Ongoing research projects of FHAIVE
ARCHIMEDES – Data-Driven Integrated Approaches to Chemical Safety Assessment and Drug Design
Archimedes is an ERC-funded multidisciplinary project, supported by Tampere University, aiming to make products safe for consumers, while reducing the number of animals in the experiments. In the work, integration of wet lab and bioinformatics enables goals as new integrated testing approaches to be developed, as well as to establish new paradigm in chemical safety assessment and biomedical data framework covering toxicology and pharmacology. Project is ongoing in the period from 2022-2026. More information could be found here.
LiverTarget – A new generation of advanced RNA therapeutics
LiverTarget is EU funded project aiming to develop an innovative RNA inhibition and activation therapeutics against cardiovascular and metabolic diseases by targeting ceramide synthesis and inflammatory cascades in the liver. Project goals are numerous, focusing on generating innovative siRNA pools and synthetic mRNAs to regulate ceramide and inflammatory targets in the liver; formulating them in established human-approved liver-targeting lipid nanoparticles (LNP); determining their efficiency invivo; and completing safety and toxicology evaluation of the most promising lead candidates. FHAIVE contributes by developing and pre-clinical testing of siRNA drugs. Project is ongoing for the period from 2022-2027. More information could be found here.
SCENARIOS
Scenarios is project funded by EU Horizon 2020. The project aims to develop new knowledge and technology in PFAS toxicology; detect and remove PFAS contaminants from soil and drinking water; develop integrated approached to testing and assessment (IATA) of PFAS; and assist EU countries and institutions in decision-making regarding environmental safety and human health. FHAIVE is putting effort in contributing the IATA of PFAS toxicity. Project is ongoing in the period from 2022-2026. More information could be found here.
CompSafeNano
CompSafeNano is a RISE project funded by the EU’s Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Excellent Science Program. The project aims to develop universally applicable and integrated nanoinformatic models in industry, enterprises and regulatory bodies focusing especially on risk assessment and decision-making. As well as establishing a network of scientists and knowledge base of the alternative testing methodologies is an important goal. Project is divided in 8 work packages, including, molecular stimulation, structure property AI/ML; toxicogenomic modelling; toxicity assessment; as well as case studies testing, cloud platforms and databases, training and knowledge dissemination, and project management. FHAIVE has the responsibility of supporting program for the development of IATA for the nanomaterial safety assessment. Project is ongoing in the period from 2021-2024. More information could be found here.
Finnish 3R Center – FIN3RC
FIN3R is a cooperation forum for universities, research institutes, authorities and industry that promotes the 3Rs in research and education. The objective is to promote development and use of methods and strategies based on the 3Rs in education and scientific research as well in animal breeding and keeping. This will be accomplished by increasing education and training of the researchers on 3R methods, further the development of these methods, and dissemination of the best practices and information for the researchers. In addition, FIN3R organizes educational events, such as webinars, workshops and symposiums to build a national and international network of the scientists using 3R principles in their work. Project is funded and supervised by TOKES, Council on the Protection of Animals Used for Scientific or Educational Purposes, within the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of Finland. The project is ongoing for the period from 2021-2026. More information could be found here.
BIOMAP
Biomap is a project aiming to examine the causes and mechanisms of atopic dermatitis and psoriasis by identifying the biomarkers responsible for the variation in disease outcome. The project aims to indicate the main causes of the diseases as well as its development process; establish pan-European BioResource for research and Clinical Research Network; and predict models and biomarkers of the diseases outcomes and identify disease subtypes. Funding is provided by EU Horizon 2020, Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI) and European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA). Project is ongoing in the period from 2019-2025. More information could be found here.
The final aim of the INSIGHT Project is to establish an integrated framework for mechanistic impact assessment of chemicals and materials. In addition, providing curated and user-friendly FAIR data and computational models and workflows that support the development of the next-generation SSbD chemicals and materials and open, accessible and interactive guidelines, will enable end users and stakeholders to access and operate the framework is a top priority. FHAIVE contributes to this Project with Coordination with the consortium of over 20 partners from the world, as well as leading WP2. Our expertise focuses on the development of integrated mechanistic models of impact, and FAIRifing models for health, environmental, economic and social impact of chemicals. Project is ongoing from 2024-2027, funded by the European Union. More information are available here.
CHIASMA is EU funded project focusing on development and improvement of the SSbD Assessment Framework by validating in vitro and in silico NAMs and risk assessment of the chemicals and materials. In CHIASMA Project, FHAIVE is creating in silico New Approach Methods (NAMs) and guiding the development of NAMs validation strategies. Consortium includes 19 partners from Europe and Asia, coordinated by Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology. Project is ongoing from 2024-2027. More information could be found here.
Coordinated by the University of Eastern Finland, the NEMESIS Project seeks to enhance our understanding of chemical-induced metabolic disruption and to improve the risk assessment of endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs). By integrating state-of-the-art in vitro and in vivo methods, extensive cohort datasets, and systems biology approaches, NEMESIS aims to unravel the underlying mechanisms of EDCs and their mixtures. These efforts are crucial steps towards identifying new biomarkers for chemical-induced metabolic disruption, which are essential for human health risk assessment. As a key partner in the Project, FHAIVE focuses on developing in silico models and analyzing omics data to support the mechanistic investigation of EDCs. The Project is funded by EU, forming a consortium of experts from academia and industry within Europe. The Project is ongoing from 2024-2028. More information can be found here.
The PINK Project aims to create advanced modeling software and integrated workflows for the development of sustainable advanced materials and chemicals through the use of the Safe-and-Sustainability-by-Design (SSbD) framework. PINK brings together an interdisciplinary team of partners with the ambition to push the boundaries of computational approaches in SSbD, leading to industry ready solutions. The Project is conducted at FHAIVE’s branch at the University of Helsinki. FHAIVE brings expertise in mechanistic and computational toxicology, integrating OMICs and adverse outcome pathways into chemical impact assessment through knowledge graphs. Project is ongoing from 2024-2027, supported by the funds of the European Union. More information are available here.
PHOTOBREATHE
PHOTOBREATHE is part of the SUSBIO (Sustainable Biomedical and Toxicological Research)-profiling action on soft materials which was awarded to Tampere University in 2023. SUSBIO aims to develop more sustainable soft materials and advanced in vitro models for the needs of human physiology and disease research.
PHOTOBREATHE focuses on developing advanced pulmonary in vitro models using photoactuable liquid crystal elastomer platforms. We aim to create models, which would better mimic the mechanics of breathing human lungs, and which could lead into better understanding of pulmonary fibrosis, and more accurate chemical safety assessment and drug development. In addition, developing the models to be even more animal-free and reducing microplastic accumulation into the environment are key goals in our research. Project is done in collaboration with Smart Photonic Materials group led by Prof. Arri Priimägi. More information about the project can be found here. The project is ongoing from 2024-2027.
A data-driven approach for in vitro drug testing by integration of phenotypic and target-based drug discovery strategies
A major hurdle for efficient drug development are high failure rates due to lack of efficacy or toxicity of candidate compounds. The aim of this project is to develop an integrated data-driven approach for drug discovery by combining and expanding two existing strategies, a target-centric and a phenotype-centric drug discovery strategy. This aims to optimize the processes of drug selection and in vitro testing enabling an efficient drug development process. This project is a part of the Tampere Institute for Advanced Study fellowship, which will be conducted in FHAIVE until 2026.
Completed research projects of FHAIVE
- NextCast: funded by Novo Nordisk Foundation; ongoing in 2021.
- caLIBRAte: funded by EU CORDIS; ongoing from 2016-2021
- UNICAST NANO: funded by Academy of Finland (AKA); ongoing from 2019-2023
- NanoInformaTIX: funded by EU Horizon2020; ongoing from 2019-2023
- NanoSolveIT: funded by EU H2020; ongoing from 2019-2023