Page 101 - MaquetaFundCIEN-2019-ENG

5.5.
Other international activities
5.5.1. H2020: MARIE SKŁODOWSKA-CURIE ACTIONS (MSCA): INNOVATIVE TRAINING NETWORKS (ITN)
The Innovative Training Networks (ITN) are actions created by the European Union (within the Horizon 2020 program framework) to support research in the European Research Area and are aimed to form, through an international network of pub- lic and private centers, a new generation of creative and innovative researchers, capable of transforming knowledge and ideas into products and services for the economic and social benefit of the European Union. The CIEN Foundation actively participates as Associated Partner in the following ITN:
Targeting the purinergic P2X7 receptor to treat Alzheimer’s disease
Brain disorders affect some 180 million people and their families in Europe alone, with an annual cost to the taxpayer estimated at 800 billion €, an economic bur- den greater than cardiovascular disease and cancer combined. Despite diverse etiologies, the overlap in clinical symptoms and comorbidities among brain dis- orders suggests shared pathogenic mechanisms. In particular, hyperexcitable states driven by glial activation and neuroinflammation appear almost ubiquitous in these disorders. With advances in understanding the function of the purinergic ionotropic P2X7 receptor (P2X7R), the highly promising effects demonstrated by its antagonists in models of brain disease, and the large investment in P2X7R-relat- ed drug development programs, now is the perfect time to pool resources. Study- ing these mechanisms offers the potential to improve symptoms and reverse dis-
5. International relations
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