We create new collaborations and cement existing ones, fostering a seamless transfer of knowledge from academy to industry and vice versa for the benefit of society at large.
We propose to join key expertise in structural biology and biochemistry with state-of-the art facilities for membrane protein high-throughput target selection and expression. A strategic contribution will be provided by SME in key enabling technologies such as virtual screening, organic synthesis, proprietary detergent platform, cellular and in vivo studies for drug lead identification and characterization.
PLATFORM
We will deliver a platform for the development of new leads for key health issues such as the design of new antibiotics or new strategies for theranostics and foster a synergistic approach to novel bioactive compounds development between academic and non-academic institutions and SMEs.
The acquisition of new skills from staff will come from secondments aimed at training on research topics not available at the home institutions and attendance to courses, workshops, seminar and conferences.
ACADEMIA
In an era where Academia called to participate in technological and industrial development and SME provide services to academic research programs, we will foster a culture of synergistic exchange and cross-fertilization.
The consortium consists of 9 beneficiaries and 2 partners of which 7 are academic and 4 are SME and it exploits pre-existing collaborations complemented by novel key expertise, to establish a gene-to-molecule approach that will be achieved in a flexible and integrated manner. During 4 years 17 ESRs, 6 ERs and two research managers will be seconded to 11 Institutions, where they will be supported by a team of leading scientists.
The Network will promote the integration of academic and SME in combining excellent science with entrepreneurial approach and high-throughput methodologies.
We rely also on the contribution from two Third-Country Partners, committed to advanced training to members of the Prometeus Consortium: a world-leading centre for high-throughput membrane production and characterization, COMPPÅ, the NIH-funded, Biomedical Technology Research Resource, Center on Membrane Protein Production and Analysis, which is embedded in the New York Structural Biology Consortium (NYSBC) and ii) the Advanced Science Research Center (ASRC) of the College University of NY (CUNY), which has also joined with Prof. Amédée Des Georges, contributing strategic know-how and training in single-particle cryo-electron microscopy (SPCryoEM) a methodology that has revolutionized structural biology, allowing to obtain crucial structural information from systems not amenable to crystallization.
