Five proposals win initial “catalyst” funding
Inside Campus Biotech. © EPFL / Alain Herzog
Researchers from Campus Biotech in Geneva were invited to develop joint projects with partner research institutes and bid for funding from the Bertarelli Foundation. The laureates have been announced on April 11th, during the 2018 Bertarelli Symposium held at Harvard Medical School. Two laboratories from the EPFL School of Engineering have been selected.
Less than a year ago, the President of EPFL Martin Vetterli and Ernesto Bertarelli, co-president of the Bertarelli Foundation, announced the launch of the Catalyst Fund @ Campus Biotech. The aim of this five-million-Swiss Franc fund is to promote and accelerate translational research projects on the nervous system in which one or more teams from Campus Biotech (in Geneva) join forces with partner research institutes. The first call for proposals is now complete, and five projects have been selected for funding. “The proposals were of a remarkably high calibre,” says Patrick Aebischer, who chaired the selection committee.
Ernesto Bertarelli adds: “We are delighted to provide funding for these projects. They each represent the vision of innovation and collaboration which led us to create Campus Biotech and make it the home of such partnerships between scientists and institutes in the region. Our congratulations to the recipients of this first round of grants and their shared aim of achieving transformative results for patients. We look forward to following the progress of their research.”
Each of the five projects will receive 300,000 francs, which will be used to kick start their research and which will aim to ensure that the results can be turned into clinical applications.
Treating hallucinations in Parkinson’s patients
More than half of people suffering from Parkinson’s disease experience hallucinations – a feeling of presence is one of the most common forms. The neurological processes at play have been studied at EPFL in Olaf Blanke's Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience (Bertarelli Chair in Cognitive Neuroprosthetics), and Dimitri Van De Ville’s Medical Image Processing Lab at the School of engineering. They can now be triggered using robotic tools. By teaming up with Paul Krack (Geneva University Hospital), the researchers will be able to go further in exploring these processes in patients suffering from Parkinson’s. Their first objective will be to detect the bio-markers associated with these hallucinatory states and then develop non-pharmacological and non-invasive therapeutic approaches based on neurofeedback to counteract them. Their results may one day be applied to hallucinations linked to schizophrenia and other neurodegenerative diseases.
Controlling the paths of pain
Nearly 20% of the population suffer from chronic pain. Yet such pain is still poorly understood and in many cases cannot be treated with drugs over the long term owing to side effects. Stéphanie Lacour, head of the Laboratory for Soft Bioelectronic Interfaces(Foundation Bertarelli Chair in Neuroprosthetic Technology LSBI) at EPFL's School of engineering and Isabelle Décosterd (Lausanne University Hospital – CHUV and FBM-University of Lausanne) focus on the hyperexcitability of pain nociceptive neurons and the ion channels that activate them. They are developing the tools needed to create a mechanistic model that could lead to innovative therapies – involving gene therapies, optogenetics and neurotechnologies. One of their goals is to develop an optoelectronic implant that can be applied to the sciatic nerve of mice, along with a platform for optical control and signal detection.
See all the projects here