Consortium
Project Coordinator
Prof Dimitrios I. Fotiadis, received the Diploma degree in chemical engineering from the National Technical University of Athens, Athens, Greece, in 1985, and the Ph.D. degree in chemical engineering and materials science from the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, in 1990. He is currently a Professor of Biomedical Engineering in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Ioannina, Ioannina, Greece, where he is also the Director of the Unit of Medical Technology and Intelligent Information Systems, and is also an Affiliated Member of Foundation for Research and Technology Hellas, Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Dept. of Biomedical Research. He was a Visiting Researcher at the RWTH, Aachen, Germany, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston. He has coordinated and participated in more than 200 R&D funded projects. He is the author or co-author of more than 240 papers in scientific journals, 450 papers in peer-reviewed conference proceedings, and more than 50 chapters in books. He is also the editor or co-editor of 25 books. His work has received more than 10500 citations (h-index = 52). He is a senior member of IEEE, member of IEEE Technical Committee of information Technology in Healthcare and the Editor in Chief of IEEE Journal of Biomedical and Health Informatics and Associate Editor for Computers in Biology and Medicine. His research interests include multiscale modeling of human tissues and organs, intelligent wearable/implantable devices for automated diagnosis, processing of big medical data, sensor informatics, image informatics, and bioinformatics. He is the recipient of many scientific awards including the one by the Academy of Athens.
Consortium Geographical Distribution
List of TAXINOMISIS participants
UNIVERSITY OF IOANNINA
Greece
Address: University of Ioannina, Ioannina, Greece
Phone: +302651008820
Fax: +302651008889
Email: medlab.greece@gmail.com
The University of Ioannina ([http://www.uoi.gr/en]/) was founded in 1964 in Ioannina, Epirus, in the North-western part of Greece. Today, the University has 17 departments with over 500 faculty members, 13,500 undergraduate students and more than 3,000 graduate students (MSc and PhD). The R&D work in TAXINOMISIS will be undertaken by Prof. Fotiadis research unit, the Unit of Medical Technology & Intelligent Information Systems (MedLab). MedLab is a highly innovative and self-contained research unit strongly activated in the fields of Biomedical Engineering and development of Intelligent Information systems. It has an internationally acknowledged excellence in conducting high quality scientific research and developing innovative Information Technology (IT) applications, products and services. Most of the Unit activities are based on international collaborations in the framework of European and Nationally funded projects (FP5, FP6, FP7, Horizon 2020). MedLab’s research activities cover a variety of subjects and they are classified into the following domains: Multiscale modelling of human organs, biomedical engineering, processing and analysis of big datasets with medical data, wearable systems for monitoring and management of chronic diseases and intelligent information
systems. Medlab has been the technical manager of several successful European Projects, including NEOMARK, PERFORM, CHRONIOUS, ARTREAT. Currently, the Unit is the Technical manager in the Horizon 2020 projects PD_MANAGER, HARMONICSS, HEARTEN, SMARTOOL. The financial and administrative tasks of TAXINOMISIS will be undertaken by the University of Ioannina Research Committee (UOI-RC). The University of Ioannina has established a quality management system that is in conformance with the International
Management System Standard ISO 9001:2000, as well as the Greek Management Efficiency Standard, with a scope of “Project Management of Research and Development of Technological and Other Related Programs and Activities”. All funded research activities are coordinated by the UOI-RC, whose main aim is to manage the National, EU and industrial
contract research projects in accordance to National and EU financial regulations, as well as ISO 9001:2008 standards. The aim of the UOI-RC is the disposal and the undertaking of funds, which come from any source and are intended to cover
expenses of any kind, essential for the needs of research, educational, training and developmental projects, as well as, for the needs of continuous training projects. The aforementioned Quality Management System has been certified in accordance to the requirements of the International Management System ISO 9001:2008. Furthermore, it is compliant with the requirements of the Greek Management Efficiency Standard, in the scope of “Project Management of Research and Development of Technological and Other Related Programs and Activities”.
UNIVERSITAIR MEDISCH CENTRUM UTRECHT
Netherlands
Address:
Department of Vascular Surgery (G04.129)
University Medical Center Utrecht
Heidelberglaan 100
3484CX Utrecht
The Netherlands
Email:
C.vanVeen@umcutrecht.nl
S.J.Hora-Siccama@umcutrecht.nl
Phone:
0031-88-7556965
The Universitair Medisch centrum Utrecht is the largest university hospital in the Netherlands, and has close ties with the University of Utrecht, which is the largest university in the country and currently ranked no. 1 in the Netherlands). Two research groups within the UMCU will participate in TAXINOMISIS: The Laboratory of Clinical Chemistry and the department of Vascular Surgery. Experience is available with regard to molecular science, clinical studies, cardiovascular genetics and cardiovascular bio-banking. The following research lines in these laboratories are recognized in international literature: A- Mechanisms of carotid artery disease (G. Pasterkamp, GJ de Borst. B- Arterial remodelling and arteriogenesis (G Pasterkamp, I Hoefer) and C New biomarkers in atherosclerotic disease (G Pasterkamp, DPV de Kleijn) D- Imaging of cerebrovascular diease (GJ de Borst, DPV de Kleijn).
Initiatives of the group related to this proposal. In the past we have coordinated the EU KP6 consortium IMMUNATH (2007-2010), participated in different Dutch heart foundation consortia and we are consortium leaders of two large research consortia in the Netherlands (Queen of Hearts (www.queen-of-hearts.eu) and Circulating Cells (www.ctmm.nl). Based on the Athero Express biobank we have published >100 peer reviewed papers on differences in plaque morphology among patient groups
and the group participates in review papers and book chapters on this topic. Together with Prof. Asselbergs we have invested significantly in the field of differences in genetic variants and epigenetic methylation in carotid artery disease. For example, we have executed a whole genome methylation study in Athero-Express in 500 carotid plaques and observed major differences between smokers and non-smokers which are currently being explored.
KLINIKUM RECHTS DER ISAR DER TECHNISCHEN UNIVERSITÄT MÜNCHEN
Germany
Klinikum rechts der Isar der Technischen Universität München
Klinik und Poliklinik für Vaskuläre und Endovaskuläre Chirurgie
Phone: +49 89 4140-2167
Fax: +49 89 4140-4861
E-mail: gefaesschirurgie@mri.tum.de
The university hospital Klinikum rechts der Isar (on the right hand side of the river Isar) serves Munich and the world with a highly skilled team of dedicated doctors, nurses, research scientists and technical assistants. The hospital Klinikum rechts der Isar is the university hospital of Technische Universität München (TUM). With a workforce of over 5,000 personnel, the university hospital is a renowned center for the care of the sick, medical research and the teaching of medicine. The hospital Klinikum rechts der Isar is composed of 33 separate clinics and departments treating some 60,000 in-house patients and 245,000 out house patients yearly. This 1,100-bed hospital covers the entire spectrum of modern medicine with state-of-the-art efficiency. Through the close cooperation between health care and research, the latest advances in medical techniques can be quickly integrated into patient treatment procedures. The work in the project will be undertaken by Prof. Eckstein (Department of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery), Prof. Maegdefessel (Vascular Biology Unit) and PD Dr.rer.nat. J. Pelisek (Head of Vascular Biobank). For many years, the Department of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery has been treating patients with acute and chronic vascular diseases, providing catheter procedures, classic vascular surgery and conservative methods. The focal points are narrowing of the carotid arteries, extensions of the aorta, as well as circulatory disorders in the pelvic and leg vessels.
Prof. Eckstein (male) is focusing on improvements in risk stratification for the occurrence of ischemic stroke and rupture of abdominal aortic aneurysm. He is the initiator and main investigator of SPACE studies (SPACE1 and 2), his group participate in ACST-2, as well as in other clinical studies such as e.g. CIDAC, ROADSTER all of them focused on optimal treatment of patients with high-graded carotid artery stenosis.
Prof. Maegdefessel (male) focuses his research on molecular and pathophysiological characteristics of cardiovascular disease (CVD), especially its regulation and recognition by non-coding RNAs (e.g. microRNAs, lncRNAs) and their validation as markers and modulators of CVD. Candidate ncRNAs and their putative gene (mRNA) targets and proteins are profiled and detected through different transcriptomic (RNA sequencing, microarrays), proteomic, epigenomic and genetic analyses applications. His research is supported by the European Research Council (ERC StG NORVAS), the German Center for Cardiovascular Research (DZHK), and the German Research Council (DFG, Heisenberg-Programm).
Dr. Pelisek (male) is focusing, since many years, on the maintenance and proceeding of Munich Vascular Biobank, characterising the carotid plaque morphology and comparing its features with clinical data. Furthermore, he is interested particularly in epigenetic changes in advanced carotid atherosclerotic lesions and the contribution of epigenetics to plaque vulnerability.
INTERUNIVERSITAIR MICRO-ELECTRONICACENTRUM IMEC VZW
Belgium
Address: imec, Kapeldreef 75, 3001 Leuven, Belgium
Phone: +3216281211
Email: info@imec.be
IMEC (http://www.imec.be) is a world-leading independent research center in nanoelectronics and nanotechnology. It is headquartered in Leuven, Belgium, has a sister company in the Netherlands (imec-NL), offices in the US, China and Taiwan, and representatives in Japan. Its staff is over 3500 people including more than 500 industrial residents and guest researchers. As a pioneer in nanoelectronics, IMEC brings smart chip technology to the world of healthcare. We leverage our expertise in chip design and technology to develop innovative tools for the life sciences, pharma R&D, clinical diagnostics, therapeutic and surgery, biopharma production and analytical biochemistry industries. Projects at IMEC vary from early R&D, design and prototyping to small volume manufacturing. The research in TAXINOMISIS will be conducted at the Life Sciences and Imaging
(LSI) department consisting of a multidisciplinary team of approximately 200 engineers, (bio)chemists and cell biologists, physicists, biomedical engineers, etc., focusing on the use of nanoelectronics for the development of novel tools in life sciences. This group has pioneered silicon based biochip and microfluidics research, focusing on devices that offer fast, reliable, highly sensitive, accurate results. The LSI department can rely on state of the art cleanroom facilities, as well as several biological oriented laboratory spaces. A completely new laboratory of about 700 m2 was opened last year to conduct life science related research and to support IMEC’s continuous growth in this direction.
BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH FOUNDATION OF THE ACADEMY OF ATHENS
Greece
Address: Biomedical Research Foundation, Academy of Athens
Phone: +302106597000
Fax: +302106597571
Email: info@bioacademy.gr
Established in 2003, the Biomedical Research Foundation of the Academy of Athens (BRFAA) is already the largest biomedical research institution of Greece with 5 Research Centers, 400 research personnel (postdoctoral fellows, laboratory technicians and Ph.D. students) and 44 faculty members with a track record of scientific excellence coming from leading US and European Institutions. It accommodates state-of-the-art facilities and supports basic science and clinical research through its research programs in respiratory diseases, metabolic and cardiovascular disorders, immunology, gene expression, cell biology, neurological disorders, cancer and pharmacology. Since its establishment, BRFAA has been involved in 68 FP6, FP7 or Horizon 2020 EC-funded projects, in many of which as a coordinator, including Collaborative projects, ERC grants, Coordination and Support Action grants and Marie Curie programmes such as Initial Training Networks and Industry-Academia Partnership Programs. BRFAA has also received funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), numerous European and US charities and the private sector. BRFAA is the National coordinator for the European Advanced Translational Research Infrastructure in Medicine (EATRIS) project, and the National BioBank that is part of the European Biobanking and Biomolecular Resources Research Infrastructure (BBMRI).
BRFAA provides cutting-edge infrastructures over a 25.000 square meter area for conducting internationally competitive biomedical research. It has several state-of-the-art Core Facility units equipped with a rich variety of the most advanced and highly specialized scientific equipment including a Genomics Core Facility (with Illumina’s MiSeq and NextSeq500 deep sequencing platforms), a Proteomics Core Facility (with API 4000 QTRAP MS/MS with QqLIT, quadruple time-of-flight QqTOF MS-MS and Thermo Scientific™ Orbitrap Elite™ Hybrid Ion Trap-Orbitrap mass spectrometers), an Imaging Core Facility (with confocal, deconvolution and two-photon microscopy systems) and a Histology Core Facility. A state-of-the-art Animal House Facility also exists that can house up to 20.000 mice in individually ventilated cages in addition to rats, rabbits and pigs in full compliance with the FELASA regulations. This encompasses a “Mouse Clinic” with specialized equipment for microsurgery, aerosolized compound administration, metabolic phenotyping and whole body imaging (microCT and microPET/CT).
The laboratory of Immunobiology of the Centre of Clinical, Experimental Surgery and Translational Research of BRFAA, headed by Dr Evangelos Andreakos, includes among others a dedicated laboratory for molecular biology, two tissue culture rooms, a dedicated room for fluorescence microscopy and laser capture microdissection (automated PALM laser capture microdissection system), a dedicated lab for the development of transgenic animals, two dedicated rooms for flow cytometry and cell sorting (equipped with a Beckman Coulter flow cytometer and BD Aria III cell sorter), several real-time PCR systems (including the LightCycler® 96 System from Roche Diagnostics) and plentiful space for experimentation.
THE CHANCELLOR, MASTERS AND SCHOLARS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD
United Kingdom
Address: University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
Telephone: +4401865 612600
Email: reception@kennedy.ox.ac.uk
The University of Oxford is rated amongst the world's best Universities for its reputation for excellence in teaching and research. With its collegiate environment is truly a unique place for student training at any age. Its outstanding research activity spans across the spectrum of the sciences, medicine, the social sciences and the humanities. While we have long traditions of scholarship, we are also forward-looking, creative and cutting-edge. Oxford is one of Europe's most entrepreneurial universities. Income from external research contracts in 2014/15 exceeded £522.9m and ranked first in the UK for university spin-outs, with more than 130 spin-off companies created to date. We are also recognised as leaders in support for social enterprise.
The Medical Sciences Division is an internationally recognised centre of excellence for biomedical and clinical research and teaching. We are the largest academic division in the University of Oxford. World-leading programmes, housed in state-of-the-art facilities, cover the full range of scientific endeavour from the molecule to the population. With our NHS partners we also foster the highest possible standards in patient care. For more information, please visit: www.medsci.ox.ac.uk
The Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology is world famous for its discovery of anti-TNF therapy for the treatment of chronic inflammatory diseases like rheumatoid arthritis, which has established the current standard of care and heralded the wider use of biologic drugs to treat chronic diseases. The Institute carries out fundamental research in the fields of immunology, autoimmunity, inflammation, matrix biology and tissue destruction, with a long-term objective of ‘translating’ this research into clinical application. The major diseases of interest are rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis and inflammatory bowel disease.
The Kennedy Institute was formed in 1965 as the Mathilda and Terence Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology, in London. It is closely linked to the Kennedy Rheumatology Research Trust (KTRR), but also receives funding from numerous sources including Arthritis Research UK, The Welcome Trust, the Research Councils, the European Commission and a variety of smaller charities. After a 12-year association with the Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College London, the Kennedy Institute joined the University of Oxford in August 2011, as an independent constituent Institute within NDORMS. The Institute’s new building at Oxford opened in July 2013 and provides an outstanding environment for state of the art translational research from basic mechanistic studies to pre-clinical and clinical investigations as well as superb facilities for more than 180 research staff. It is expected to generate an annual turnover of around £15 million and establish itself as a world leading medical research institute. Fiona Powrie has taken the helm of the KIR since October 2014 and brings her vision for integrating an understanding of the microbiome into basic function of the immune system and treatment of gastrointestinal, joint and systemic autoimmune and inflammatory diseases.
Dr. Claudia Monaco (female) (H index 20) leads the “Inflammation in atherosclerosis group” at the Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology with a focus on inflammatory signalling in atherosclerosis, with an emphasis on the role of innate immunity and in the integration of pathogenic pathways in cardiovascular disease (CVD) and RA. The group’s uniqueness in this competitive field is the implementation of both in vitro models of human disease and in vivo models of atherosclerosis and arterial injury.
Research of past and current research interests:
My group was the first to establish innovative experimental methodology for the isolation, culture and pharmacological targeting of live cells from human atheroma lesions. Our work allowed the elegant characterization of the inflammatory and synthetic properties of human atherosclerosis. Using this system and ex vivo biochemical approaches we demonstrated that the dysregulated inflammatory response in human atherosclerosis is driven by the extracellular sensor TLR2 and NFkB activation. We then showed that the endosomal receptors TLR3 and TLR7 mediate atheroprotection by exerting an unexpected anti-inflammatory effect. More recently we found that, the transcription factor IRF5 (downstream of TLR signaling) promotes the formation of vulnerable plaques by increasing the necrotic lipid-laden macrophage core in advanced lesions. We are currently investigating the heterogeneity of myeloid subsets and their regulators in the arteries by mass cytometry (CyTOF). The goal of our ongoing research is to deconstruct how pattern recognition and downstream inflammatory signaling affect the programming of myeloid subsets within the vessel wall during steady state and the development of atherosclerosis.
FACULTY OF MEDICINE, UNIVERSITY OF BELGRADE
Serbia
Clinic for Vascular and Endovascular Surgery,
Koste Todorovica 8 St,11000 Belgrade Serbia
The University of Belgrade, was founded in 1808 as the Belgrade Higher School in revolutionary Serbia, by 1838 it merged with the Kragujevac-based departments into a single university. The University has nearly 90,000 students (including around
1,700 postgraduates) and over 4,200 members of teaching staff. Since its founding, the University has educated more than 330,000 bachelors, around 21,300 masters, 29,000 specialists and 12,600 doctors. The University comprises 31 faculties, 11
research institutes, the university library, and 7 university centres. The faculties are organized into 4 groups: social sciences and humanities; medical sciences; natural sciences and mathematics; and technological sciences. School of Medicine was founded in 1920.
The work in the project will be undertaken by Prof. Lazar Davidovic team, at the Clinic for Vascular and Endovascular Surgery, Serbian Clinical Centre. Clinic continues the tradition of the “Second Surgical Clinic” which was founded in 1946, from 4th reserve military hospital by one of the truly outstanding people of Serbian surgery – Prof Dr Vojislav K. Stojanovic. It was a cradle of the cardiovascular surgery in former Yugoslavia. At the beginning of the 21st century the clinic was transformed into three independent units. One of them is the Clinic for Vascular and Endovascular Suirgery. Now, our Clinic per year performs about 1800 different reconstructive vascular procedures. Out of them 600 procedures are performed on carotid arteries. At this moment the Clinic has 19 vascular surgeons, eight anesthesiologists, two transfusiologists, three radiologists and three angiologists. It is the most important vascular educational center for post graduate studies in internal medicine, angiology,
general surgery, anesthesiology and vascular surgery. We are active participants in some international trials including ACST-2, one of the largest studies in the field of carotid disease.
ZORA BIOSCIENCES OY
Finland
Zora Biosciences Oy is a biotechnology company focusing on lipidomics. ZORA is specialized in mass spectrometry driven (lipid) biochemistry. ZORA has a unique portfolio of lipid analytical platforms. The lipidomics of ZORA are geared toward biomarker identification. Not only on a European scale but indeed on a global scale ZORA is a flagship of Lipidomic expertise offering a collection of unique competencies, which herein can be put to the disposal of the European Research effort. ZORA has strongly focused on cardiovascular research and has gained deep understanding on lipids and their role in cardiovascular diseases. Furthermore, Zora has successfully developed a biomarker for cardiovascular disease risk evaluation.
ZORA has state-of-the-art lipidomic laboratory with several mass spectrometers and a lipid extraction robot allowing high-throughput lipid analyses of biological samples enabling both broad lipidomic discovery as well as clinical-like targeted high-throughput assessments. Recently, ZORA has established a validated, according to the FDA bioanalytical guidelines, clinical-scale high throughput analytical methodology for the measurement of distinctive molecular lipids in human plasma by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry, supplemented with a newly developed rapid and automated 96-well robotic assisted lipid extraction procedure. In current form this method is applicable for use in daily clinical practice, providing a throughput of ~300 samples/day per mass spectrometry setup.
TAMPERE UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL
Finland
The Department of Clinical Chemistry was formed 30 years ago to function as a research unit in the in the interface of laboratory medicine and university research. The Department is directly connected to Tampere University Hospital and Pirkanmaa Hospital District enabling the collection of high quality cohorts and access to excellent infrastructure and is also an integral part of the Faculty of Medicine and Life Sciences in Tampere University and the Fimlab laboratories. The research field of the Clinical Chemistry group has been nominated as Areas of Strength in Research in scientific strategies of both the university and Pirkanmaa Hospital district and they form the core for the Cardiovascular and Atherosclerosis Research Program in the Tampere University and we are the coordinating group of the Finnish Cardiovascular Research Centre—Tampere (FCRC-T).
Prof. Lehtimäki is the head of the Department of Clinical Chemistry and he has studied the genetics and risk factors of atherosclerosis since the early 90s. His research interests are focused on cardiovascular disease risk factors, atherosclerosis biomarkers, vascular and cell biology and functional genetics of complex traits and diseases. His Clinical Chemistry study group has focused on the utilizing large population cohorts in the study of genetic risk of cardiovascular diseases. In the recent years the research has concentrated in high-throughput profiling methods and integration of different omics, such as genomics, transcriptomic, and metabolomics in the atherosclerotic research. MicroRNA profiling has also risen to be one of the key study fields of Department of Clinical Chemistry. 2011 the study group performed the first microRNA profiling of the human atherosclerotic plaque in comparison to healthy arteries and since then the department has optimized large scale miRNA profiling from peripheral blood and blood fractions in their own laboratory. The research team of the department of Clinical Chemistry is also a partner in several collaborative efforts within the European Union, Australia and in the US and Canada.
UNIVERSITY OF ATHENS
Greece
The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (www.uoa.gr) was founded in 1837. It is the largest public institution of higher education in Greece, and among the largest universities in Europe. It is a legal entity of public law with 32 Faculties and 111 Postgraduate programmes of all disciplines, 158 Laboratories, 69 Clinics (included in 4 University Hospitals), 6 Central Libraries.
Hippokateion is a tertiary academic hospital in the center of Athens. It is a major vascular center for Greece consisted of 2 major Dept of Cardiology, 2 Dept of Cardiac Surgery, Dept. of Nephrology, and our Unit of Vascular surgery. The 1st Propaedeutic Surgical Clinic of University of Athens, Medical School was founded in 1922 and was established in 1939 at the Hippokrateio Hospital in Athens, and is one of the largest Surgical Department in the country (www.apropsurgery .gr). The 1st Propaedeutic Surgical Department consists of 16 surgical subunits and performs over 3000 surgeries / year. The Department has also a Research Laboratory equipped with all modern molecular and genetic techniques.
The Division of Vascular Surgery performs a full range of interventions for the surgical and medical treatment of: 1) Cerebrovascular disease (carotid, subclavian atherosclerotic), 2) aortic disease (dissections, aneurysms, occlusive disease, 3) Lower limb Arterial disease (Acute and chronic limb ischemia, Diabetic foot, Critical Ischemia, Aneurysms of the peripheral arteries 4) venous diseases 5) vascular surgery and medicine in ESRD. The unit has a Vascular Laboratory with full ultrasound imaging facilities, Vascular office (400 patients for diagnosis and treatment/year) and the infrastructure for the collection and storage of tissues and blood. The vascular Unit is actively involved in clinical and basic science research and has published over 90 scientific papers in international peer-reviewed journals over the last 10 years.
GEZONDHEIDSZORGFUNDACIO PRIVADA CLINIC PER A LA RECERCA BIOMEDICA
Spain
The Clinic Foundation's mission is to offer a portfolio of excellent services to the research and innovation communities that consolidate the organization as a national and international referent. The goal is to contribute to improving the health and quality of life of the population level through the competence, the skills, a responsible sustainable work and a scientific and social orientation. The Fundació Clínic offers a range of scientific and research support services, which it either manages directly or through associated entities. The Hospital Clínic’s (HCB) long research tradition positions it as one of the leading institutions in its field both nationally and internationally. Research project management and administration is carried out by the Fundació Clínic per a la Recerca Biomèdica. The Clinic Foundation has included the protection of the results of biomedical research in its strategic goals, and carrying out a program to promote technology transfer to society, because of the advantages that it represents for the research groups as well as for society. The Hospital provides under- and post-graduate teaching, which includes training for resident doctors and continuing professional development for Hospital staff. Its staff also provides external training through Aula Clinic. Vascular Surgery Division, in conjunction with the Stroke unit, is very active in Carotid pathology management (medical, open surgery and endovascular repair). The división participate in different international studies like ESCT, CAVATAS, ICSS, ACST-1 and 2, and recently is appointed to be included in CREST-2.
EUROPEAN SOCIETY FOR CARDIOVASCULAR AND ENDOVASCULAR SURGERY
Germany
The European Society of CardioVascular Surgery (ESCVS) was founded May 31st, 1951, in the city of Turin, Italy, with statutes in Strasbourg, France, under the name of “Société Européenne de Chirurgie CardioVasculaire”. The founders and subscribers of these first statutes were 40 physicians representing 11 European countries. The study of the history of this Society demonstrates that this oldest European Society in Cardiovascular Surgery always maintained a high degree of competency in their strong interrelated fields of cardiac, vascular and cardiovascular surgery with respect of each specialty, and always permitted a wide forum for technical and socio-cultural interchange. The main goals and activities of ESCVS are:
- to promote the basic scientific and clinical research, with special emphasis on cardiovascular diseases
- to monitor the development of the medical art, science and therapy of cardiovascular diseases
- to coordinate and disseminate the theoretical and practical medical knowledge, with special emphasis on cardiovascular diseases
- to interact with patients’ societies
- to facilitate the exchange of ideas in the field of cardiovascular diseases, particularly through scientific meetings and personal contact between cardiac and vascular specialists
- to provide education to physicians’ and other medical experts to promote new, innovative treatments
BIOIRC D.O.O. KRAGUJEVAC
Serbia
Address: 6 Prvoslava Stojanovića Street, 34000 Kragujevac, Serbia
Phone: +38134500088
Email: bioirc@kg.ac.rs
BIOIRC (www.bioirc.ac.rs) is a research centre devoted to computational modelling and software development for various problems in engineering and bioengineering. The research is largely based on the finite element method applied to solids, fluids, modelling of physical fields, multiphysics, and various coupled problems. Also, discrete particle methods, such as dissipative particle dynamics, are developed and coupled with continuum models in multiscale schemes. The solvers are accompanied by state-of-the art computer graphics as well as image processing methods and 3D medical image reconstructions. BIOIRC achieved significant results in the field of bioengineering which are prominent at the national and international level. The deputy director of the centre is Prof. Nenad Filipovic who has rich experience in computer simulation of the cardiovascular system, muscle, bone and tissue mechanics. A large number of scientific publications and results have been issued as the result of collaboration with different national and international partners, spanning from blood flow modelling, cartilage muscle and tissue mechanics, thrombosis and plaque growth modelling, to molecular diffusion and multiscale modelling. The Centre is capable, with its hardware, software and researchers, to coordinate activities within the project.
ENGINEERING INGEGNERIA INFORMATICA S.P.A.
Italy
Registered office
Address: Via San Martino della Battaglia, 56, 00185 Rome, Italy
Phone: +39 06.49201
Email: info@eng.it
Operating office
Address: Palazzo D1/3, Centro Direzionale Milanofiori, Strada 2, 20090 Assago, Milan, Italy
Phone: +39 02 8700 1000
Email: info@eng.it
Engineering Ingegneria Informatica S.p.A., founded in 1980, is the leading group in Italy in software and Information Technology services and one of the top 10 European companies, with an integrated, full offer of business integration and consulting, application, infrastructure and innovative service outsourcing in Cloud Computing mode, solutions for vertical markets, strategic consultancy.
Today Engineering has 10,300 employees, 50 sites distributed in Italy, Germany, Spain, Belgium, Republic of Serbia, South America (Brazil and Argentina) and United States, a consolidated revenue portfolio in 2017 of more than 1 billion Euro.
Its 4 business units - Public Administration & Healthcare, Telco & Utilities, Industry & Services, Finance - supported by cross-business unit centers of competence and by the Research Engineering has a consolidated presence on all vertical markets and operates through and Innovation Department which, with its 250 resources, has the dual role of promoting research on software at an international level and transferring innovation to the production cycle of the business structures.
Fair Dynamics Consulting unit, part of Engineering, provides general management consulting solutions, supported by qualitative and quantitative methods and practices which distinctive character is represented by the systemic approach, modeling techniques, dynamic simulation and data analysis.
FD delivers dynamic simulation approaches, focused on forecasting future events and behaviours, allowing organizations to conduct impact analyses to predict the effects of potential changes in business strategies at different level of abstraction (micro – meso – macro). The typical areas in which FD is involved in are strategic problems, especially addressed to Strategic assessment and Capacity planning. Another distinctive trait of FD is represented by the strong link with the European academic world due to the fact that part of FD management act also as university professors. This allows FD to have a preferential access to a scientific network able to cover a wide number of knowledge domains.
In the recent years, FD has collaborated with Heath Services Consulting Corporation (HSCC, Boxborough, Massachusetts) to the development of several pharmaceutical projects. In particular, Pfizer involved HSCC and FD in the realization of a supporting tool for the prediction of individual patients’ outcomes, based on appropriate techniques of predictive analytics and simulation modelling. The project has been named as Virtual Lab and aims at reducing clinical uncertainties, including those related to benefits and risks for various patient groups, as it provides insights on their possible response to treatments. Overall, it represents an enhanced tool for internal-decision making as it can potentially reduce economic uncertainty and enables better communication with clients and stakeholders.
STICHTING NEDERLANDS INSTITUUT VOOR ONDERZOEK VAN DE GEZONDHEIDSZORG
Netherlands
NIVEL – the Netherlands Institute for Health Services Research - is the national institute for health services research in the Netherlands. It is an independent not-for-profit organisation. NIVEL has a dual mission: performing high quality scientific research with a high societal impact. Increasingly, NIVEL has an international orientation. NIVEL’s core business is health services research. Health services research is the multidisciplinary field of scientific investigation that examines how social factors, financing systems, organisational structures and processes, health technologies, and personal behaviours affect access to health care, the quality and costs of health care, and ultimately our health and well-being. NIVEL’s research focuses on research questions, which address issues that are relevant to the actors in health care and policy. Its potential use in policy-making processes is continuously kept in mind. NIVEL’s research aims to contribute to evidence-informed policy and draws on theories and methods from several disciplines, including epidemiology, medical sociology, health economics, health law and medicine. NIVEL’s research capacity and expertise are used by many organisations, such as: Governmental bodies (Dutch and foreign ministries, European Commission), scientific research organisations and organisations representing health care professionals, health care consumers, and health care insurance companies. By playing an active role in the international health services society, NIVEL keeps close track of the health and health service trends and developments throughout Europe. The networks also enable the reinforcement of efforts for international research activities between healthcare professionals and institutions in Europe. Additionally, the networks facilitate NIVEL's role as the source of information about the structure, organisation and functioning of the Dutch health care system to researchers and decision-makers from other countries. NIVEL is a WHO collaborative center for primary care. NIVEL Primary Care Database (NIVEL-PCD) is one of NIVEL’s main assets, a Big Data infrastructure on the basis of primary care electronic health records (https://www.nivel.nl/en/dossier/nivel-primary-care-database). It collects and processes routinely recorded electronic health records of >500 general practices, encompassing about 1.7 million patients (10% of the Dutch population), GP out of hours’ services with a joint catchment area of more than 11 million inhabitants. This data is linkable to administrative data of Statistics Netherlands, claims data and many other data sources. NIVEL-primary care database is used for monitoring public health, disease surveillance, disease oriented studies, pharmacological studies. NIVEL participated in the FP7 project TRANSFoRm that focuses on mobilizing big data to create a learning health system in which primary care data can be used for clinical trials, epidemiological studies, genotype-phenotype studies, and the development of decision support tools in clinical practice. TRANSFoRm aims to develop the technology that facilitates a learning healthcare system. TRANSFoRm brings together a highly multidisciplinary consortium where three carefully chosen clinical ‘use cases’ will drive, evaluate and validate the approach to the ICT challenges.
IRCCS AZIENDA OSPEDALIERA UNIVERSITARIA SAN MARTINO-IST-ISTITUTO NAZIONALE PER LA RICERCA SUL CANCRO
Italy
The Cardiovascular Research Unit is a newly created Interdepartmental Facility that is part of the School of Medicine of the University of Genoa. The Unit has access to a number of general facilities including a large biomedical library, bio-imaging services, animal facilities, and advanced technical equipment available for both clinical and basic research groups. The Cardiovascular Research Unit is composed of a large Laboratory (~250 m2, under responsibility of Prof. Dallegri and Prof. Montecucco) and a clinical ward of Cardiovascular Surgery (under responsibility of Prof. Palombo). The research group collaborates with international research Institutes, such as University of Geneva, Switzerland (Prof. Mach, Prof. Vuilleumier); CNR Naples, Italy (Prof. Di Marzo); EPFL Lausanne (Prof. Stergiopulos); University of Oxford (Dr. Monaco).
This project has received funding from the
European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and
Innovation Programme under grant agreement No
755320