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http://www.integrate-etn.eu/ |
Acronym: INTEGRATE
Funding scheme: MSCA-ITN-ETN – Training Networks
Contract number: 642620
Implementation period: 01.01.2015. – 31.12.2018
Project coordinator: University of Parma, Italy
Project partners:
University of Helsinki, Finland
University of Eastern Finland, Finland
Latvian Institute of Organic Synthesis, Latvia
The Chancellor, Masters and Scholars of the University of Cambridge, United Kingdom
University of Ljubljana, Slovenia
Taros Chemicals GMBH & CO KG, Germany
University of Antwerp, Belgium
Aptuit (Verona) SRL, Italy
Fraunhofer Gesellschaft zur Forderung der Angewandten Forshung EV, Germany
Leader of Latvian team: Dr.chem. Aigars Jirgensons
Total Costs: 2 793 330,72 EUR
EU contribution: 2 793 330,72 EUR
Costs for Latvian partner: 223 577,64 EUR
Summary
Antimicrobial resistance is posing a continuously-rising threat to global health. The INTEGRATE project has assembled a team of 10 beneficiaries from eight EU member states, encompassing both academic and non-academic sectors and different disciplines, to form a consortium committed to training Early Stage Researchers (ESRs) in the discovery and preclinical validation of novel Gram-negative antibacterial agents and antibacterial targets. The principle aim of the consortium is to provide a training platform where students are exposed to every aspect of the antimicrobial discovery process, ranging from target identification and validation, through organic synthesis, in silico design and compound screening, to mode-of-action and possible resistance mechanisms. This exposure is accomplished through a concrete secondment plan, coupled with a series of high-level consortium-wide training events and networking programmes. The intention is to reverse the current fragmentation of approaches towards antibacterial discovery through mutual cooperation. The INTEGRATE training framework is built on an innovative research project aimed at targeting important but non-essential gene products as an effective means of reducing bacterial fitness, thereby facilitating clearance of the pathogen by the host immune system. To achieve this, the individual work programmes have been designed to seamlessly inter-mesh contributions from the fields of in silico design, organic synthesis, molecular biology and biochemistry, and the very latest in vitro and in vivo screening technologies.