Interreg Europe brings regional and local governments together to share innovative and sustainable solutions to regional development challenges. ICGEB has been granted 3 Interreg projects to enhance cross-border cooperation between Italy – Austria, and Italy – Slovenia, to find common scientific solutions for societal challenges. Launched in 2024, ICGEB will lead the activities for two years.
Reinforcing the biomedical ecosystem: PROMOS
Bringing together 4 academic partners and 4 science and technology parks across Italy and Austria, the PROMOS project commenced in February this year to promote the biomedical ecosystem of the programme area. It encourages the creation of new biomedical Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) through a cross-border technology transfer pathway from the academic world to the market and clinic.
“This Italy – Austria programme,” explains Prof. Serena Zacchigna, Lead Partner from ICGEB, “addresses the gap in technology transfer in academia to develop and strengthen research and innovation capabilities and the introduction of advanced technologies in the Life Sciences.”
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Creation of a sustainable and cross-border agro-system: CEDRIC
Launched in March, CEDRIC aims to strengthen the biodiversity of areas and soils that have lost fertility by restoring their microbiological biodiversity, essential for soil fertility, pooling the expertise of 8 Partners. Inspired by the success of human microbiome transplantation, CEDRIC will transplant, in poor and/or exploited soils, microbiomes of healthy plant roots to act on the soil structure, microbiology, nutrient density and on overall soil carbon levels.
Dr. Vittorio Venturi, Group Leader of the Bacteriology lab at ICGEB Trieste and CEDRIC project leader explains: “The transplantation of plant microbiome represents not only an opportunity for the development of sustainable agronomic practices but also a unique opportunity for the creation of long-term cross-border collaborations bringing together researchers, farmers and industry.”
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A new cross border health regulatory alliance for advanced therapies: COHERENCE
The Italia-Slovenia project “COHERENCE”, started in April 2024 and will develop an open platform to guide researchers in regulatory compliance. In a pilot action to test the platform, the project will design and carry out a clinical study for the treatment of non-healing wounds to advance the development of effective treatment.
Prof. Serena Zacchigna, Lead Partner from ICGEB, explains: “We are very happy to collaborate with hospitals and companies in this project and to help streamline and harmonise the regulatory path to bring research results into the clinics across borders.” Once tested, the platform will be opened and expanded to other sectors and partners, to encourage participation of other research groups and to facilitate the implementation of advanced therapies at the European level.
