BIO-D - DEVELOPMENT OF DIAGNOSTIC BIOMARKERS FOR PRECISION MEDICINE AND PERSONALIZED THERAPY

Abstract

The BIO-D project has the objective of achieving a better clinical-molecular stratification of patients affected by some pathologies (es. diabetes mellitus, obesity etc.). The partners involved want to identify specific biomarkers that allow the diagnosis of subclasses of patients within any pathology studied by the BIO-D project. The participation of biotechnology companies permits the development of diagnostic tools and the participation of pharmaceutical companies that use SystemsPharmacology permits the identification of active pharmacological molecules adapted to specific patient groups with the same biomolecular pattern. This approach allows greater therapeutic success and creates a synergic interaction between basic research and industrial research. The proposed organizational model is inspired by the “open innovation” strategy where companies use external technological tools and competences from start-ups, universities, research institutes to be competitive. Its goal is to support the emergent systems in the South Italy dedicated to Precision Medicine and Personalized Therapy and help their collaboration with public and private partners coming from the north.

The project is financed by “PON Research and Innovation 2014-2020" and by “Development and Cohesion Fund“.

Activities

IT PLATFORM FOR ACQUISITION, MANAGEMENT, PROCESSING AND PRESENTATION OF DATA

The project aims to design an Infrastructure for the acquisition and processing of project data. These data are acquired from laboratory devices and measurement devices and are transferred to the ReCaS-Bari data center for their processing. The Infrastructure is cloud-based and adopts the HAAS (Hardware as a Service) model.

PRECISION MEDICINE

The project accomplish a better clinical-molecular stratification of patients with a high prevalence such as diabetes mellitus, obesity and IgA nephropathy, and some neoplasms such as breast, colon and pancreas cancer. The data obtained by the omics techniques and deposited in ReCaS are analyzed to identify specific biomarkers that allow the diagnosis of subclasses of patients within the pathologyes studied.

PERSONALIZED THERAPY

The use of Systems Pharmacology permits a selction of old and new pharmacological molecules that can be used for potential personalized therapies. The molecules can be used in different ways such as nanoviruses, radiopharmaceuticals and modified cellular elements.