PARTNERS
University of Tartu
University of Tartu is active in the fields of biomedical technology, environmental technology, material science and robotics. The biomedical branch is involved in the current application by providing competence in chemical and systems biology.
The main research directions involve viral infectious diseases, bacterial infections and mechanisms of antibiotic action, systems biology and regulation of eukaryotic replication and cell cycle, developing cell penetrating peptide based technologies for biomedical applications.
Many national and international programmes including the Estonian centres of excellence, European Molecular Biology Organisation, The Wellcome Trust, Framework Programme 7 and Horizon 2020, have supported the research at TUIT.
The institute has well developed core facilities providing services and collaboration opportunities for Estonian scientists and also for research groups in a wider Baltic – Nordic region. These facilities include proteomics, cell culture and microscopy. The institute is also a contact point for ESFRI project EU-Openscreen and Global Viral Network. Researchers at TUIT are coordinating the national research program on antibiotic resistance.
Umeå University
The Laboratory for Molecular Infection Medicine Sweden was initiated 2007 as the Swedish node in The Nordic EMBL Partnership for Molecular Medicine (MIMS) with long term support from The Swedish Research Council and Umeå University. The aim of MIMS is to strengthen Swedish research and enhance the dynamics in the field of molecular medicine, partly by promoting the career opportunities for young scientists.
The research focus of MIMS is molecular infection mechanisms of microorganisms: bacteria, viruses, and fungi. The leading objective is to make use of results from basic studies to develop new vaccines and antimicrobials. The link to chemistry and chemical biology is very strong and provides a unique multidisciplinary environment to develop new research tools and concepts for treatment of infectious diseases. The establishment of UCMR has been of utmost importance to maintain and strengthen Umea’s leading research profile in the area of infection biology and to take this knowledge further with the aim to develop new sustainable strategies for treatment of infections and avoid the problem of antimicrobial resistance development. UCMR research groups have extensive national and international collaborations and have also provided the networks and collaboration required for getting support for establishment of core facilities and national/international research infrastructure.
University of Basel
The Biozentrum was founded 1971 to foster molecular approaches across various biological disciplines. Today, the Biozentrum is home to 32 research groups with 360 scientists from more than 40 nations. The work covers a broad spectrum of biological questions: How does a cell develop, how does it function and how are all its vital processes regulated? Can we make computer assisted models of these processes? How does a stem cell know what to become? How does a blood vessel form or the nervous system develop and how does the body defend itself against bacterial infections? Could the findings lead to new approaches in the treatment of serious diseases such as muscular diseases, Alzheimer’s Disease or cancer? Producing more than 200 scientific publications each year, the Biozentrum is regularly rated in the top 25% of the world rankings.
The foal area Infection Biology was founded in 2001 and currently has six research groups with 84 co-workers. The common goal of these groups is to understand infectious diseases at both a cellular and molecular level in order to better control them in the future. The research groups at the Biozentrum involved in this field complement each other with their specialized skills and interests. The diversity of approaches to a common theme – the host-microbe interaction – generates a synergistic effect based on an intense exchange of scientific and technological expertise and experience. The major research focus is on bacterial infections, in which currently nine pathogens are being studied. These represent archetypes for a range of virulence mechanisms such as intracellular replication, immune evasion, the injection of bacterial effectors into host cells, biofilm formation and persistence. The impact of this research goes beyond the field of microbial pathogenesis, addressing also basic principles in cell and molecular biology including pro-inflammatory signaling, intracellular traffic, regulation in bacteria, nanomachines, and in vivo microbial metabolism. The focal area is well-funded with several large grants from the European Research Council, EU IMI, EU Marie Curie, SystemsX.ch, and Swiss National Foundation. Each group publishes in top journals.
