Aortic valve diseases are degenerative conditions that develop progressively and insidiously. Once symptoms become evident, life expectancy is significantly reduced. While treatments for these pathologies are widely available, there remains a remarkably high rate of procedural complications. These complications have been shown to have a negative impact on cardiac mortality and the likelihood of rehospitalization for heart failure. This underscores the need for further technological advancements. Protego's objective is to determine whether a combination of immunological and biomechanical profiles in patients with aortic valve diseases can effectively predict post-treatment prognosis. My goal is to develop an innovative, validated, and clinically applicable methodology that can identify the best treatment options and predict post-procedural outcomes while minimizing complications. This methodology will serve to determine the timing of treatment for patients with valvular aortic diseases and assess whether the proposed treatment is likely to be beneficial preoperatively, while also minimizing the risk of post-procedural complications. I will achieve this by combining imaging analysis, deep learning algorithms, in silico models, and in vitro tests. My approach involves the following key objectives: (i) creating a multi-physics digital twin of patients with aortic valve diseases, (ii) developing a validated, high-fidelity model for treatment with quantification of post-treatment outcomes and (iii) generating a proof of concept for a clinically applicable predictive model trained using both immunological profiles and biomechanical features of patients. This innovative approach will provide a deeper understanding of how clinical and biomechanical outcomes correlate with the amplification of inflammation, helping us comprehend the interaction between biomarkers and negative post-treatment prognosis in patients with aortic valve diseases.

In the European Union, cancer is the leading cause of death and the overall cancer incidence is still increasing. As a result of expanding efforts to improve cancer outcome, a main paradigm change is occurring in cancer therapy towards individualized medicine. Antibody-based therapies form an integral and constantly growing part of this approach. Antibody-based therapies will strongly influence the coming decade of cancer care. The importance of immunotherapy has been highlighted by the prestigious Science journal as “breakthrough of the year 2013”, heralding the rising importance of immunotherapy. Accordingly the need for well-trained and skilled researchers in academia and industry is dramatically increasing in this field. IMMUTRAIN is a training network bringing together experts in the fields of monoclonal antibodies, dendritic cells, T-cells and immunomodulatory nucleic acids with a considerable industrial involvement. The network comprises nine academic research groups and five industrial partners in a total of seven European countries. IMMUTRAIN will actively create synergies between those sectors by forming and promoting young researchers to match the challenges of immunotherapies. Particular focus will be placed on combinatorial therapies and on the new emerging field of bispecific antibodies used to target both the tumor and the patient´s immune system. Fifteen Ph. D. students (early stage researchers, ESR) reinforced by the project leaders will investigate innovative therapeutic strategies and provide the rationale for future clinical trials. Throughout their projects, ESR will learn to integrate academic and industrial aspects and will sharpen their experimental and complementary skills in a well-designed and diversified training program.

Algae4IBD's mission is to develop commercial products for Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) prevention and treatment using aquatic natural biological resources. With the emerging developments in natural product, notable success has been achieved in discovering natural products and their synthetic structural analogues with anti-inflammatory activity. However, global biodiversity remains a largely unexploited resource for natural bioactive molecules with an enormous potential for developing commercial products with public health benefits. Micro and macroalgae, found in marine and freshwater, have been identified as promising sources of bioactive compounds including small molecules and secondary metabolites with a wide range of bioactivities as an antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and cancer preventive. Consumption of algae could, therefore, provide defence against chronic inflammatory diseases such as IBD, that until date have no effective cure. This project offers nature to bedside approach, using an entire development along the value chain for a new biodiscovery therapeutic approach by developing and examining algae-based compounds for IBD patients while guaranteeing algae's biodiversity preservation. We propose innovative solutions for increasing the use of algae-based ingredients and to ensure the science-based improvement of nutritional quality and its effect on public health. The researchers, companies and hospitals involved in the different stages of the project will use the biodiversity of algae, both micro and macro, as a wide source for bioactive compounds using state-of-the-art cultivation and extraction technologies for obtaining sufficient amounts of the bio-active molecules together with novel processing protocols. It will result in novel algal-based, high-quality bioactive compounds at GMP grade and lower costs for dual purposes – IBD prevention and treatment in relevance to the food as well as the pharmaceutical industries.

Mural cells (pericytes and vascular smooth muscle) enclose blood vessels and are critical for vascular homeostasis. Absence or malfunction of pericytes or vascular smooth muscle results in aneurysm formation in small or large blood vessels, respectively. Our previous work showed Tbx18 is selectively expressed in mural cells of multiple adult organs. Preliminary data indicates that, in mice, ablation of Tbx18 in mural cells results in aortic tortuosity and lethality due to rupture. These observations led to the hypothesis that transcriptional regulation by TBX18 in mural cells is critical for the development of functional vascular networks. To fully understand the roles of TBX18 in mural cells and eventually place it as a gene involved in human vascular disease, we propose to: 1) fully characterize the vascular phenotypes of Pdgfrb- Cre;Tbx18 mutants; 2) identify genes directly regulated by Tbx18 in mural cells; and 3) test a putative involvement of TBX18 in human aneurysmal diseases.

Context/background of the projectThe 2017-1-IT02-KA103-035635 grant was the first Erasmus+ project awarded to our University, after having successfully applied for the Erasmus Charter for Higher Education (ECHE) in 2016. Although we previously hosted incoming Erasmus students from other countries, this was the first time we could offer mobilities under Key Action 1 to our own students. For this reason, we planned short-term mobilities (2-3 months for student mobilities, 5 days for staff mobility) and focused mostly on mobilities for training, which are easier to organize and monitor. Mobilities for training are also well suited for Medical students, for whom clinical placements are an essential part of their education and professional growth, and for PhD students, who needs highly specialized formation.ObjectivesAt the organizational/administrative level, the main objectives for the 2017-1-IT02-KA103-035635 project were:-to establish agreements with selected European HEI, focusing on partners with documented experience in training medical doctors and health professionals (e.g. nurses, physiotherapists), and possibly involved in international courses.-to organize and implement the management of Erasmus mobilities (both incoming and outgoing) within our institution, defining the internal procedures and becoming familiar with the tools offered by the European Commisson (Mobility Tool, OLS, etc.)-to set up selection procedures for outgoing students and staff-to increase the knowledge and promote awareness about the opportunities offered by the Erasmus+ project among students and within the Faculty-to encourage and support student mobilities by contributing to their costs with our own university funds At personal/individual level, the main objectives of the present project were:- For our students, who are already studying in an international setting, the Erasmus+ mobility provides an opportunity to further internationalize their learning experience with an internship in a different educational, professional and cultural environment. This experience, which is recognized as part of the educational path of the student, will contribute to form future qualified professionals, open-minded and capable of exploiting their competencies in different social and cultural settings, mindful of the different approaches to health and disease. - For our staff, the Erasmus+ mobilities were intended: 1) to promote the exchange of skills and experience on teaching methodologies; 2) to increase knowledge and share of best practices on internalization procedures (e.g. International Mobility marketing and recruitment, application procedures and regulations, course compatibility process, transfer of academic credits, overcoming cultural shock)Number and type/profile of participantsOverall, Humanitas University planned 7 mobilities under the Erasmus+ Project in the academic year 2017/2018 (from June 2017 to September 2018): 5 short mobilities for students and 2 for staff. All mobilities were completed, although only 5 could be imputed to the project funds (see below)Student Mobility: 3 MD and 2 PhD students were selected for Erasmus+ mobility for training. Staff Mobility: One administrative staff (Erasmus/International Office) and one teaching staff (Clinical tutor) were selected for short-term (one week) Erasmus+ mobility for trainingDescription of undertaken activities:MD students performed clinical placements in hosting institutions/hospitals PhD students performed research traineeship in host biomedical laboratoriesStaff performed training in 1)internalization procedures and issues; 2)teaching methodologies for nursing studentsResults and impact attainedWe were able to meet most of our initial objectives. At the institutional level, we put all the foundations to actively and successfully participate to the Erasmus+ program in the forthcoming years. In addition, we started collaborations with few selected partner institutions that we wish to strengthen in the future.At the individual level, mobility participants (both incoming and outgoing) were satisfied of their experiences, and shared their stories and impressions with other colleagues when they returned. We hope this will represent the first step to further promote the Erasmus program within our institution.