About Project
Summary
Non-communicable or chronic diseases are major causes of mortality and morbidity worldwide, responsible for more than 74% of all deaths globally. Cardiovascular diseases, cancers, respiratory diseases and diabetes are considered as the major NCDs, Figure 1.1. They account for more than 80% of premature deaths among all NCDs. NCDs are caused by a combination of genetic, physiological, environmental, and behavioural factors. In the EU, more than €700 billion is spent annually on treating NCDs, presenting a major socio-economic burden and have been recognized by the EU as one of the priorities under the Cluster 1: Health of Horizon Europe. The imperative is to improve detection, screening and particularly to address risk factors and develop novel therapies. In vivo models present an invaluable tool in the research of NCDs, from detection of risk factors (genetic or environmental) to testing novel therapeutics. New technologies, such as next-generation sequencing (NGS), bioinformatics and artificial intelligence can add value to in vivo disease modelling. This project also addresses the enhancement of IMGGE’s capabilities in this area.
The overall goal of ZeNCure is to sustainably improve excellence capacity and resources at IMGGE, and to raise the research profile of IMGGE through strengthening two key domains:
• research potential (by strengthening our scientific excellence in in vivo research, bioinformatics and innovation capacities in the NCD field) and;
• scientific management (including grant proposal writing and training of researchers in transferable skills, as well as training of administrative staff in project management) leading to improved competitiveness in the European Research Area (ERA) and increased collaboration with local, regional and global industry through innovative solutions. We recognize the importance of a positive research culture and environment on mental health of researchers and will focus on developing a Human Resources Office (HRO) that will assist with staff training.
Objectives
Objective 1: To establish a strategic, long-term collaboration with EU leading experts resulting in knowledge transfer and sharing of know-how, expertise, and best practices, as well as improving the researchers’ networking skills.
Objective 2: To significantly improve the project writing, management, and procurement skills of both, administrative and research sectors of IMGGE and overall career development.
Objective 3: To increase the level of staff expertise in animal welfare and ethical issues regarding the use of animals in research. Moreover, regional and outreach activities supported by ZeNCure will lead to enhanced public awareness of the animals use in research.
Objective 4: To boost the current scientific excellence and scale up the overall capacity and know-how in ZF research and upgrade research in NCDs at IMGGE.
Objective 5: To increase the visibility of IMGGE and the activity of its researchers in the NCDs field, leading to enhanced scientific excellence. Improved excellence capacity and resources together with strengthened research management capacity and administrative skills of the staff working in IMGGE reached during ZeNCure implementation, will raise the reputation, research profile, and attractiveness of IMGGE per se.
Work packages
WP1 Networking and training refers to networking and raising research capacities of early-career researchers (ECIs). This WP aims to achieve Objective 1 by enhancement of networking between researchers at partner institutions, leading experts in the field, and IMGGE. This will increase the potential of IMGGE researchers to compete in the European research market to facilitate their cooperation in Horizon Europe, as well as to improve networking and transferable skills of ECIs. The activities of newly established Think Tank will be focused on networking activities such as round tables involving ECI, and a few selected senior researchers who will share their experience in career development in a relaxed environment, without the presence of their mentors and supervisors, ensuring more open and efficient discussion. One of the activities within WP1 will be delivering interactive lectures between partners, resulting in the establishment of long-term and sustainable collaborations and facilitated preparation of future joint project applications. The International Winter School “My zebrafish teacher” will also be organized and will include a small Citizen Science project: “Small fish – big wave”.
WP2 Knowledge exchange refers to strengthening research management and administration skills. This WP aims to improve the research management and administration skills to increase the competitiveness of the IMGGE researchers in public and private fundraising, fulfilling Objective 2. Through the strengthening of the Project Management Office (PMO) and establishment of Human Resources Office (HRO) these activities will be supported. PMO will provide training and job-shadowing activities with skilled researchers, project, and intellectual property rights (IPR) experts. It will provide two workshops regarding grant writing that will be organized in cooperation with all partners. Further, PMO will help in consortium formation, announcement of the relevant calls, writing collaborative grant proposals, and budget planning. Moreover, three workshops for the administrative staff in project coordination, management, and reporting are planned to be realized within WP2.
WP3 Ethics and animal welfare aims to fulfill Objective 3, i.e. to train IMGGE researchers and technical personnel in ethical issues related to studies with animals, namely ZF. WP3 will enable enhancing the housing and maintenance conditions for the current ZFF, improve ZFF management, and provide plans for establishing future Western Balkan ZF Resource Centre (WB_ZiRC) at the new Bio4 Campus. Federation of European Laboratory Animal Science Associations (FELASA) will support trainings for the professional competence in personnel working with animals and the implementation of the 3Rs to conduct ethical and high-quality science. The improvement of the already established ZFF will be done in cooperation with ZHA and UoS, which also has a smaller scale facility through on-line consultations and staff-exchange. ZHA will also help with plans for future ZFF, together with MPG and CF which has a state-of-the-art operating core facility similar to what is planned for Bio4 Campus. Staff- exchange and on-site training will be organized. IMGGE already has a well-established Ethics committee for animal welfare.
WP4 Strategic research collaboration aims to enhance excellence in NCDs research using ZF as a primary in vivo model, and therefore fulfil Objective 4. The research part of the project will be realized through three scientific mini-projects together with partners from MPG, UoS, and CF, and BGI RFL: (i) transgenic line generation with special emphasis on imaging techniques; (ii) transgenerational study with (spatial and mRNA & miRNA) transcriptomics to analyse the effects of conventional smoking and EC across generations; (iii) ZF xenograft model application for predicting the efficacy of personalized cancer therapy and exploring mechanisms that drive tumor growth and metastasis, as well as responses to therapy. These projects address 3 major methodologies groups? used in ZF research studies. The realization of these mini-projects will consist of on-site training and short-term researcher staff exchange at partner institutions. IMGGE researchers will gain knowledge and experience in methodologies and techniques needed for efficient work with ZF. We expect at least one joint publication after the completion of each mini-project.
WP5 Dissemination, exploitation, and communication (DEC) of knowledge and project results are managing the project’s public appearance and the dissemination of its results, including sharing of scientific knowledge. The WP5 goals are defining detailed data management plan (DMN), DEC, and IPR plans and a set of promotional and dissemination material together with a hired expert at IMGGE. This will lead to the successful achievement of Objective 5, including the effective dissemination of Project activities and results at the national and international levels, ensuring the Project outcomes exploitation after its end. In addition, relevant stakeholders (healthcare, pharmaceutical companies) at regional and EU levels will be engaged. To increase the competitiveness in applicative research and innovations, two round tables involving the relevant industrial stakeholders from health care and pharmaceutical institutions in Serbia and partner countries will be organized with an agenda focused on knowledge, ideas, and methods exchange, aiming to establish a solid, long-term science-industry relationship. During the realization of the activities in this WP, the visibility of IMGGE will be increased through strategically planned communication activities (according to the DEC plan), results will be disseminated in compliance with the DMN plan and exploited respecting the IPR plan.
WP6 – Project Management