Non-invasive Control of Neuronal Activity can in principle contribute to the medical treatment of pathologic states in which the electrical activity of neurons is impaired, as in seizures and in chronic pain (CP). To this end, we are developing and validating proteins regulated by non-toxic external stimuli that freely penetrate tissues. TICK (Temperature InduCed K+ channel) is a K+ Channel reversibly regulated by Temperature in a very narrow range (37-40 °C). The open channel drives a large K+ efflux that hyperpolarizes the neuronal cell and prevents action potential firing. The effect is reversible and the channel closes when the temperature drops below 40°C. The perfect match with the temperature requirement for humans, prompts us to consider TICK as a promising medical tool for neuronal inhibition, in the treatment of CP. Chronic pain (CP) is a medical condition affecting around 20% of adults in Europe, characterised by an abnormal duration of pain (> 12 weeks). CP is extremely hard to treat, with only about half of patients reporting adequate pain relief. This situation is even worse for neuropathic pain (NP), a specific class of CP affecting 8% of global population, which leads the brain to interpret as pain normally non-painful stimuli. NP is difficult to treat and to diagnose, due to the large number of entities involved (cells, genes and proteins working in synergy). Drugs targeting the central nervous system (e.g. antidepressants and opioids) provide only partial pain relief and are nonspecific, also causing side effects like addiction and nausea, thus restraining their adoption for prolonged treatments. TICK has no side effects and also overcomes the unavoidable limit of similar optogenetic treatment previously proposed: the need of fiber optic implant to bring light. The first version of these channels, has already been tested preliminary on rats. During this project we plan to further validate the treatment and explore its commercial potential.

CITY-OF CARE examines the crucial socio-economic and spatial implications of the financialization of social housing (FSH) in two European cities: Milan and Dublin. Key global processes of financial capital markets and securitization have restructured national property and housing systems, making them increasingly interdependent. Welfare retrenchment, product deregulation and financial liberalization each contributed to a dual process of residualized social housing and the expansion and inflation of the private housing market. However, in the aftermath of the 2008 global economic crisis, new subjectivities and relational strategies by people for people emerged as a coping mechanism to fight the instability and uncertainty of living in poverty. By linking research, innovation and policy, CITY-OF-CARE analyzes, at the macro level, urban strategies, policies and planning practices to promote equitable and sustainable growth. At the micro level, it looks at the efforts and the organizing that take networks, skills, and resourcefulness to alleviate housing affordability crisis, insecurity, exclusion and segregation imposed on social housing communities. CITY-OF-CARE takes a “personal network” approach to elicit the dynamics and the relevance of interconnected care providers. Caring as a distinctive, network-based activity is one of the central elements in the survival practices of disadvantaged areas of the city. Yet, it remains a gendered activity that develops between women and their community members under significant structural constraints. CITY-OF-CARE puts under scrutiny the role of women’s leadership in building and using social capital that can sustain community care and solidarity over the long haul, challenging the inequities of neoliberalism and contributing to the EU urban cohesion agenda advancement.

Vortices lie at the heart of classical fluid dynamics in both nature and technology. Likewise, vortices play an essential role in quantum fluids and solids, determining their fundamental transport properties. This project will explore both fundamental and practical aspects of quantum vortices at a new level using the platform of quantum gases, expanding the horizons of vortex research. It aims at experimentally addressing intractable vortex problems by taking the best advantage of the latest quantum technologies and the favorable time and length scales of vortex dynamics in ultracold atomic superfluids. First, I will explore both two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) vortex dynamics in a homogeneous box potential, with an emphasis on the universal characteristics of vortex dynamics on macroscopic length scales. Changing the vortex length inside a uniform trap will allow us to cross freely from 2D to 3D vortex physics. Second, I will study vortex dynamics in sophisticatedly tailored pinning landscapes. The unprecedented controllability of these arbitrary pinning potentials and vortex configurations will enable us to shed new light on many elementary aspects of vortex dynamics, paving the way for engineering vortex mobility and thus directly impacting superconductor research.

The European Commission aims at promoting agricultural innovation while preserving biodiversity and without increasing arable land surface. Understanding how plants respond to stress is therefore vital to design new, improved agricultural solutions that meet these requirements. General and conserved plant stress responses to pathogens rely on systemic propagation of Calcium (Ca2+) signalling and reactive oxygen species (ROS) from the site of attack to distant organs. An unexpected, essential link between primary metabolism (i.e. NADP/H production), long-distance Ca2+ signals and ROS propagation was recently brought to light, thus opening a new line of fundamental research (i.e. the metabolic regulation of plant stress signalling) and suggesting that modulation of NADP metabolism can boost plant defences. DEMEtRA (DEcoding Metabolic Effectors in plant sTress Response and Acclimation) aims at obtaining a deep characterization of this metabolic regulation of plant signalling in response to bacterial pathogens by combining biochemical and cutting-edge imaging techniques. This project will produce a thorough characterization of the NADP/H production mechanism and of the perturbations of long-distance signalling caused by a shortage of NADP/H. Finally, it will allow engineering new solutions to improve plant stress responses against pathogens, by acting on NADP/H metabolism. Thus, DEMEtRA will quickly advance fundamental research on plant stress signalling and guide biotechnological applications to improve conserved, natural defence mechanisms in crop plants.