. IUGR affects 60,000 births across the EU per year and is the most common factor for stillborn babies. Yet the prediction rate is woefully poor, placing a heavy burden on the healthcare system. For those that survive both PE and IUGR, there are life-long serious cardiovascular and neurological consequences. iPLACENTA aims to use advancements in technology in a multidisciplinary network to enhance our ability to model, visualise and assess the placenta at different levels (in vitro, in silico and in vivo), as well as its interaction with the maternal cardiovascular system, with a view to improving diagnosis and eventual treatment of major placental diseases.

Data: CORDIS, © European Union

Project objective

“The placenta is the least understood human organ but arguably one of the most important”-NIH Human Placenta Project . Innovation in Modelling Placenta for Maternal and Fetal Health (iPLACENTA) is a European Training Network (ETN), and will act as a springboard for promoting international, intersectoral and multi/inter-disciplinary training, career development and collaboration of fifteen early-stage researchers (ESRs) in Maternal and Fetal Health. iPLACENTA will improve our ability to study, model and visualise the placenta. iPLACENTA focuses on doctoral-level training and will be delivered by eleven participating universities located in ten different European countries. It coordinates research and training collaboration among world-leading academic institutions in Europe, providing a new combination of in-depth international expertise. iPLACENTA’s unique network aims are to improve our ability to study the placenta through in vitro and mathematical modelling (WP1&2). Whilst enhancing visualisation and assessment of the placenta in animal models and the clinic, thus enhancing investigation and prognosis of complicated pregnancies. To link the research to industrial exploitation, the network brings together three different businesses; Mimetas (MIM) (organ-on-a-chip developer) as a beneficiary, and Moor, a clinical-technology specialist, and industrial global brand FujifFilm VisualSonics (FUJ) as partners. Together they will work with academics and clinicians to develop new placenta-on-a-chip technology (WP1), in silico placenta modelling (WP2), new modalities of laser technology to visualise the placenta in vivo (WP3), improve maternal-cardiovascular assessment and validate novel ultrasound tools for diagnosis of complicated pregnancies (WP3). Cross-sectorial training delivered by Business and Law Schools, Industry, Clinical specialist and European leaders in OpenScience-OpenInnovation.

Original text from CORDIS.

Participants

UNIVERSITY OF DUNDEE · DundeeCoordinatorUnited Kingdom
ASTON UNIVERSITY · BirminghamUnited Kingdom
Action on Pre-Eclampsia · EveshamUnknown Region
FUJIFILM VisualSonics · AMSTERDAMUnknown Region
FUNDACION PARA LA INVESTIGACION DEL HOSPITAL UNIVERSITARIO LA FE DE LA COMUNIDAD VALENCIANA · ValenciaSpain
Facilitate Open Science Training for European Research · BragaUnknown Region
GLOBAL FOUNDATION FOR THE CARE OF NEWBORN INFANTS · MunchenGermany
INSTITUT NATIONAL DE LA SANTE ET DE LA RECHERCHE MEDICALE · ParisFrance
ISTANBUL UNIVERSITESI · IstanbulTürkiye
KATHOLIEKE UNIVERSITEIT LEUVEN · LeuvenBelgium
MIMETAS BV · LeidenNetherlands
ST GEORGE'S HOSPITAL MEDICAL SCHOOL · LondonUnited Kingdom
Samsung Healthcare · SeúlUnknown Region
UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI TORINO · TorinoItaly
UNIVERSITAET ROSTOCK · RostockGermany
UNIVERSITEIT MAASTRICHT · MaastrichtNetherlands
UNIVERSITY COLLEGE CORK - NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF IRELAND, CORK · CorkIreland
University of Helsinki · HelsinkiUnknown Region

iPLACENTA · Innovation in modelling Placenta for Maternal and Fetal Health

Results in brief

Innovation in modelling Placenta for Maternal and Fetal Health

Project objective

Participants

Links