UCL researchers have been awarded a prestigious EU Horizon 2020 TEAMING grant, in collaboration with a consortium of Portuguese Universities.

The project will capture and accelerate clinical, innovation and enterprise activities through the foundation of a new Discoveries Centre for Regenerative and Precision Medicine. The Centre will headquarter at the University of Minho in Northern Portugal and there will be a supporting campus at UCL.

About

UCL researchers have been awarded a prestigious EU Horizon 2020 TEAMING grant, in collaboration with a consortium of Portuguese Universities led by Professor Rui L. Reis at 3B´s Research Group of the University of Minho.

The UCL team is led by Professor Jonathan Knowles, (Division of Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering, Eastman Dental Institute). The other UCL investigators are Dr Ivan Wall (Department of Biochemical Engineering), Professor Giampietro Schiavo (Institute of Neurology), Professor Andreas Schätzlein (School of Pharmacy), Professor Vivek Mudera (Division of Surgery & Interventional Science), Dr Richard Day (Division of Medicine), Professor Tim McHugh (Division of Infection and Immunity) and Dr Jane Kinghorn (Translational Research Office).

The total value of the EU Horizon 2020 grant is €15M, of which UCL have been awarded €5.1M as part of the scheme. Portuguese partners will leverage additional national funding to an impressive total of around €100M over the 7 years of the grant. A key overarching focus for the TEAMING award will be to capture and accelerate clinical, innovation and enterprise activities. The headquarters of the new centre will be at the University of Minho in Northern Portugal and there will be a supporting campus at UCL.

Objectives

Regenerative and precision medicines are emerging medical research fields that may provide novel treatments for a number of diseases, including musculoskeletal and neurodegenerative disorders, as well as cardiovascular diseases, among others.

These diseases affect millions of people in Europe and worldwide, negatively impact their quality of life and of their family members, and represent a major economic burden on our health care systems. Current therapeutic approaches available for musculoskeletal, neurodegenerative and cardiovascular disorders have proved to be ineffective or insufficient in the long term, which calls for new and innovative strategies to overcome the current challenges presented by these diseases.

The Discoveries Centre’s main goal is to create a new multipolar distributed research Centre of Excellence in the area of Regenerative and Precision Medicine.

The multipolar Centre of Excellence will focus on multidisciplinary research that will be translated into innovative methods and applications for the prevention and treatment of a selected group of disorders: Musculoskeletal, neurodegenerative & Cardiovascular.

The Research & Development performed by the Centre will be grouped into seven different research units:

  • Stem cells biology & Engineering
  • Advanced molecular therapies, Biomarkers, & Advanced Medicinal Products
  • Biomaterials & Tissue engineering approaches
  • Nanomedicine & Drug Delivery
  • Screening, Bioimaging & Advanced Micro-technologies
  • Disease & Tissue Models
  • Systems Medicine

Seminars

As part of the progression of the Centre, we aim to run an exciting series of seminars and other events throughout the year, with a focus on regenerative and precision medicine.

Contacts

Professor Jonathan Knowles Professor of Biomaterials Science and Head of the Division of Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering j.knowles@ucl.ac.uk 020 3456 1189

Sarah Smerald Research Administrator, Discoveries Centre for Regenerative and Precision Medicine s.smerald@ucl.ac.uk

This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme, under grant agreement No 739572.