Meet the Scientists: EU-Funded cmRNAbone and Carthago Researchers Engage with Davos Public

On June 18, 2024, two EU-funded consortia will present their scientific findings to the Davos public, before concluding their project activities this year.

Event info

Location: ARI Auditorium
Date: June 18th 2024
Time: 17:15 - 18:00, followed by Apero from 18:00 - 18:45 (bus departs at 18:46)

To register, please send an email to Nadine Drechoux at N.Drechoux[at]Eurice.Eu.

About the projects

The cmRNAbone project was coordinated by Prof Martin Stoddart from ARI and has been running from 1st January 2020 to the end of June 2024. The project involved 11 partners from 7 countries with a total budget of €6.3 Million. With bone being the most transplanted tissue after blood, the need for graft materials is enormous. In search of optimised regeneration solutions, the EU-funded cmRNAbone project has set out to develop a novel gene therapy to improve the lives of people with large traumatic injuries or bone degenerating diseases such as osteoporosis. The proposed approach is a unique combination of genetic research, advanced nano- and biotechnology and 3D-printing. It successfully developed a new clinically relevant 3D printer and bio ink that can be used to locally delivery therapeutic nucleic acids to increase bone formation during healing.
For more information, please explore the project website.

CARTHAGO is an EU-funded PhD student training program tackling the problem of osteoarthritis and disc degeneration. The program recruited and trained 15 PhD students at 11 centres in 10 countries across Europe. ARI's participation was coordinated by PD. Dr. Sibylle Grad and, along with Prof Martin Stoddart, ARI trained 2 PhD students. For people with osteoarthritis (OA) and chronic lower back pain, moving around becomes a daily struggle due to pain. Chronic Lower Back Pain is caused by the degradation of the intervertebral disc, which is the soft buffer between the bony parts of your spine. Osteoarthritis is a disease of the joints. It can affect all parts of the joint and most commonly hips and knees. Here the cartilage, the smooth surface of the joint, is destroyed. CARTHAGO aimed to stimulate both tissues to regenerate by delivering nucleic acids that produce growth factors to induce repair. The consortium made use of ARI's unique cartilage and disc bioreactor systems, which are only available in Davos.
For more information, please see visit the project website.