Project Summary

Although IBISS is nationally very well positioned in the field of metabolic research, the underdeveloped translational research in this field, including the insufficient clinical utilization and exploitation of scientific results in the development of effective treatments and identifying potential biomarkers, represents a serious disadvantage in IBISS quest towards scientific excellence. The transfer of knowledge and expertise from the partner institutions (ORU, AmsterdamUMC, FFUL) will support the progress of IBISS towards translational studies, increase scientific and innovative capacity of IBISS staff and improve skills and the mobility of PhD students and early stage researchers. This will be achieved through short-term scientific missions to EU-partnering institutions; joint research projects aimed at discovering novel therapeutic strategies for MASLD; dissemination and exploitation of scientific results generated in the joint projects (high-impact publications, patenting of novel microbiota-based therapy and licensing to interested biopharma companies).

The currently obvious need to expand the capacity of IBISS beyond the traditional focus on basic research will be addressed in the STRIMHealth project, by developing robust management, entrepreneurship and administrative capacity of IBISS staff. Namely, the training in EU-based research funding and project management, data management and open science will be organized to increase the skills of the Research Management Working Group by turning it into a more competent unit (RMU). The transfer of best practice from our EU partners in technology transfer and intellectual property protection will ensure the excellence of the Knowledge and Technology Transfer (KTT) team. Special emphasis will be placed on stimulating the academic skills and innovation potential of PhD students and early stage researchers through training in translational science, academic entrepreneurship, open innovation and communication. The acquired skills in project results exploitation, utilization and commercialization will be developed through academia-industrial partnerships. Thus, the capability of IBISS staff to compete for funding as well as to generate useful intellectual property that can support long-term sustainability of IBISS will be refined and ameliorated.

The extensive experience of IBISS staff in scientific result dissemination is in need of strategic leveraging to achieve improvements across broader audiences. To present IBISS scientific excellence and widen the dissemination of project results from academia to other stakeholders, workshops, schools and info/open days will be organized, apart from the implicit high-impact publications, and participation in the international conferences. Communication with the non-academic public will also be achieved through media and press releases, project website, promotional materials, social media, and participation in popular science events. Metabolic diseases are partly attributable to the unhealthy lifestyle, so special attention will be placed on raising awareness about metabolically risky lifestyles among schoolchildren and the general population. Industrial stakeholders will be approached through specialized fairs, customized meetings with industrial partners and brokerage events. All this will increase the visibility of IBISS as a promising partner for nationwide, regional and EU level collaborations, and promote the Institute as an advantageous partner for attracting the R&I funding. Special attention will be placed on networking beyond the Twinning project itself and participation in the ongoing EU projects, as well as by the constant communication with the industry, SMEs and healthcare professionals.