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HEDoctoral network2023–2027

HOTBIO · A holistic approach to training a new generation of scientists in marine biodiscovery

Horizon Europe — Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Duration
2023-01-01 → 2027-06-30
EU contribution
€2,379,737
Participants
20
Scheme
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-DN

Lines connect the coordinator with its partners.

Results in brief

A holistic approach to training a new generation of scientists in marine biodiscovery

Being a MSCA Doctoral Network, the main goal of the HotBio project is to train a new generation of experts within the field of natural products drug discovery. From a scientific point of view, the goal is to identify new bioactive natural products from marine microorganisms that can be developed into new medicines. HotBio includes a total of 13 PhD projects, covering the entire marine biodiscovery pipeline from field sampling of marine microorganisms, isolation and characterization of bioactive natural products, investigating their mode of action and to understand practical aspects of access and benefit sharing as well as business aspects of commercializing natural products. The doctoral candidates (DCs) receive dedicated scientific training on key parts of the pipeline in three specially designed courses. In addition, the DCs are also trained in transferrable skills including career planning, communication, legal and regulatory aspects, patenting and entrepreneurship. The students have research visits (secondments) to academic and industry partners to gain insights in different aspects of the natural products drug discovery and development process, and to develop awareness of the challenges and opportunities that exist in collaborations between academia and industry. The training and networking offered by Hotbio will make the DCs attractive employees in the future for academia, industry and governmental bodies. For more information on HOTBIO project, please consult our website http://www.hotbio.eu/

Data: CORDIS, © European Union

Project objective

The HOTBIO consortium will train a new generation of early-stage scientists to take marine microbial natural products from the seabed to the bedside. They will be involved in every stage of the pipeline from microbial isolation through compound purification and identification to making analogues with desirable drug-like properties. They will gain associated skills in access and benefit sharing, intellectual property and entrepreneurship. Students graduating from HOTBIO will be in a unique position to enter a challenging labour market as they will have received multidisciplinary training at world leading research groups in academia as well as at industry partners. Mentorship will be provided by industrial scientists and recent graduates from the MSCA ITN MarPipe.The HOTBIO consortium consists of eight beneficiaries from seven European countries, including two members from non-academic sectors, that will host ten PhD students. Three more PhD students hosted by two Swiss associated partners will be funded by the Swiss State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation. In addition to secondments at the partners in Europe, students will also get the opportunity to do secondments in low-to-middle income countries (LMICs) in Africa and Asia to get a deeper understanding of how modern research can be done in resource-limited setting.HOTBIO expands a conventional marine biodiscovery pipeline by including computer aided drug design (CADD), chemical synthesis of optimized compounds (i.e. medicinal chemistry), target deconvolution and extensive ADMET profiling. This will advance the bioactive microbial secondary metabolites to the later stages of preclinical development, and it will also inform the decisions and priorities of what kind of compounds that should be targeted in the initial phase of the drug discovery process. The downstream development will include hit compounds from earlier projects.

Original text from CORDIS.

Participants

  • UNIVERSITETET I TROMSOE - NORGES ARKTISKE UNIVERSITET · TromsoCoordinatorNorway
  • ABS-INTERNATIONAL · GentBelgium
  • Bacto - Tech sp. z o.o. · ToruńPoland
  • CHRISTIAN-ALBRECHTS-UNIVERSITAET ZU KIEL · KielGermany
  • FUNDACION CENTRO DE EXCELENCIA EN INVESTIGACION DE MEDICAMENTOS INNOVADORES EN ANDALUCIA · Armilla GranadaSpain
  • HELMHOLTZ-ZENTRUM FUR OZEANFORSCHUNG KIEL (GEOMAR) · KielGermany
  • KATHOLIEKE UNIVERSITEIT LEUVEN · LeuvenBelgium
  • LEAD DISCOVERY CENTER GMBH · DortmundGermany
  • Oxford Antibiotic Group GmbH · TullnAustria
  • RUHR-UNIVERSITAET BOCHUM · BochumGermany
  • SATHYABAMA INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY · CHENNAIIndia
  • STAZIONE ZOOLOGICA ANTON DOHRN · NapoliItaly
  • THE OPEN UNIVERSITY · Milton KeynesUnited Kingdom
  • THE UNIVERSITY COURT OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ABERDEEN · AberdeenUnited Kingdom
  • UNIVERSIDAD DE GRANADA · GranadaSpain
  • UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI MESSINA · MessinaItaly
  • UNIVERSITAT ZURICH · ZurichSwitzerland
  • UNIVERSITE DE LAUSANNE · LAUSANNESwitzerland
  • UNIVERSITY OF GHANA · ACCRAGhana
  • UNIWERSYTET MIKOLAJA KOPERNIKA · TORUNPoland

Links

Data: CORDIS, © European Union