Organ donation and transplantation has become an established practice, bringing considerable benefits to thousands of patients in Europe and worldwide every year. The shortage of organs for transplant was observed in each EU Member State and has been the main challenge to address in organ transplantation.TEODOR project comes to meet the recommendation given at EU level in 2017 and proposes a sustainable and innovative training in organ donation and transplantation in Baltic regions (Latvia and Lithuania) and Central Europe (Czech Republic). The project is led by Pauls Stradins Clinical University Hospital (Latvia), with the collaboration and expertise of Spanish and Swedish partners.TEODOR aims at designing and piloting a new and innovative training programme on organ donation and transplantation for relevant healthcare personnel from Latvia, Czech Republic, and Lithuania.Target Groups:· For organ and tissue donation, Key Donation Professionals (KDPs) such as healthcare personnel from Intensive Care Units, Emergency Departments, Neuro-critical wards, organ donor/transplant coordinators;· For organ transplantation, the Key Transplantation Professionals (KTPs) such as Immunologists, transplant surgeons, nephrologists, hepatologists, cardiologists, pneumonologists, etc. Activities and methodology:1. Data analysis throughout TEODOR to evaluate the programme impact on learners’ knowledge and their clinical performance.2. Design and implement a Train the Trainers programme targeting all the future trainers. The programme will include a multi-session approach, with face to face and virtual progressive sessions and an OPEN DOORS multiplier event in Latvia.3. Design and implement modular multilevel blended training with two modules: one on organ &tissue donation for KDPs and one on organ transplanation for KTPs on three levels: · The first level: engaging and motivating the learners with a variety of activities and resources;· The second level: boosting learning WHAT TO DO through guided online learning and HOW AND WHEN TO DO IT through online master classes;· The third level: facilitate transfer of competencies to the clinical setting through direct support in their clinical environment, streamlining and teleassistance. Clinical projects will further facilitate the transfer of what has been learned to their practice settings and will be evaluated in the face to face trans-national seminar. 4. Dissemination and visibility. To ensure the continuity and sustainability of TEODOR through a dissemination strategy, visibility plan and sustainability actions.The project results foreseen are: · Prospective study in the three beneficiary partner countries (Latvia, Czech Republic and Lithuania) and scientific publications;· Trainer for Trainers Curriculum;· A total of 12-16 experts trained as future trainers;· TEODOR Curriculum;· Module on Organ & Tissue Donation and related resources;· Module on Organ Transplantation and related resources;· A total of 75 healthcare professionals trained in TEODOR: 45 KDPs (15 KDPs/partner institutions from Latvia, Czech Republic, and Lithuania) and 30 KTPs (15 KTPs/partner institutions from Latvia and Lithuania).Impact and potential longer-term benefits: better awareness at different societal levels, including individual, healthcare professionals (both directly involved and others), and decision makers.At local and regional level, the impact envisaged will be as follows: · For trainers and learners: better technical and non-technical competences;· For patients: more potential donors identified, better transplant programmes, less patients on the waiting list, better short- and long-term transplant outcomes, higher quality of life;· For hospitals: better donation and transplantation programmes in place. Empowerment of Intensive Care Units, Emergency and central services of the hospital;· For HEI: new programmes available making use of new technologies, best practice exchange and know-how transfer.At national level TEODOR will impact positively to National Agencies on development of organ exchange programmes.At European level we expect TEODOR may create better compliance with the European recommendations and best practice exchange among Baltic, Southern, Central and Northern European healthcare professionals to improve organ donation and transplantation practices and education.Potential longer-term benefits: · Integration of TEODOR in the beneficiary centres during the project lifecycle;· Transfer of digital contents to the platforms of the beneficiary countries upon project closure, minimum cost maintenance;· Long-term sustainability plan and signing a Memorandum of Understanding for minimum 3 years post project;· Possibility of content translation into local language;· Better hospital direction, improvement in hospital general services and National competent authorities support and involvement.

The gap in Research and Innovation (R&I) performance, which persists despite considerable investments from the European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF) in the lower-performing regions of the EU, is an issue with major socio-economic and political consequences. In Health R&I the gap has a profound impact on distribution of funding from the EU Framework Programmes as well as on hindering the EU-wide impact of R&I on health and quality of life. With A4L_ACTIONS, we aim to address roots of this situation in the lower-performing Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) by improving culture, governance, recognition and innovation potential of the health research-performing institutions. Our goal is to increase their attractiveness for collaborations with advanced Europe and create spill-over effects in the whole region. As the Alliance4Life, we are an established network of progressive health research institutions in CEE and a source of successfully piloted good practice. By building upon our results and impact achieved so far, we will convert our recommendations and strategies into actions as follows: - Culture fostering excellence: piloting peer-evaluation and assessment of institutional practice as a strategic management tool, professionalizing research administration; - Recognition and trust towards CEE: attracting advanced partners to identified pockets of excellence, supporting scientific ideas originating in CEE, initiating new international projects and collaborations with industry; - Career policy nurturing talent: training and networking next generation of leaders, upgrading institutional career systems; - Impact on innovation: raising the competences of Technology Transfer specialists, creating industry relations platform linking academia and industry; - Spill-over effects: sharing, inspiring, communicating with stakeholders and policy makers; using the established networks to gain advice, new collaborations and EU-wide impact.

The goal of the CETOCOEN Excellence project of the Teamig Phase II is to establish the European Centre of Excellence in Environmental Health Sciences. In order to achieve that, Masaryk University in Brno, Czech Republic, teams up with the leading European research institutions including University College London, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, Biobanking and Biomolecular Resources Research Infrastructure, and International Clinical Research Centre at St. Anne’s Hospital. Building on existing expertise and proven track record of the existing RECETOX Centre at Masaryk university, the Teaming project partners developed a joint vision and a strategy for establishment of the interdisciplinary institute of the next generation. This project utilizes previous investments of the European Structural and Investment Funds to development of excellent research infrastructures and introduces strategic partnerships, advanced research management and research support functions, and new financial schemes needed to become one of the leading European research institutes. This allows the Centre to open the innovative research avenues towards improved understanding of the role of environmental factors in human health and aging, and innovative approaches to environmental and health protection in Europe.

More than 55 million people worldwide suffer from dementia. Alzheimer disease (AD) is the main cause of this fatal disorder, without any effective disease modifying therapy. Early diagnosis and lifestyle modifications can significantly reduce the costs of care and treatment. There is no conceptual plan implementing modern diagnostic methods in the clinical practice in Czechia and Slovakia. The interaction between universities and private sector developing molecular diagnostic tools is fragmented and lacking. Limited number of talented students are invested in applied AD-focused research. The aim of ADDIT-CE is to interlink two ecosystems in Brno and Bratislava region, embracing the full quadruple helix of innovation driving actors: excellent scientific teams from Masaryk University and Slovak Academy of Sciences, collaborating with top biotech companies: Geneton, BioVendor, and MultiplexDX. Societal actors will be represented by organisations such as Slovak and Czech Alzheimer Societies, Memory Center and Czech Brain Aging Study. The regional government will be involved via Ministry of Health Slovak Republic, and South Moravian Innovation Centre. The joined ecosystems will unite R&I activities focusing on new diagnostic methods and their applications and further interlink academia and business spheres by creating a pilot industrial PhD programme. ADDIT-CE will generate a joint cross-border strategy covering basic and applied research activities aiming on accelerating the development of new tools for preclinical AD diagnostics and lifestyle/pharmacological intervention monitoring. New cutting-edge technologies will be transferred into clinical practise. Results of ADDIT-CE will be used to develop the Slovak National Plan to Combat Dementia, to enrich the Czech National Plan for AD, and will be widely disseminated to end users and society. ADDIT-CE will join forces of the involved ecosystems to revolutionise diagnostic approaches in both countries.

The clinical translation of nanoparticle-based therapies over the last decade has been hampered by issues such as inefficient targeting and limited therapeutic effect. This poor translational outcome calls for deeper understanding of the biomechanics of cell-nanoparticle (cell-NP) interactions. Indeed, targeting mechanosensing-activated cell pathways is suitable for tuning cell fate and readdressing its functions, as mechanosensing components control the expression of genes involved in the cell’s migration, survival and resistance to drugs. Hippo pathway appears to be one of the most promising mechanobiology pathway, as it is involved in pathological diseases and tissue regeneration. This project aims to address the response of this pathway on cells upon interaction with nanoparticles. Indeed, tuning cell mechanosensing with nanoparticles is likely to hold great potentiality to control cell functionalities. The first objective will be the synthesis of nanoparticles of different size, shape and stiffness, using a silica scaffold coated with hyaluronic acid via metal-phenolic network assembly with exceptional physicochemical properties. The second objective consists in the application of Superresolution microscopy for studying cell-NP interactions with unprecedented detail and unveil the interaction/structure/ spatiotemporal localization of mechanosensing components related to the Hippo pathway (i.e. YAP, actin and focal adhesions) at molecular level. The third objective will be the deep analysis of the molecular biology and biochemistry of mechanosensing proteins (i.e. YAP, TAZ, RhoA and Rock), and their downstream effectors (i.e. TEAD and transcriptional factors) involved in the response to cell-NP interaction. The forth objective will pursue the analysis of these interactions using NenoVision technology (LiteScope), for measuring cell stiffness at the boundary of cell-NP contact with unique resolution.