Title: WP3 Strategic analysis of the future perspectives for cooperation and coordination
1- WP3 Strategic analysis of the future perspectives
for cooperation and coordination
Summary of the expert workshop on the European
Research Agenda (WP 3)
2Objectives of WP3
- WP 3 and 4 are designed to lay the strategic
foundations of joint and transnational
activities. - With regard to the scientific and technological
issues, WP 3 Strategic analysis of the future
perspectives for cooperation and coordination
analyses the complementarity between the partner
countries programmes (or programme areas),
topics of common interest, new ideas for
potential future cooperations, new
demands/opportunities in the field, as well as
overlaps/redundancies and gaps. - To implement this step of networking,
strategically oriented workshops of programme
makers with leading scientists will be organised.
Based on the outcome of these workshops, selected
rapporteurs will formulate a European research
agenda for pathogenomics-related research.
3- Annex I
- Pathogenomics A Proposed European Research
AGENDA - The development of genomic technologies and
bioinformatics to provide novel opportunities for
studying life-threatening human pathogens with
great potential of enhancing human health - A The microbes
- Microbial ecology and populations
- 2. Metabolism and signalling
- 3. Evolution of microbial virulence and
antibiotic resistance - 4. Biofilm formation
- 5. Genome plasticity and gene pools
- Antigenic diversity and variation
- Unculturable microorganisms
- Relation between pathogenic and non pathogenic
related species - Environmental reservoir
4- B Host-microbe interactions
- 1. In vivo pathogenesis of infections caused by
bacterial and fungal microorganisms with the
capacity of affecting human health - 2. Mechanisms underlying breakage of epithelial
and endothelial barriers (blood-brain gut
epithelium pulmonary epithelium placenta ...) - a. Receptors and cell surface structures of the
host cell - b. Bacterial cell surface structures
- c. Cell-cell communication
- 2.2 Metabolic interactions and adaptations of
host cells and bacteria - 3. Evasion of the host immune defences
- 4. Commensalism and nosocomial infections
- Secondary pathologies (eg cancer and autoimmune
diseases) induced in the host - Probiotics, role of the resident flora
5C Development and improvement of
tools 1. Development of new bioassays for the
identification of novel targets for therapy and
vaccination 2. Novel diagnostic
approaches 3. Metagenomics of microbial
communities 4. New in vitro screening
techniques 5. Bioluminescence (and other) imaging
techniques to follow infections in
vivo 6. Microarrays and proteomics of infected
tissues 7. Animal models by transgene
techniques 8. Establishment of strain and tissue
collections 9. Databases and data analysis
techniques
6Priorities for the first call (Bonn April 05)
What is pathogenomics? The application of
global methods and genome based approaches to
study Bacterial and fungal human pathogens
Related non-pathogenic species Host response to
the pathogen Pathogenomics is not The study of
viruses or parasites Random screening for
antimicrobial compounds
- Research topics should include
- Microbial community ecology, reservoirs,
asymptomatic infections - Commensalism / virulence transition
- Manipulation and exploitation of the host by the
pathogen - Evolution of microbial virulence, fitness and
antibiotic resistance - Regulatory networks and metabolism of the
pathogen in the host
7Objectives of the meeting
- Prospective discussion between leading scientists
in the field of Pathogenomics - Define what is Pathogenomics
- To identify major trends in the field of
pathogenomics - To publish the conclusion as a research agenda
- To refine priorities for the first call
8Divining the Future of MicrobiologyA committe
convened to puzzle out where trends in
microbiology may lead provides some intriguing
projectionsBy Christon J. Hurst ASM News June
2005
- Understanding microbial interrelationships and
interactions microbial ecology communities
metagenome - Health of humans and of the world
- infectious dose response, agricultural use of
antibiotics, new vaccines, interaction between
humans and microbes, infections and cancer,
evolution and emergence of pathogens, survival of
pathogens in the environment. - Microbiology as a whole microbial life beyond
our planet. - Biology as a whole
- co-evolution and its immunological significance
(horizontal gene transfer)
9Organization of the meeting
- Section 1 Host-microbe interaction (7 speakers)
- Section 2 technological developments (4
speakers) - Section 3 The microbes (8 speakers)
- Section 4 Industries and Pathogenomics (3
speakers) - Section 5 Transversal activity (3 speakers)
- Group discussion on each theme
10The subject of the talks
- Description of the research activity in the
country with examples related to Pathogenomics - High quality of the talks with interesting
highlights on specific projects - Difficulty to define priorities
- Better definition of new fields through new
technological approaches
11Priority in pathogenomics
- Need to improve interactions with other
disciplines - Mathematics system biology
- Physics in vivo imaging, fluorescent methods,
single cell and single molecule studies - Chemistry identification of (new) functions of
unknown proteins - Need for technological innovation (example in
proteomics) - Importance of animal models
- Alternative model to the mouse model of infection
- Use of RNAi to study gene function
- Transgenic mice (humanized) and xenografts
12Outcomes of the meeting
- Interesting but not exhaustive view on the
research activity in the field of Pathogenomics
in the ten participating countries - Several new themes, which deserved to be
considered in the future calls. Some ambitious
goals which will require cooperation at the
European level - Importance of the cooperation with the industry
- Difficulty to define the specificity of
Pathogenomics, in a context where study of
infectious diseases integrates focused and global
approaches - Difficulty to go behind these general statements
in the frame of a meeting of 25 scientists
13The next step
- To constitute a smaller discussion group of 6 to
8 participants to prepare the final agenda - To better define the specificity of Pathogenomics
- To combine discussion with WP4
- analyses the complementarity between the partner
countries programmes (or programme areas),
topics of common interest, new ideas for
potential future cooperations, new
demands/opportunities in the field, as well as
overlaps/redundancies and gaps. - Need to extend the duration of wp3 to 24 months