INSTITUT QUÍMIC DE SARRIÀ CETS FUNDACIÓ PRIVADA – RAMON LLULL UNIVERSITY (IQS-URL)

Expertise: photochemistry, photobiology, photodynamic therapy, microbiology.
PROJECT COORDINATOR

IQS is one of the founding members of the non-profit private Ramon Llull University (URL), which has more than 17,000 students and 1,110 professors, offers 89 EHEA programmes and sponsors 59 research groups. One of the most innovative Spanish universities, it promotes student-teacher interaction and fosters a mastery of the new technologies.

The multidisciplinary Photochemistry Laboratory has a long-standing interest in the molecular aspects of preclinical photodynamic therapy research and has made a significant contribution to time-resolved luminescence. Researchers have full access to cutting-edge chemistry and bioengineering technology in a laboratory that is equipped with pulsed nano- and picosecond lasers for time-resolved spectroscopic techniques, along with state-of-the-art spectroscopic instruments and photoreactors. The Institute is also fully equipped with general organic chemistry, cellular and microbiology facilities.

Santi Nonell, professor of Physical Chemistry and President of the European Society for Photobiology, earned a doctorate in photochemistry at the Max-Planck-Institut für Strahlenchemie in Germany and spent time at Arizona State University and University of California Los Angeles before joining IQS-URL. He has co-authored over 180 peer-reviewed publications on photochemistry, photobiology and biomedical applications of singlet oxygen (see http://orcid.org/0000-0001- 8900-5291). He chairs the Laboratory of Biological Photochemistry at IQS and has supervised numerous PhD, Master’s and undergraduate theses, lectured at many international universities and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry. He received the Otto Han Award from the Max-Planck-Gesellschaft.

Microbiologist Prof. Montserrat Agut focuses her research on the microbiological aspects of antimicrobial photodynamic therapy. She is a Numerary Member of The Academy of Veterinary Sciences of Catalonia and Corresponding Member of The Royal Academy of Medicine of Catalonia. She studied veterinary sciences and earned her PhD in 1992 after following a science programme at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, where she was assistant professor at the Veterinarian Faculty. She has supervised a number of theses and worked at IQS since 1998, devoting her effort to the development of strategies for photoinactivating drug-resistant pathogens. More details about her publications can be found at http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9173-9684.

UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI FIRENZE (UNIFI)

UNIFI is a major research centre that employs around 5,000 staff (lecturers, professors, research staff) and offers 126 degree courses to some 51,000 students. The biomedical and scientific areas cover all base scientific and medical disciplines, while experimental, preclinical and clinical research are also well established here thanks to the proximity of Careggi Hospital, the largest in Tuscany.

The Departments of Medicine and Experimental & Clinical Biomedical Sciences “Mario Serio” are researching innovative phototherapies applied to antibiotic-resistant bacterial models: with a patent granted for a “swallowable” light source, the idea of the “breathable” light source at the core of the “Light4Lungs” project is now being studied. These laboratories provide access to equipment such as optical inverted microscopes, imaging and spectroscopic/monochromator systems, (auto)fluorescence and darkfield imaging and spectroscopy systems, LED and Visible/NIR laser sources and detectors, spectrophotometers and fluorometer, in addition to expertise on bacterial physiology, molecular biology, biochemistry and protein engineering.

Prof. Giovanni Romano PhD, lecturer in Applied Physics and Associate Professor, focuses on biophysics and medical physics with phototherapies, nanomedicine and biomedical optics. He is a member of the Italian (SIFB) and European Photobiology Societies, Italian Society for Optics and Photonics (SIOF), Italian Association of Medical Physics (AIFM) and the Board of Directors at SIFB.

Major ventures in developing devices for light-driven therapy include Biology of physical stresses with ASA srl, Nanobiosens with EcoBioservices srl and Probiomedica srl (its Capsulight project drew attention: Tuscany Region 2014 award for best innovative idea for startups; one of three best Life Sciences startup innovations in Italy in 2014; and health category finalist in EDF – Electricité de France pulse awards 2015).

He is also the author of 40 publications, co-author of phototherapy patent “Ingestible Capsule for Treating Gastric Infections, in particular for treating H. pylori Infections”, referee for several journals and scientific advisor for Galileo projects, 2014 (IT-FR) and SIR projects 2015.

Prof. Franco Fusi is Associate Professor of Applied Physics in the “Mario Serio” Department, Director of the School of Medical Physics at UNIFI and President of CONDIR (National Conference of Directors of Medical Physics Specialization Schools). His research interests lie in biomedical optics and photobiology, design of phototherapy units, photophysics of biomolecules and nanostructured chromophores based on gold nanoparticles for photothermal therapy, and he centres on the interaction between electromagnetic radiation in the optical range and biological tissues (applications include modelling and development of photonics-based instruments for both diagnosis and therapy: antibacterial photodynamic therapy, darkfield and (auto)fluorescence nanoparticle identification, optical properties of radiochromic films, gold-nanoparticle mediated antitumoral therapy and laser-source safety issues in biomedics).

Professor Gian Maria Rossolini is Full professor of Microbiology & Clinical Microbiology in the Department of Experimental & Clinical Medicine at UNIFI and Director of the Clinical Microbiology & Virology Unit and the Florence Careggi University Hospital. His current fields of scientific interest are antimicrobial agents and antibiotic resistance mechanisms; surveillance, molecular epidemiology and clinical impact of microbial drug resistance and of nosocomial infections; and new technologies and approaches in diagnostic clinical microbiology. He was an inventor in 11 patent applications related to diagnostics (6 of which were international), antimicrobial agents or host-vector systems for heterologous gene expression.

SORBONNE UNIVERSITE (SU): Laboratoire Jean Perrin (LJP) at University Pierre et Marie Curie

SU University Pierre et Marie Curie embodies excellence in science and medicine and has a clear commitment to the European community. European partnerships make up 64 percent of its institutional agreements, carried out with a three-pronged approach: European networks, education and research programmes.

LJP is one of the 100 research units at SU and specializes in physics at the interface with biology and medicine, investigating, for example, new physio-chemical and mechanical systems that could mimic biological systems and developing new experimental approaches in optics and microfabrication techniques that allow us to probe the properties of complex biological systems on different scales.

The LJP Micro-Organisms Biophysics group will provide the Light4Lungs project with equipment for biofilm growth in parallelized millifluidic channels and real-time monitoring using video microscopy with access to microfabrication facilities for dedicated growth chambers and an automated microscopy platform that allows real-time monitoring of living biological samples over long periods of time.  

Nelly Henry, Senior Researcher at CNRS, has solid experience in physics and biology research. With a background in physico-chemistry, she has expertise in colloidal interactions in biological systems and has collaborated with immunologists (Curie Institute, C. Hivroz group) and microbiologists (JM. Ghigo’s group at the Pasteur Institute). She is also part of a group working on Nesseria meningitidis to better understand the mechanisms of bacterial self-aggregation (G. Duménil at HEGP). She recently launched a group at LJP to study adherent microbes and started work with INRA Micalis on multispecies biofilm. Nelly has coordinated several ACI and ANR programmes and has published papers in her field and work in major journals.

Jerome Robert is Assistant Professor at UPMC Paris 6 and conducts research at LJP. His recent research has focused on cell-to-cell heterogeneity in monoclonal bacterial populations. To study this phenotypic variability, he developed a microfluidic flow cytometer (combining a microfluidic chip and a microscope-based optical setup), which he used to measure fluorescence intensity on populations of bacteria. He is experienced in molecular biology, microfluidics and optical setups (microscopy and imaging). Jerome has also participated in and is currently a member of various university committees, including the Physics recruitment committee and the General Affairs committee at the Physics Department.

FUNDACIÓ PRIVADA INSTITUT CATALÀ D’INVESTIGACIÓ QUÍMICA (ICIQ)

ICIQ is a non-profit research organization, the 2004 creation of which was promoted by the Catalan Government with support from the EU and industrial partners including Repsol and Bayer. Named a “Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence” by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness in 2013, it employs 340 people: 83% are researchers and more than 30% of international origin. Its mission is to boost the competitiveness of the chemical industry in Southern Europe through innovation and technical improvement.

ICIQ houses 19 research groups in supramolecular chemistry, catalysis, molecular photovoltaics and computational modelling. It has been granted funding for 38 H2020 projects, coordinates 25 national funded projects, has taken part in more than 60 industrial research projects with world-leading companies and filed 157 patents.

ICIQ contributes its expertise in the synthesis of nanomaterials with optical and semiconductor properties as well as organic and inorganic synthetic chemistry. It also provides access to state-of-the-art spectroscopic, structural, analytical and computational equipment to investigate the systems under study, among others.

For more information, visit http://www.iciq.org/

Prof. Emilio Palomares is Professor at ICREA (Catalan Institute for Research & Advanced Studies) and ICIQ Group Leader. His interests focus on materials for energy production and bio-applications (electron transfer processes, photovoltaic applications and nanoscience). His group obtained an international patent in 2014 for the use of luminescence nanocrystals in Dual Core Quantum Dots for Highly Quantitative Ratiometric Detection of Trypsin Activity in Cystic Fibrosis Patients.

He has published over 230 papers, participated in 7 EU-funded research projects, 8 national research projects and 8 industry research projects under the Marie Curie European Fellowship (2002), Ramón y Cajal Fellowship (2003), ERC Starting Grant (2009) and ERC Proof of Concept Grant (2015). His awards include the Roscoe Medal (2004), Young Chemist Research Award from the Spanish Royal Society of Chemistry (2006) and the INNOVA Award from the SusChem Spanish technology platform for Sustainable Chemistry (2010).

Dr. María Méndez became a postdoctoral researcher in Professor Palomares’ research group following a period as a COFUND postdoctoral researcher on the ICIQ-IPMP programme. She has extensive experience in the fabrication of nanoparticles with luminescent properties and is co-author of 10 peer-reviewed publications.

UNIVERSITÀ DEGLI STUDI DI PADOVA (UNIPD)

UNIPD is composed of 32 departments that promote and coordinate research activities and courses, alongside 70 Research and Service Centres. It trains researchers via 37 doctoral courses and cooperates with several Italian and foreign entities, participates in European Programmes on education and research (Socrates, Leonardo da Vinci, Tempus, Alfa, Jean Monnet, Framework Programmes), activities with developing countries, the Coimbra Group network of historical European universities and others such as T.I.M.E., Triangulum or Socrates.

The Department of Biology covers most fields of modern biology and establishes research contracts with SMEs. It employs 79 professors and researchers, 52 tech and admin staff and hosts some 50 postgraduate and postdoc fellows. It is involved in more than 100 publicly-funded research projects, national and international research foundations, charities and private enterprises. The Cell Biology and Developmental Genetics units collaborating with Light4Lungs will aid in in vitro mammalian cell cultures, analyses, dealing with responses and cycle alterations of the cell cultures exposed to the luminous nanoparticles, among others.

Team leader Elena Reddi is Associate Professor of Cell Biology and will take part in planning experiments, analysing results and coordinating with other participants. Her past research activity focused on the medical applications of photosensitised processes such as tumour or antimicrobial PDT, the cell death they induce and the cellular targets involved. Recently, she has investigated the biocompatibility and use of nanosystems as carriers of photosensitizers employed in PDT and conventional chemotherapeutics to increase the efficacy and selectivity of cancer therapies. She has led national projects and the EU-funded project CRAF-1999-70306 “Development of a Photodynamic Treatment to Eradicate and Control the Current Spread of Infectious Antibiotic Resistant Microoganisms in Man”. She was coordinator on the FP-7 funded Nanophoto (contract 201031) and her activity is documented in 92 published papers.

Maddalena Mognato PhD is Assistant Professor in Cell Biology at the Department of Biology. Her research focuses on cytotoxic and genotoxic effects induced by ionising radiation, laser light, UV light and chemicals (nanoparticles, cisplatin, PAH,) in human normal and cancer cells. She studies the DNA-damage response to ionizing radiation, the role of microRNA in the expression of DDR genes, and recently identified two microRNAs targeting genes of DNA double-strand break repair to enhance the cytotoxicity of cancer cells resistant to conventional radiation treatments. She works with the Istituto Oncologico Veneto IOV-IRCCS (UOC of Radiotherapy, Padova Hospital) to identify molecular biomarkers of individual radio sensitivity in oncological patients and has worked on EU-funded projects in her field of expertise. She was PI on a Padua University project and her research is widely published.

Francesca Moret, Assistant Professor in Cell Biology, holds a Master’s in Industrial Biotechnology and a PhD in Bioscience & Biotechnology. She conducted an in-depth assessment of the use of nanostructures (liposomes, silica nanoparticles, polymeric nanoparticles, keratin nanoparticles, gold nanoparticles) for the delivery of photosensitizers and chemotherapeutics to cancer cells in vitro, mainly for combining chemotherapy and PDT. She has also investigated toxicological responses in normal and cancerous lung cells exposed to silica nanoparticles and has collaborated with academia and industry in EU-funded projects such as NANOPHOTO (FP7, grant 102031) or AIRC (IG2014 #15764). Her current interests lie in cell-based approaches to enhance nanoparticles and transported drugs delivery exclusively to tumour sites. Her research activity is documented in 17 papers and numerous abstracts presented at national and international congresses.

Stefano Cagnin, Assistant Professor of Genetics, holds a PhD in Biotechnology and centres his work on microarray and DNA sequencing technologies. He has developed and analysed cDNA and oligonucleotide microarrays to define the gene expression profiling of dystrophic skeletal muscle and cardiovascular dysfunction. He has developed a new electronic device to detect DNA hybridization kinetics alongside new bioinformatic approaches to improve meta-analysis gene expression data exploration and applied them to defining antigenic signature in patients affected by chronic inflammation in skeletal muscle tissue. He recently became interested in miRNA activity and nanoparticle action in gene expression alteration and developed a new approach to identifying micro RNAs expressed in Sus scrofa tissues characterizing their function and evidenced how silica nanoparticles alter the expression of epithelial cells. His activity is documented in 31 papers, 29 meeting reports and two book chapters.

CARDIFF SCINTIGRAPHICS LIMITED (i2c)

i2c Pharmaceutical Services is the trading name of Cardiff Scintigraphics (CSL), a spin-off company from Cardiff University established in 1992. It is now a niche specialist working in drug formulation, device development and research into analytical methods, having gathered expertise through involvement with more than 30 pharma and device companies.

i2c specializes in the design, conduct, analysis and reporting of clinical trials and in vitro studies, optimizing formulations and conducting clinical evaluations of inhaler systems such as pressurised metered dose inhalers (pMDI), dry powder inhalers (DPI) and nebulisers.

i2c worked with the UN Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) to help Egypt and Mexico fulfil their obligations to the Montreal Protocol in phasing out the use of CFCs in medicinal inhalers to benefit the environment and local pharma companies; it was shortlisted for a Queen’s Award for Enterprise (Innovation) in 2012; and Professor Taylor’s activities were cited as exemplary in the 2014 Research Excellence Framework impact case studies “Inhaled Medicines: Leveraging Benefits to Global Pharma and International Development”.

Professor Glyn Taylor BSc, PhD is Emeritus Professor of Drug Delivery at Cardiff University and Chief Executive Officer at i2c. He has studied the mechanisms of aerosol deposition and drug absorption from the lung, and the scintigraphic imaging techniques used to quantify these parameters in clinical trials; his research led to the foundation of Cardiff Scintigraphics in 1992. He has lectured at academic and commercial conferences in UK, EU, US, MY and Australasia, supervised 20 PhD students and authored or co-authored more than 200 research articles on pharmacokinetics, biopharmaceutics and gamma scintigraphy. Glyn has served on an MHRA pharmacokinetics expert advisory group, consulted for pharma companies and delivered collaborative programmes with companies including AstraZeneca, GlaxoSmithKline, 3M, Novartis and Pfizer. His research has influenced the development of several marketed pharmaceutical products (Gaviscon Advance) and inhalation devices (Clickhaler and e-Flow).

Simon John Warren BSc, PhD is Research Manager at CSL and honorary lecturer at the Cardiff University School of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences. He has extensive expertise in pharmaceutical formulation (inhalation and oral dosage forms), including small-scale concept and feasibility studies, technology transfer and industrial scale-up and clinical gamma scintigraphy applied to the development and testing of radiolabelled pharmaceutical dosage forms. In the latter, he has performed scintigraphic studies to enable the clinical evaluation of pulmonary delivery systems including pMDI, dry powder inhalers, nebulisers and condensation aerosol generator systems. He has also taken part in the development of a methodology for the appropriate radiolabelling of both novel and commercial comparator products to ensure that the radiolabel is an accurate surrogate for the active pharmaceutical ingredient / selected excipient and the formulation retains the aerosols characteristics of “off-the-shelf” products.

Cuong Hoa BSc, PhD is Senior Research Scientist at CSL, honorary visiting lecturer at Cardiff University School of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences and has 13 years’ experience in laboratory research in the pharmaceutical industry and academia. He took part in the UN-funded project to reformulate CFC-based inhalers in Article 5 countries and is experienced in analytical techniques, preparing guidelines/policies for Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and study protocols issued in accordance with good practice regulations. He is a proficient senior research scientist in conducting and designing laboratory techniques in line with standard pharmacopoeia methodologies ‒ ensuring testing conforms to SOPs ‒ technology transfer and scale-up of inhaled pharmaceutical products to overseas clients and inhaled pharmaceutical product registration for overseas markets.

THE UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL (UNILIV)

Over the last 5 years, the University of Liverpool has invested heavily in clinical infectious disease research through the Institute of Infection & Global Health (IGH), with new world-class laboratories and 108 researchers. In REF 2014, IGH was ranked 7th in the UK for research power in clinical medicine.

The participants in Light4Lungs have access to state-of-the-art microbiology and immunology facilities for infection research, including an animal house with in vivo containment levels II-III, cell imaging equipment and high-speed data handling, among others. The Bacterial Pathogenicity group led by Prof. Kadioglu focuses on understanding the pathogenesis and host-pathogen interactions of major pathogens such as Streptococcus pneumonia, Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. They bring expertise in the use of animal models to study host immune responses and pathogen behaviour during respiratory infections and collaborate with the Centre for Genomic Research on the use of genomics to study bacterial populations during infections, with a particular focus on chronic lung infections of Cystic Fibrosis (CF) patients.

Professor Aras Kadioglu, Professor of Bacterial Pathogenesis at IGH since 2011, focuses his research on pathogenesis of respiratory bacteria and the interplay between bacterial virulence and host immunity. For the past 15 years, he has worked on developing clinically relevant mouse models of respiratory and systemic infection to elucidate mechanistic understanding of the disease processes involved. As part of these efforts, his group also has research interests in

novel anti-bacterial therapeutics and the development of new vaccines. He has published 70 papers since 2000, has 2,152 citations since 2010, and the Bacterial Pathogenesis & Immunity group he leads has 1 Tenure Track Fellow, 5 postdocs, 2 Academic Clinical Fellows, 1 technician and 7 PhD students.

Professor Craig Winstanley became Professor of Bacteriology in 2011 and has more than 25 years’ experience working with pseudomonas. He served as a member of the Research Advisory Committee (2007-2013) and the Strategy Implementation Board at the Cystic Fibrosis Trust (2013 – 2015) and is currently acting as co-investigator as part of the MRC-funded Bronch-UK (bronchiectasis) consortium. He has published in excess of 100 papers, 50 or more of which are on pseudomonas, many in collaboration with clinical colleagues.

Daniel R. Neill was appointed tenure track fellow at the Institute of Infection and Global Health, University of Liverpool in January 2015. His interests lie in immune responses in the airways, with a particular focus on Streptococcus pneumoniae and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. He has published 20 research papers and has over 1,300 citations since he was awarded his PhD in 2010, with first or joint-first author papers published in journals including Nature, Nature Biotechnology, Nature Communications, Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, PLoS Pathogens and the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

WEDO PROJECT INTELLIGENCE MADE EASY SL

WeDo specializes in the management of complex, distributed international research and innovation projects. Based in Barcelona, the company works with the public and private sectors, applying a strategic, holistic lean project management approach to creating effective collaborative frameworks for results-driven decision making. Its multi-disciplinary team of skilled professionals has broad experience in international collaborative projects and EC-funded initiatives since FP6 (ICT, health, environment, NMP, IMI-JU, SSH, SWAFs).

WeDo will guide the design and implementation of dissemination plans and the communication strategy (including stakeholder engagement) in DigiTeRRI, in addition to completing project management tasks such as controlling deliverables and tracking milestone achievements. It will also support the project coordinator (AIT) in quality control, risk management, overall financial management and administration.

Co-founder and CEO Ángel Honrado has a BSc (Tourism Planning), MSc (Local Development & Territorial Innovation) and postgraduate studies in fundraising. A project manager since 2004, he has supported 15 major multidisciplinary collaborative research projects, acted as evaluator for the EC in SME-focused calls for proposals and developed communication and outreach plans in more than 65 R&I proposals.

Angel has taught courses on proposal preparation, complex distributed project management and communication of research project results and is co-author of the Guide To Managing Horizon 2020 projects, published by the Catalan Innovation Agency. He is Public Funding Manager at FreeOx Biotech S.L., a startup he co-founded to develop a neuro-protective treatment to prevent reperfusion damage in stroke patients.

Co-founder and CEO Mireia Manent is a psychologist and MBA graduate (Pompeu Fabra University). Since 2008, she has been a project manager, submitting proposals to European public and private funding agencies, contributing to the management of EC-funded projects and revising research proposals for the FP7, H2020, ERC, and MSCA calls. Her duties have included project governance, managing a portfolio of projects for HIV vaccine strategies, auditing projects, assessing progress with coordinators and/or managing boards, communication and outreach, including design and production of materials, meetings and conferences. Mireia has applied for and managed Spanish national grants (ISCIII, MINECO, AGAUR), managed patent portfolios and gained experience in implementing and evaluating adapted teaching courses.

Mario Magaña has over 15 years’ experience in visual communication and design project management for EU-funded projects, including brand and communication tool development, social media management, and outreach support material. His skillset allows him to contribute to every aspect of the project, portfolio and/or project management office communication (internal and external, as well as for the project outreach), and he assists in the development and implementation of tools, templates, procedures and best practices. He also capitalizes on his project assistant background to perform back office duties, from meeting organization to budget control, knowledge management and archiving, team coordination and team-building activities to reporting.