The INTROS project, as multi- and interdisciplinary doctoral network, will develop diagnostic and prevention strategies for acute complex wounds that are at risk of infection. Infections represent a significant challenge, as they often require prolonged treatment and may even result in extended hospital stays. All this is associated with considerable burden to clinics and patients as well as financial costs. To address this issue, the doctoral candidates and consortium partners dedicate their efforts in creation of early diagnostic methods that can effectively detect infection and/or facilitate the direct application of advanced antimicrobial dressings and innovative formulations following burn or surgical procedures. Additionally, the (bio)materials will be designed to prevent inflammation, promote healing and regeneration, thereby reducing the risk of infection and its associated complications such as scarring and impairments. The developed systems will consist of innovative nano-/micro-sized delivery systems, biodegradable and-compatible electrical sensors or patches based on hydrogels, bacterial nanocellulose and polyurethanes as well as biologically active extracellular vesicles. This will be supported by extensive biocompatibility and efficacy testing in vitro, in vivo and especially in ex vivo wound models as well as in-depth physicochemical characterisation. Special emphasis will be on the scale-up to industrial levels and manufacturing towards GMP conditions already during the project’s lifetime. INTROS will contribute to bringing forward a new generation of young scientists by creating a research and training network for 8 Doctoral Candidates, equip them with multidisciplinary skills from biomaterials, nanotechnology, pharmaceutical chemistry and technology, biochemistry and material science. Combined with extensive complementary soft/transferable skills, INTROS will enable them to take leading roles in industry and academia in the European community.

In 2015 and 2016, the EU experienced an unparalleled influx refugees and migrants. This situation poses multiple challenges for social- and health services and labour markets in host communities as well as for the lives of the refugees. In response to this situation, the vision of FOCUS is to increase understanding of, and provide effective and evidence-based solutions for, the challenges of forced migration within host communities and thereby contribute to increased tolerance, peaceful coexistence, and reduced radicalization across Europe and in the Middle East. Based on a comprehensive mapping and trans-disciplinary, multi-site field research conducted in Jordan, Croatia, Germany and Sweden, FOCUS explores the socio-psychological dimensions of refugee- and host-community relations and analyses the socio-economic integration of refugees and the consequences of this in host societies. The research sites have been selected to ensure that insights and lessons are derived from medium- and long-term experiences with forced displacement and local integration. This knowledge is used to transform and strengthen existing promising solutions for social- and labour market integration. The integration solutions will be pilot tested in at least five European countries by governmental and non-governmental end-users. The solutions are finally brought together in the Refugee and Host Community Toolbox, which will support policy makers, municipal actors, civil society organisations and other stakeholders in responding to the needs of both refugees and host communities and thereby act as agents of change in this field. In addition, FOCUS undertakes an ambitious programme of engagement with policy makers, end-users, host communities, refugees and other stakeholders. This will ensure that FOCUS research and solutions are acceptable and useful for policy makers, while meeting the needs of end-user organisations and ultimately refugees and host communities.

Issues of data subjects’ privacy and data security represent a crucial challenge in the biomedical sector more than in other industries. The current IT landscape in this field shows a myriad of isolated, locally hosted patient data repositories, managed by clinical centres and other organisations, which are subject to frequent and massive data breaches. Patients are disenfranchised in this process, and are not able to have a clear understanding of who uses their personal information and for what purposes. This makes it the ideal field to build and test new models of privacy and data protection, and the technologies that encode them. MyHealthMyData (MHMD) aims at changing the existing scenario by introducing a distributed, peer-to-peer architecture, based on Blockchain and Personal Data Accounts. This approach will determine new mechanisms of trust and of direct, value-based relationships between people, hospitals, research centres and businesses, in what will be the first open biomedical information network centred on the connection between organisations and the individual. The system will develop a comprehensive methodology to guide the implementation of data and identity protection systems, specifically defining approaches and tools to profile and classify sensitive data based on their informational and economic value, to assess the most suitable and robust de-identification and encryption technologies needed to secure different types of information, to allow advanced analytics, and to evaluate the overall reliability of a generic multi modular architecture. MHMD will also analyse users’ behavioural patterns alongside ethical and cultural orientations, to identify hidden dynamics in the interactions between humans and complex information services, to improve the design of data-driven platforms and to foster the development of a true information marketplace, in which individuals will be able to exercise full control on their personal data and leverage their value.

InterLynk aims to develop multi-tissue 3D patient-specific scaffolds by providing a portfolio of highly compatible and biofunctional composite inks and biomaterials, and streamlining their co-processing using an upgraded AM equipment. Unprecedented biofunctionality in the synthetic reconstruction of complex interfacial tissues is expected to be obtained. A double network photocrosslinkable biomaterial system based on human plasma-derived Platelet Lysates (PL) will be used as base matrix. The PL-based hydrogels will be further combined with mechanically reinforcing biomaterials, namely CaP-based bioceramics and PCL-LA polymers, to produce bone-like and fibrous structures, respectively, and will be able to be blended with natural drug carriers (flavonoid-loaded nanomicelles). Compositional and structural variations will be enabled by combining photo-assisted printing and MEW/ESP in a single-step hybrid AM process. New computational tools will support the mechanobiological optimization of all biomaterials and final parts, as well as the AM process design. Superior biofunctionality of the InterLynk’ scaffolds will be validated in an highly complex multi-tissue interfacial biosystem, the temporomandibular joint. InterLynk will implement comprehensive strategies to engage key groups of stakeholders (clinical, engineering, regulatory and market-related) in the development of biological scaffolds, establishing a truly multidisciplinary co-creation process. These scaffolds are expected to have no counterpart in both fabrication and multi-tissue regeneration, avoiding time-consuming and costly procedures in both dimensions. This will increase current AM (bio)fabrication capabilities and application range, widely extending its use. Their high flexibility and unique performance will considerably reduce immune rejection, risk of contamination and, inherently, rehabilitation time of multi-tissue injuries resulting in increasing wellbeing and healthcare costs reduction.