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H2020Doctoral network2019–2023

V.A. Cure · A multidisciplinary approach towards sustainable improvement in rare diseases care uniting Europe's top class vascular research to find new treatment strategies for vascular anomalies

Horizon 2020 — Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Duration
2019-03-01 → 2023-02-28
EU contribution
€3,792,136
Participants
17
Scheme
MSCA-ITN

Lines connect the coordinator with its partners.

Results in brief

A multidisciplinary approach towards sustainable improvement in rare diseases care uniting Europe's top class vascular research to find new treatment strategies for vascular anomalies

Vascular anomalies (VAs) are a group of rare diseases defined by blood- or lymph vessel dysfunction causing chronic pain, disabilities, and even sudden death. Effective therapeutic treatments are lacking and many patients require life-long clinical management by multidisciplinary medical teams. Management is often partial, leaving patients with chronic pain, dysfunction, and lowered quality of life. The inherent challenge in the field is the scarcity of clinical knowledge and expertise due to the limited number of patients. The V.A. Cure network (7 academic institutions, 2 companies, and supported by 9 partner organisations across Europe) aimed to uncover core mechanisms of disease initiation and maintenance and leverage this information for establishing novel therapeutic strategies for VAs. 14 ESRs were working on the project’s objectives: (1) identification of novel genes involved in VAs in patients, (2) dissection of molecular mechanisms behind the diseases by in vitro modelling, (3) in-depth analysis of tissular mechanisms in pathophysiological conditions through in vivo models, (4) pre-clinical testing of identified treatment strategies. The consortium has made major advances in the fundamental understanding of vascular diseases, which provide leads for the development of new therapies for multiple VAs. In addition, new techniques and models were developed that will be of great value for future vascular research, into vascular anomalies and other vascular diseases. The 14 ESRs have successfully performed their individual projects. With the acquired biological knowledge, technical and soft skills and the network built up during V.A.Cure, they will be able to continue their career in the path of their choice. Furthermore, new collaborations in the project have proven fruitful and many of them will be continued after the project. Collaborations outside the network have also been initiated. The project has thus strengthened the vascular research field in Europe, both in terms of scientific quality and international collaboration.

Data: CORDIS, © European Union

Project objective

Vascular anomalies (VAs) is a group of rare diseases defined by blood- or lymph vessel dysfunction causing chronic pain, disabilities, and even sudden death, and for which effective treatments are lacking. The European V.A. Cure network aims to address this unmet medical need by uncovering core mechanisms of disease initiation and maintenance and by leveraging this information for establishing novel therapeutic strategies for VAs. V.A. Cure has assembled 7 world-leading academic laboratories and 5 companies, which will apply an intersectoral four-step approach: (1) identification of novel genes involved in VAs in patients, (2) dissection of molecular mechanisms behind the diseases by in vitro modelling, (3) in-depth analysis of tissular mechanisms in pathophysiological conditions through in vivo models, and (4) pre-clinical testing of identified treatment strategies. The knowledge gained will not only be relevant for VAs but also for understanding aberrant vascular function in other vascular-related diseases.The composition of V.A. Cure and close interaction between the 14 ESRs, through secondments in academia and industry, guarantee a unique intersectoral training program at the highest level, ensuring a comprehensive perception of research and drug/technology development in pharma industry/biotech and academia. ESRs will be trained in a plethora of cutting-edge technologies including next-generation sequencing (up to single-cell RNA-Seq), CRISPR-Cas genome editing, generation of animal models with inducible deletion and mosaic analyses, generation of iPSCs, microfluidics, in vivo phage display to identify endothelial targets, and light sheet-, confocal-, and multiphoton live-imaging. In combination with advanced training in management and communication including writing, presentation, e-media and outreach, the graduates of the V.A. Cure network will be future leaders in vascular research, and also highly competitive candidates for positions outside academia.

Original text from CORDIS.

Participants

  • DE DUVE INSTITUTE AISBL · Bruxelles / BrusselCoordinatorBelgium
  • ASTRAZENECA AB · SodertaeljeSweden
  • BAYER AKTIENGESELLSCHAFT · LeverkusenGermany
  • BELGIAN VASCULAR ANOMALY PATIENT ASSOCIATION · KraainemBelgium
  • CLINIQUES UNIVERSITAIRES SAINT-LUC ASBL · Bruxelles / BrusselBelgium
  • INSTITUT NATIONAL DE LA SANTE ET DE LA RECHERCHE MEDICALE · ParisFrance
  • KAROLINSKA INSTITUTET · STOCKHOLMSweden
  • LLS ROWIAK LASERLABSOLUTIONS GMBH · HannoverGermany
  • MAX-PLANCK-GESELLSCHAFT ZUR FORDERUNG DER WISSENSCHAFTEN EV · MUNCHENGermany
  • NAVINCI DIAGNOSTICS AB · UppsalaSweden
  • OULUN YLIOPISTO · OuluFinland
  • Perimed AB · JärfällaSweden
  • SINGH PRATEEKFinland
  • Sysmex Inostics GmbH · HamburgGermany
  • TAMPEREEN KORKEAKOULUSAATIO SR · TampereFinland
  • UNIVERSITAET POTSDAM · PotsdamGermany
  • UPPSALA UNIVERSITET · UppsalaSweden

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Data: CORDIS, © European Union