ENTRAIN

Neurological diseases cause enormous suffering and a great economic burden. Almost 20 million Europeans are affected by the most frequently occurring and disabling disease entities, such as stroke, Alzheimer’s disease (AD), or multiple sclerosis (MS), and these numbers do not include the large group of rare diseases that affect the CNS. At the cellular level, key players are brain endothelial cells as the building blocks of cerebral vessels and macrophages as the main inflammatory cells of the brain. Recent discoveries indicate that endothelial cells and brain macrophages are in intimate contact and closely interact. ENTRAIN will undertake deep analyses of the molecular mechanisms involved to understand key features of macrophage-endothelial cross-talk, which leads to exploitation of this information for the development of treatments of neurological diseases. We are using novel and emerging technologies, such as cutting-edge chemoproteomics, unique genetic and viral tools for targeting of defined cell populations, and high resolution intravital imaging. The results will impact on the understanding of neuroinflammation, but also on the rarefaction of vessels. 

In this Marie Skłodowska-Curie action- InnovativeTraining Network (ITN) 14 PhD students from all over the world will be jointly trained by 26 academic and industrial partners. The young researchers will get experience in different sectors and develop their transferable skills by working on joint research projects.