Consortium
The FOIE GRAS consortium includes 13 European partners located in seven countries: Portugal, Italy Germany, Spain, France, Czech Republic and Poland.
The Center for Neuroscience and Cell Biology (CNC) is a nonprofit research institute founded in 1990, aiming to foster biomedical research and multidisciplinary graduate teaching at the University of Coimbra, Portugal. CNC was the first established “Laboratório Associado” in Portugal, and it has steadily increased the scope of scientific competences over the years, with a strong focus on the exploitation of the fundamental mechanisms of aging and brain diseases. As a founding partner of Biocant - Biotechnology Innovation Center, and of the Health Cluster Portugal, CNC shows a clear commitment towards promoting technology transfer and the creation of novel biomedical and biotechnology enterprises.
CNC is the Project Coordinator and the Leader of the Work Package 1: Ethics requirements, WP2: Mitochondria disruption in NAFLD, WP6: Outreach: De-fatting for better living and WP7: Training and Management.
Institute of Physiology (IPHYS) of the Czech Academy of Sciences (CAS) is internationally leading research institution in the field of normal and pathological physiology. The Energy metabolism unit and Glucose homeostasis unit, part of the Adipose Tissue Biology Department, are multi-disciplinary research units, whose primary focus is on studying physiological regulations of metabolisms and their disturbances in obesity and associated diseases (i.e. Metabolic syndrome).
The University of Bari Aldo Moro, one of the 58 State universities, was founded in 1925. The University was named after one of its most famous students, the statesman Aldo Moro. It is one of the most prestigious universities in Southern Italy and it is one of the largest universities in Italy, with a student population of around 60,000. The University of Bari Medical School is a part of the University of Bari Aldo Moro, where research performed has objectives to advance discovery, innovation, development and deployment in a multidisciplinary area.
UNIBA is a Leader of the Work Package 4: Biomarkers and technologies for NAFLD stratification and Work Package 5: Lifestyles targeting NAFLD.
Faculty of Pharmacy University of Lisbon, is a public institution of higher education dedicated to education, research, knowledge transfers and continuing education in the field of pharmacology, medicine and pharmaceutical science. FFUL is internationally recognized mainly thanks to identifying mechanism-based molecular targets for therapeutic intervention, using relevant pharmacologic and transgenic disease models, human biological samples, and molecular and cell biology approaches. In the FOIE GRAS project, their wide expertise on miRNAs will be used to determine miRNA expression profiles in NAFLD models and human samples, correlating circulating miRNAs with liver cell death and disease pathogenesis.
Nencki Institute is currently the largest non-university biological research centre in Poland and was founded in 1918/19. Institute is leading biological research centre in Poland employing over 260 full-time staff (of whom about 110 are research scientists) and training 150 PhD students. Neurobiology and biochemistry represent two main research areas of the Institute. In 1990 the Institute was invited to become a member institution of the Global Network for Molecular and Cell Biology (MCBN) within UNESCO.
The main research interests of Laboratory of bioenergetics and biomembranes are focused on normal physiology of mitochondria as well as on effects of mitochondrial defects on cell structure, energy state of the cell, generation of reactive oxygen species and cellular calcium homeostasis. They study various experimental models: various cell lines, cells derived from patients with metabolic disorders or glycogen storage disease.
The University of Porto (Universidade do Porto) is a leading Portuguese public university located in Porto, and founded on 22 March 1911. It is the second largest Portuguese university by number of enrolled students (30,640 students), after the University of Lisbon, and has one of the most noted research outputs in Portugal. U.Porto's has fifteen schools a 13 faculties, a biomedical sciences institute and a business school, each one with a considerable degree of autonomy. The Faculty of Pharmacy (FFUP) originated from the former School of Pharmacy, it is the oldest school of pharmacy in Portugal. A pioneer in the teaching of Pharmaceutical Sciences in Portugal.
Founded in 1964, the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research (Inserm) is a public scientific and technological institute which operates under the joint authority of the French Ministry of Health and French Ministry of Research.
As the only French public research institute to focus entirely on human health, in 2008 Inserm took on the responsibility for the strategic, scientific and operational coordination of biomedical research. This key role as coordinator comes naturally to Inserm thanks to the scientific quality of its teams and its ability to conduct translational research, from the laboratory to the patient’s bed.
80% of Inserm’s 281 research units are currently set up in university hospitals or cancer research centers. The research campuses of the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), along with the Pasteur and Curie Institutes, also house Inserm research divisions. Inserm plays a leading role in creating the European Research Area and boosts its standing abroad through close partnerships (teams and partner laboratories abroad).
Istituto di Fisiologia Clinica (IFC – Institute of Clinical Physiology) is the largest biomedical institute for clinical research of the National Research Council (CNR). The focus of research at IFC is on aetiopathogenesis, the diagnostics and therapy concerning cardiopulmonary illnesses, extending also to the complex dynamics of interaction with the endocrine-metabolic system, kidney function and central nervous system.
The Institute’s mission, which has remained unchanged over the years, is to “Bring to the public health system the progress made in the diagnosis and treatment of patients that is derived from scientific research, drawing from clinical observation the themes and objectives of the research”, otherwise known as “Innovazione Finalizzata alla Cura” (Care-Focussed Innovation). IFC’s logistic organisation comprises headquarters within the Research Area of CNR in Pisa, 6 branch offices (in Lecce, Massa, Milan, Reggio Calabria, Rome and Siena), and one operating unit (Messina).
CNR is a Leader of the Work Package 3: The gut-liver axis in NAFLD metabolic remodeling.
Helmholtz Zentrum München – Deutsches Forschungszentrum für Gesundheit und Umwelt, is the German Research Center for Environmental Health, which was founded in 1960. It investigates important common diseases which develop from the interaction of lifestyle, environmental factors and personal genetic background, focusing particularly on diabetes mellitus and chronic lung diseases.
IRB Barcelona is a world-class research centre devoted to understanding fundamental questions about human health and disease. It was founded in October 2005 by the Government of Catalonia (Generalitat de Catalunya) and the University of Barcelona (UB), and is located at the Barcelona Science Park (Parc Científic de Barcelona). IRB Barcelona forms part of the Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology.
The Institute’s missions include conducting multidisciplinary research of excellence at the unique interface between biology, chemistry and medicine, providing high-level training in the biomedical sciences to staff, students and visitors, driving innovation through active technology transfer to the benefit of society, and actively participating in an open dialogue with the public through a series of engagement and education activities.
Associação Protectora dos Diabéticos de Portugal (APDP) is the oldest association for the treatment of Diabetes worldwide recognized by the IDF (International Diabetes Federation). It was created in 1926 (few years after the discovery of Insulin in 1921) by Professor Ernesto Roma. Today the APDP is a reference for treatment and education for the person with diabetes, family members, caregivers and health care team.
Micro-biolytics GmbH was founded in Freiburg, Germany in 2001 by Andreas Wolf, Ralf Masuch and Dr. Robert Seidel. In September 2007 the biotechnology concern shifted to the Life Science Center in Esslingen. Micro-biolytics is an experienced technology provider and service provider for qualitative and quantitative conditions in medical diagnosis, process and food analysis, as well as in pharmaceutical ingredient development and toxicology.
Mediagnost GmbH was founded in 1985 in Tübingen, Germany and is now based in the Tübingen-Reutlingen technology park. Mediagnost produces antibodies, proteins and viruses in accordance with GMT guidelines. The testing systems focus on infectious diseases such as hepatitis A/C, enteroviruses, HIV and the diagnosis of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The firm’s portfolio also includes testing systems for the qualitative demonstration of genetically-modified foods and contamination of food, along with immunoassays used in endocrinology.