Objective
The blood-brain barrier is a sophisticated biological barrier comprising several different cell types, structured in a well-defined order with the task to strictly control the passage of molecules - such as drugs against neurodegenerative diseases - from the blood into the brain. To reduce the ethical and economic costs of drug development, which in EU today uses
~10 million experimental animals every year, we must develop in vitro models of the blood-brain barrier with high in vivo correlation, as these are completely missing today.
SONGBIRD aims to achieve this with the scientific approach to
- Develop advanced microfabrication methods to handle biologically derived materials
- Structure the materials into heterogeneous 3D multi-layer suspended cell culture scaffolds
- Incorporate blood-brain barrier cells with precise control on location and order
- Integrated the 3D scaffolds into a microfluidic network as a miniaturised screening platform
The vision is to develop and validate versatile microfabrication methods to mechanically structure and physically handle soft biological materials to unlock the use of next generation animal-free barrier-on-chip models that can be used to speed up drug development, serve as screening platforms for nanotoxicology and help medical researchers to gain mechanistic insight in drug delivery. During SONGBIRD, I will focus on the blood-brain barrier due to its urgent relevance for drug development for the ageing population but the final processing tool-box will be suitable for realising in vitro models of any biological barrier in the future.
SONGBIRD is proposed to run for 60 months and will include researchers with expertise in microsystem engineering (PI), hydrogel synthesis and drug delivery. The expected output is a validated 3D barrier-on-chip model as well as a microfabrication toolbox for biological materials enabling transformation from 2D to 3D cell cultures in several other life science research areas.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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H2020-EU.1.1. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
ERC-STG - Starting Grant
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2017-STG
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
751 05 Uppsala
Sweden
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.