Antonella Consiglio’s group receives funding from the ERC Proof of Concept grants to develop a new platform for the diagnosis of autoimmune encephalitis

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Dr. Antonella Consiglio’s group will receive 150,000 euros for an 18-month project.

The project aims to develop a stem cell-based diagnostic method for autoimmune encephalitis detection.

Autoimmune encephalitis (AE) is a disease that affects 2-3 people out of 100,000, in which our immune system attacks our own brain causing neurological and psychiatric symptoms. So far we only know about 50% of the targets or antigens of our neurons that we generate antibodies against during AE. However, Dr. Antonella Consiglio’s group has designed a new platform, based on stem cells, capable of detecting a wide variety of antibodies against our neurons in blood serum or cerebrospinal fluid.

Innovation potential, significant impact and quality of Dr Antonella Consiglio project, ICREA academy from Bellvitge Biomedical Institute (IDIBELL) and Associate Professor at the Department of Pathology and Experimental Therapy, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences from Barcelona University and member of Biomedicine Institute from UB, has helped it now to be selected for a European Research Council (ERC) Proof of Concept grant. The group will receive a total amount of €150,000 for an 18-month period, which will go towards exploring business opportunities, patents and practical applications of the group’s research results. According to Dr. Consiglio, “the grant is a great opportunity to develop a novel and innovative approach to detect a great variety of neuronal autoantigens for a faster and accurate diagnosis of autoimmune disorders of the central nervous system bringing it closer to the market”.

The Proof of Concept grants are aimed at exploring the social and/or commercial potential of the results reached from previous projects funded through the ERC, under the framework of the European Union’s research and innovation programme, Horizon 2020. The total programme budget amounts to 25 million euros.

More information [IDIBELL new]