TAXINOMISIS PROJECT
Press release (taxinomisis 2) TAXINOMIS is a Research and Development project funded by the European Commission, which officially started in January 1, 2018 with duration 60 months. The project is coordinated by the University of Ioannina, Greece, with the participation of 16 partners from 10 countries. The TAXINOMISIS project aims to develop a new concept for the carotid artery disease stratification by analyzing the pathobiology of symptomatic plaques, identifying disease mechanisms and developing a novel risk stratification model. To achieve this goal clinical and personalized data, plaque and cerebral image processing, computational modelling and novel biomarkers for high versus low risk states will be employed. This approach will be the first of its kind in the cardiovascular disease and will have a strong “personalized” element, exploring the biology of atherosclerotic plaques and biomarkers in the same patient, combined with heterogeneous individual/patient-specific clinical, imaging and demographic information. TAXINOMISIS will deliver, as a main outcome, a software platform, which can perform the risk stratification. TAXINOMISIS combines: (i) the existing strong research and innovation base of multidisciplinary partners, including medical experts, vascular surgeons, cardiologists, neurologists, biologists, software engineers, biomedical engineers, lab-on-a-chip experts, health research experts, (ii) a multi-centric clinical study in 6 different countries to test the usability and user acceptance of the TAXINOMISIS platform, (iii) the identification of breakthrough risk factors and markers for carotid artery disease patient stratification, and (iv) improved stratification in terms of cost-effectiveness and quality of life. The benefits for the patients, the clinicians and the research community are: The establishment of new computational models for patient stratification to assist clinical decision-making. The acceleration of the biomedical and clinical research results to medical use. The improved cost-effectiveness of the new approach compared to established clinical practices. The new research and innovation opportunities for small or medium-sized enterprises. Within the first 18 months of the project significant achievements have been accomplished. Specifically: The patient recruitment process has shown significant progress and approximately 250 patients are expected to be enrolled in the TAXINOMISIS clinical study by the end of June, 2019. The project handbook, risk management and quality assurance plan has been established. The global gene expression profile of carotid atherosclerotic plaques has been analyzed using some of the finest cohorts/biobanks available such as Athero-Express. The data management plan of the project has been prepared. An electronic case report form according to the needs of the TAXINOMISIS clinical study has been developed. Pharmacogenetic markers for refining patient stratification were selected and microchip-based PCR devices were designed and fabricated. The conceptual architecture of the software platform has been established. The first version of the communication and dissemination activities plan will be ready by the end of June, 2019. The first version of the exploitation and innovation plan will be ready by the end of June, 2019. The development of the computational model, as well as of the agent based model of plaque progression of plaque progression is under progress. • The TAXINOMISIS project receives funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under Grant Agreement No. 755320