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καινοτομια
ερευνα & τεχνολογια | 02-03/2011
Highlights
Studies on personalized
cancer treatment by
researchers at the NΗRF
Significant results for per-
sonalizing cancer therapy,
through understanding the
molecular mechanisms that
modulate the effects of
drugs in each patient, were
obtained from the European
project “ONCODEATH - Sen-
sitisation of solid tumour
cells to death receptor re-
lated therapies” which was
completed recently under
the coordination of the In-
stitute of Biological Re-
search and Biotechnology,
National Hellenic Research
Foundation (ΝHRF).
ONCODEATH, funded by the
European Commission with
2.5 million euros, for a pe-
riod of 42 months, examined
innovative approaches to mo-
lecular biology for the treat-
ment of cancer. The network
involved scientists from lead-
ing research organizations in
Europe such as: Karolinska
Instituet (Sweden), Institute
for Cancer Research (UK), In-
stitut Curie (France), Univer-
sity of Geneva (Switzerland),
Instituto de Investigaciones
Biomedicas (Spain), Czech
Academy of Sciences (Czech
Republic), Diagnostic and
Therapeutic Centre of Athens
HYGEIA S.A (Greece) and the
National Hellenic Research
Foundation.
The ONCODEATH approach,
which relies on the use of
knowledge derived from
genomic technologies, can
positively affect the im-
provement of drug therapy
in clinical practice. ONCO-
DEATH investigated effec-
tive rational combinations
of targeted anti-neoplastic
agents in preclinical models
of cancer to their subsequent
implementation in clinical tri-
als. New models and analysis
tools were developed and
customized treatment proto-
cols were published, taking
into account the genetic pro-
file of each tumor.
info
ONCODEATH project
2.5 million euros fund-
ing for studying the
role of microparticles
in Air Pollution
The role of organic particu-
late matter in atmospheric
pollution and climate change
is being investigated in a new
research project, ATMOPACS,
by the research group of Prof.
Spyros Pandis (Deputy Direc-
tor of Institute of Chemical En-
gineering and High Tempera-
ture Chemical Processes of the
Foundation of Research and
Technology-Hellas
(FORTH/
ICE-HT). The project is funded
by IDEAS programme (Ad-
vanced Grant) of the FP7, with
the amount of 2.496 million
euros over 5 years.
In the past 20 years ambient
air pollution, most notably par-
ticulate matter (PM), has come
to be recognized as a risk fac-
tor contributing to a decline in
respiratory and cardiovascular
health and an increased risk of
acute morbidity and mortality
from all non-accidental causes.
It has been estimated that a re-
duction of the ambient concen-
tration of PM by 5 micrograms
per cubic metre in Europe can
“prevent” between 3000 and
8000 early deaths annually.
At the same time, atmospheric
aerosol particles influence the
Earth’s radiation balance.
ATMOPACS will develop an in-
novative new approach for the
description of organic particu-
late matter (or organic aerosol,
OA) in both chemical transport
and climate models that will
be able to overcome the chal-
lenges posed by the chemical
complexity of OA while cap-
turing its essential features.
During ATMOPACS the FORTH
team will develop the neces-
sary experimental techniques
to characterize the OA, will in-
vestigate the most important
OA formation and evolution
processes, develop the corre-
sponding theoretical tools, and
use them to tackle some of the
most important problems re-
lated to the role of OA in air
quality and global change.
info
FORTH/ICEHT
European Research Council
Research, technology and
innovation are at the heart
of European policies on
competitiveness. One of
these policies concerns re-
gional development. The
EU aims to establish strong
knowledge-based regions
and, to this end, for the pe-
riod 2007-2013, has com-
mitted at least 86 billion
euros from the Structural
Funds for research and tech-
nology, and 466 million eu-
ros from the 7th Framework
Programme for Research
(“Regional” programme) for
regional development based
on research.
The “Regional” programme
includes two different sub-
programmes: a) “Research
Potential”, which reinforces
excellent research groups in
the convergence and outer-
most regions of Europe, and
b) “Regions of Knowledge”,
which supports transna-
tional cooperation between
regional research clusters.
Greek participation in both
programmes is very high:
Greece is the country with
the most successful projects
in “Research Potential”,
while Greek organizations
participate in 16.3% of the
approved projects for re-
search clusters. The maga-
zine presents the research
teams that were rewarded
for their excellence in con-
vergence regions, the re-
gional research clusters,
statistical data on Greek
participation, and trends
in the development of pro-
grammes after 2013.
Charles Crook, Reader on
ICT at the School of Educa-
tion, University of Notting-
ham, was in Athens for the
International
Conference
organized by the National
Documentation Centre in
December entitled “Open
Access:
Research-Educa-
tion-Public Data”. In his
interview for “Innovation,
Research and Technology”
magazine, Charles Crook
talked about Open Access
at schools and the response
of students and teachers.
He presented good prac-
tices from UK schools and
stressed that we must un-
derstand the opportunities
and threats that the Inter-
net brings to education as a
prerequisite to manage the
significant changes in open
educational resources.
info
Charles Crook,
University of Nottingham
Interview with Charles Crook, Reader,
School of Education, University of Nottingham
Research excellence in convergence regions
info
Regional aspects of FP7
Research Potential
programme
Regions of Knowledge
programme
ResPotNet
TRANSREGNCP