Results of the 10th SystemsX.ch call
The SNSF Presidium has approved nine projects in the new Medical Research and Development (MRD) Project category, and two new Transfer Projects (TF).
The 10th call for proposals was met with much interest – especially the new project category Medical Research and Development (MRD) Projects, in which 30 proposals were submitted. Nine of them have now been approved by the SNSF Presidium (see table 1).
Table 1. These nine MRD proposals were approved by the SNSF in November 2014 and will be funded by SystemsX.ch:
Title of MRD proposal | Applicant | Institutions |
Systems biology of prion diseases | Aguzzi, Adriano | UZH/USZ, UZH, UniL, SIB, University of Cambridge |
A systems medicine approach to hematopoietic stem cell diseases | Skoda, Radek | UniBas, UZH/USZ, ETHZ, UniBas/USB |
Systems biology of intestinal microbial metabolism in inflammatory bowel disease | Macpherson, Andrew | UniBE/Inselspital, ETHZ, SIB |
Breast Cancer MetastasiX: Mathematical modeling of tumor heterogeneity during progression to metastases and clinical validation | Weber, Walter Paul | UniBas/USB, UniBas, UZH, FMI, SIB, IBM |
HDL-X: A systems biology approach to anti-atherogenicity and anti-diabetogenicity of high density lipoproteins (HDL) | von Eckardstein, Arnold | UZH/USZ, ETHZ |
Single cell level systems biology of tumor / micro-environment cross-talks in adaptive resistance to melanoma therapy | Michielin, Olivier | UniL/CHUV, SIB, UniL, EPFL |
A systems Approach to the HDAC6/Ub/aggresome pathway and Ubiquitin proteasome system in viral disease - VirX | Matthias, Patrick | FMI, UZH, UniGE/HUG, ETHZ, SIB, UniL/CHUV |
The interplay of host and viral factors in the hurdle to cure HIV-1 | Günthard, Huldrych | UZH/USZ, ETHZ, EPFL, UZH, UniBas, SIB |
AneuX – Modeling shape as a biomarker for instability of intracranial aneurysms | Bijlenga, Philippe | UniGE/HUG, ZHAW, UZH, ETHZ, UniGE, UZH/USZ |
Interestingly, all but one of the principal investigators of the nine approved MRD Projects are medical doctors by training, and work at one of the five Swiss University Hospitals in Basel, Bern, Geneva, Lausanne or Zurich. A total of 53 research groups from different disciplines will contribute to the nine MRD Projects. The successful projects will run for three years and will be funded by SystemsX.ch with CHF 18.6 million in total.
This is the first and only call for the new MRD Projects within SystemsX.ch. MRDs are large-scale projects in which systems biology approaches are specifically applied to medically or clinically relevant topics.
In the Transfer Project (TF) category, four proposals were submitted for the 10th call. Of these, two new projects were approved by the SNSF (see table 2). The successful projects will be funded by SystemsX.ch for two years with CHF 600’000 in total.
Transfer Projects (TF) are collaborations between research groups working in the academic and private sectors (industry, SMEs, hospitals, etc.). The aim of these projects is to promote knowledge transfer between academia and private institutions and to strengthen applied research in systems biology.
Table 2. These two TF proposals were approved by the SNSF in November 2014 and will be funded by SystemsX.ch:
Title of TF proposal | Applicant | Institutions |
Harnessing the immunome’s potential to fight cancer: evaluating synergistic antibody drug conjugate – immunotherapy treatments for cancer by comprehensive systems biology analysis | Zippelius, Alfred | UniBas/USB, ETHZ, NBE-Therapeutics |
MoDeLoMX - MacrOphage DiffErenciation LOgical Modeling | Xenarios, Ioannis | SIB, Roche |