NEUROSOME — EXPLORING THE NEUROLOGICAL EXPOSOME

Results in brief

EXPLORING THE NEUROLOGICAL EXPOSOME

What is the problem/issue being addressed? The impact of prolonged exposure to apparently non-toxic doses of neurotoxicants during early development may have on children’s health, represents a major risk factor for neurodevelopmental disorders (NDs). The etiology of most NDs is unknown, but there is general agreement that they result from complex interaction between multiple genes conferring vulnerability and adverse environmental factors. Exposures, whether chemical, physical, or microbiological, may act directly upon neural cells or may affect the expression of genes that regulate relevant fetal/infant processes. They operate during sensitive periods of gestation by disrupting endocrine systems and altering the hormonal milieu necessary for fetal brain development. Moreover, environmental exposures could contribute to a dysregulated immune system that interacts at the molecular level with glial cells and astrocytes, creating a neuroinflammatory condition. Why is it important for society? NEUROSOME aims at protecting public health against neurodevelopmental disorders using the latest advances in environmental health science, namely the exposome paradigm. The project and its methodological advances are expected to have a positive impact on local society and the economy contributing to more cost-effective environmental management, enhanced human health and reduced costs associated to the health burden from exposure to neurotoxicants. What are the overall objectives? NEUROSOME aims to explore the environmental causes of neurodevelopmental disorders and their complex interplay with genetic predisposition and susceptibility. This will be done by developing a functional link between human biological monitoring and data on exposure to specific environmental compounds and NDs using the latest advances in environmental health science, namely the exposome paradigm. The goal is the development of functional links among the different components of environmental, exposure, Human Biomonitoring (HBM), toxicological and epidemiological studies to understand the causal associations between exposure to organic compounds and metals to NDs. The project’s training goal is to produce a new generation of exposome researchers, trained in academia, applied research and industry, with transdisciplinary skills (environmental end exposure modelling, HBM, -omics technologies, high dimensional bioinformatics and environmental epidemiology,) and understanding of fundamental science and its direct application to environmental health challenges.

Data: CORDIS, © European Union

Project objective

The main objective of NEUROSOME is to develop an integrative biology-based framework starting from human biomonitoring data to unravel causal associations among the genetic predisposition, cumulative exposure to multiple environmental chemicals and neurological disorders. The project brings together beyond- the-state-of-the-art advances in human biomonitoring and systems biology, exposure monitoring and toxicological testing technologies and advanced tools for computational analyses of the exposure-to-health effect continuum following an exposome paradigm. The NEUROSOME methodology will be applied in population studies across different exposure settings to neurotoxicants (metals and persistent organics) in Europe. This will improve scientific knowledge on cause and-effect relations between environmental stressors and neurodevelopmental disorders taking into account exposure and health effect modification due to intrinsic (e.g. genetic susceptibility) and extrinsic (e.g. diet and socioeconomic status) factors. New standards for human biomonitoring data interpretation in conjunction with environmental and exposure information will be developed for ready use in chemical mixture risk assessment.The training goal is to produce a new generation of exposome researchers, trained in academia, applied research and industry, with transdisciplinary skills (environmental end exposure modelling, human biomonitoring, -omics technologies, high dimensional bioinformatics and environmental epidemiology,) and understanding of fundamental science and its direct application to environmental health challenges. To this aim NEUROSOME will focus on the provision of trans-disciplinary research training to young researchers through a combination of network-wide training programs and individual personalised training-through-research projects to deliver to the EU and the world a new cohort of researchers trained in cutting edge transdisciplinary environmental health sciences

Original text from CORDIS.

Participants

ARISTOTELIO PANEPISTIMIO THESSALONIKIS · THESSALONIKICoordinatorGreece
AGENCIA ESTATAL CONSEJO SUPERIOR DE INVESTIGACIONES CIENTIFICAS · MadridSpain
EMORY UNIVERSITY NON PROFIT CORP · AtlantaUnited States
INSTITUT JOZEF STEFAN · LjubljanaSlovenia
ISTITUTO DI RICOVERO E CURA A CARATTERE SCIENTIFICO BURLO GAROFOLO · TriesteItaly
ISTITUTO SUPERIORE DI SANITA · RomaItaly
ISTITUTO UNIVERSITARIO DI STUDI SUPERIORI ( I.U.S.S.) DI PAVIA · PaviaItaly
JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY · BaltimoreUnited States
KENTRO TOXIKOLOGIAS ANONIMI ETAIRIA SYMVOULEYMKES DIAGNOSTIKES KAI ERGASTIRIAKES YPIRESIES TOXIKOLOGIAS FARMAKOLOGIAS KAI BIOIATRIKIS · Nea Alikarnassos IraklioGreece
PRESIDENT AND FELLOWS OF HARVARD COLLEGE · CambridgeUnited States
U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY - EPA · WashingtonUnited States
UNIVERSITAT ROVIRA I VIRGILI · TarragonaSpain
UNIVERSITE PARIS CITE · ParisFrance
UPCOM BVBA · Bruxelles / BrusselBelgium
ZELENA INFRASTRUKTURA DRUSTVO S OGRANICENOM ODGOVORNOSCU ZA ZASTITU OKOLISA I PROSTORNO UREDENJE · ZagrebCroatia

NEUROSOME · EXPLORING THE NEUROLOGICAL EXPOSOME

Results in brief

EXPLORING THE NEUROLOGICAL EXPOSOME

Project objective

Participants

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