The rapid increase in dengue fever incidence poses a formidable challenge to global public health, with an estimated 100 million symptomatic infections annually and a geographical spread predicted to widen due to climate change and urbanization. The COMBAT initiative, a pioneering European Research Constellation, aims to address this by leveraging advanced technologies and knowledge from endemic regions to develop innovative solutions for dengue prevention and treatment. This project advances super-resolution microscopy to observe rare events in host-virus interactions and introduces novel brain-on-chip technology for in-depth dengue pathogenesis modeling. It focuses on developing innovative antiviral strategies to target dengue virus (DENV) entry and mitigate cytokine storms through host-directed therapy. Furthermore, it leverages multi-omics strategies to identify early predictive biomarkers of severe dengue and develop artificial intelligence tools with the aim of crafting comprehensive policies for the EU’s pandemic preparedness. COMBAT employs a unique experimental strategy that integrates cutting-edge technologies such as super-resolution optical microscopy, AI, and machine learning for advanced modeling of the dengue virus-host interactions and early prediction of severe outcomes. By combining efforts in drug repurposing, development of a brain-on-chip model for neuropathogenesis studies, and employing nanoscale imaging for in-depth analysis of the virus's impact, COMBAT represents a significant leap forward in the fight against dengue. The project not only aims to enhance our understanding of the disease but also to create scalable and affordable tools for pandemic preparedness, setting a new standard in interdisciplinary research to COMBAT viral epidemics.

The invention of super-resolution optical microscopy (nanoscopy) has given us a glimpse of its impact in all fields of science and medical care. Imagine the new scientific discoveries that can be realized if every research and clinical laboratory is equipped with an optical nanoscope that can deliver super-resolution imaging enabling researchers a window to nanoscale biology. However, several pain points of the available solutions currently hinder wide scale penetration of optical nanoscopy, such as cost, complexity, small throughput and limited flexibility in terms of choice of resolution and field-of-view (FOV). NanoVision will fill this pressing gap in the market with an affordable, compact, multi-modal and high-throughput photonic-chip based optical nanoscopy. Present day nanoscope uses a simple glass slide to hold the sample and a complex and bulky microscope set-up to illuminate and image. We change the current paradigm to a mass-producible photonic-chip to hold and illuminate the sample and a simple and compact optical microscope to image it. Our radical idea is thus to take out laser light steering and delivery from the microscope and transfer it to a photonic-chip. Photonic-chip based nanoscopy improves the throughput by a factor of 100x, reduces the cost by a factor of 2x and provide flexibility in terms of resolution and FOV. These key differentiator of NanoVision will not only extend the present market of nanoscopy but could also open new market opportunities. Founded on two patent families, it has been brought up to TRL 4. A spin-off, Chip NanoImaging, CNI, has been incorporated. NanoVision will propel the technology to TRL 6 by developing a user-friendly prototype and validating its impact during year-long user tests. The business and market development activities will enable us to attract investments of Euro2M by 2024 with an estimated revenue of Euro60M by 2029.

The invention of optical nanoscopy is about to revolutionize several disciplines and it was awarded with a Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2014. It is widely believed that a majority of existing optical microscopes will be replaced by an optical nanoscope. Unfortunately, the potential of the such a revolution and its widespread adoption are severely obstructed due to limitations of present day nanoscopy solution, i.e. system complexity, high cost and low throughput. In my ERC project, I have developed compact photonic chip-based optical nanoscopy, that can increase the throughput of convention optical nanoscopy by a factor of 100 times. The sample is placed on top of a photonic chip, capable of both holding and illuminating the sample, enabling to acquire super-resolved images. Photonic-chips can be retrofitted to an existing standard optical microscope converting it to high-resolution nanoscope. By way of analogy, moving from current super-resolution microscopy to chip-based nanoscopy will be as transformational as the move from main-frame computers to mobile phones. This is indeed a disruptive technology enabling widespread penetration of affordable chip-based optical nanoscopes. In ChipNano, the overall aim here is to bring the technology closer to the market by making the invention more commercially viable by a) co-operating and possibly setting-up business contract with the industrial partners on chip-production b) obtaining user feedback from key opinion leaders in Europe; c) consolidating business case to attract long-term venture funding in close cooperation with a university spin-off.