The emergence of highly diverse resistance mechanisms among pathogens requires their detailed analysis to guarantee an efficient medical treatment. The gold standard in clinical diagnostics is based on the cultivation of bacteria and their phenotypical characterisation. However, these methods are labour-intensive and time-consuming lasting in some cases up to a few weeks. Thus, faster diagnostic techniques are necessary to ensure an immediate and targeted treatment of the patient. DNA-based diagnostics can provide the relevant results within a few hours. The requirements for a clinical DNA-based characterisation method are high; more than 1000 clinically relevant antibiotic resistance genes, a few hundred phylogenetic marker genes and virulence factors have to be targeted (including SNP detection). The limit of detection has to be low because a few 100 bacterial cells in the blood system can lead to the death of the patient. It should be possible to analyse a wide range of clinical sample origins such as stool, blood, urine and saliva using the same test. In addition, the results have to be obtained within a single working day. In our project, we will develop two diagnostic systems that can be with direct sample material from patients. Thus, the time-consuming cultivation of pathogens will be avoided. Additionally, the test will be more sensitive, specific and faster than any other test on the market using an innovative DNA probe concept.

Disability related to incurable cancer affects over a million Europeans each year. Our objective is to test the clinical and cost effectiveness of an integrated short-term palliative rehabilitation intervention, to improve function and quality of life in people affected by incurable cancer. At the core of INSPIRE is a multinational randomised controlled trial across six European countries. We will recruit 340 participants to assess the clinical and cost-effectiveness of palliative rehabilitation on quality of life, disability, symptom burden and goal attainment in people with incurable cancer. If positive, the trial could result in a scalable and equitable intervention that improves function and quality of life in people with incurable cancer, and reduces the burden of care for their families. The intervention can be adapted and integrated into different health systems using existing staff and services, with little or no additional cost. To support our ambition to make palliative rehabilitation part of routine care for people with incurable cancer we also conduct: - comparative analysis of health services to understand current integration of rehabilitation across oncology and palliative care services; - mixed-method evaluations of equity and inclusivity, processes and implementation for the intervention, at patient, health service and health system levels; - evidence synthesis and a Delphi consensus on indicators, core interventions, outcomes, and integration methods, to develop a framework for palliative rehabilitation practice and policy. The INSPIRE consortium brings together leaders in palliative care, oncology and rehabilitation from Nordic, Southern, Northern and Central European countries, with complementary expertise in health services research, trials of complex interventions, mixed method evaluations, statistics and economics. We are partnering with European civil society organisations to ensure citizen engagement and dissemination at the highest level.

Viruses are nanoparticles with well-defined size, shape and elasticity in which acoustic waves are confined. This leads to the appearance of new vibration modes that correspond to the vibration of the virus particle as a whole object. The VIRUSong project aims at implementing and realizing a simple and radically new way to identify viral particles on the basis of these vibrations. Inelastic light scattering spectroscopy (Raman and Brillouin) is usually a tool of choice to measure these vibrations, but for viruses, the effective scattering cross section is small. To overcome this drawback, the VIRUSong project will mainly focus on a few viruses of different size and structure and two parallel strategies will be explored. (a) the coupling of viruses with nanoparticles of hard materials which are very simple nano resonators (NPRs). The project VIRUSong project aims at using them as antennas to collect and amplify the song of the virus particles (i.e. the vibrations of the virions). (b) the use of Stimulated low-frequency inelastic spectroscopy that will allow the label-free detection of any type of virus. To achieve these objectives, the project will analyze each selected familly of viruses to determine their composition, size, shape and mechanical properties. Finally, all this information will be correlated using artificial intelligence to identify a given virus based on its vibrational spectra. By pushing the current limits of stimulated inelastic light scattering spectroscopy, designing nanoparticle resonators (NPRs) and implementing efficient artificial intelligence models, this project aims to develop the proof of concept of a new technology capable of identifying viral particles by light in a few minutes, while achieving high selectivity (specific vibrational signature) and high sensitivity (down to the single viral particle).