Erc, 44% awarded to female researchers

The European Research Council (ERC) today announced the award of 494 Starting Grants, funding aimed at supporting the launch of the careers of young men and women researchers across Europe, enabling them to pursue the most promising ideas on highly relevant topics. The €780 million made available (and which is part of the EU's Horizon Europe programme) is to fund a wide range of fields, from life and physical sciences to social sciences and the humanities.

Italy ranks fifth among the 24 EU Member States and associated countries (51 nationalities are represented) that will host the winning projects, with 41 grants, behind Germany (98 grants), the Netherlands (51), the United Kingdom (50) and France (49). While it is second in terms of the number of researchers involved, (61 Italians) behind the Germans (94 researchers) and ahead of the French (44) and Spanish (36).

44% of these Starting Grants - EUR 1.5 million per grant for a period of five years - were awarded to female researchers, compared with 43% in 2023 and 39% in 2022. Considering the life science sector (9 projects will be carried out in Italy), among the female winners is the new I-Bot (Implantable microroBot) project of the Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna in Pisa, coordinated by Veronica Iacovacci, a researcher in BioRobotics. The aim: to develop the first generation of implantable microrobots capable of navigating the human body in a controlled and non-invasive manner. 'In the course of the project,' explains Iacovacci, 'we will analyse a number of case studies ranging from the treatment of ulcers in the gastro-intestinal tract, to the realisation of vascular grafts, to systems for monitoring tumour lesions.

Simona Ranallo's Co-Trans-Net project, a researcher at the Department of Chemical Sciences and Technologies at the University of Rome Tor Vergatac, is also among the 44% of Starting Grants 2024 won by female researchers. What is the innovation of her project? 'The possibility of producing a drug based on RNA in response to the presence of specific tumour biomarkers,' Ranallo explains. 'In this way, it would be possible to produce a drug 'on demand' when the level of a biomarker exceeds its specific physiological range, thus becoming a sort of alarm and representing an early treatment possibility. It would thus be possible to administer the dose of drug to be administered according to the specific need of each individual patient, related to the stage of his or her disease'. Not only that. In addition to guaranteeing constant monitoring and customised therapeutic treatment, 'Co-Trans-Net also represents an innovative diagnostic tool in which, quickly and without the need for laboratory equipment, but using only a smartphone, it will be possible to measure the level of tumour biomarkers in patients' blood with high precision, just like the glucometer used by diabetic patients'.

In the field of oncology there is also the project by Irene Franco, of the Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, with the San Raffaele Hospital as partner, with the acronym 'Identikit (Identification and tracking of cancer-prone cells in KIdney Tubules). The study focuses on cellular ageing and its impact on cancer, with a focus on DNA mutations that accumulate in cells. These mutations can turn normal cells into cancer cells, but little is known about what causes them. The project specifically examines the kidney, where a rare population of cells has been identified with a much higher number of mutations than in other surrounding areas. These mutations are common in kidney tumours and have specific characteristics that can be used as 'markers' to identify cells at high risk of becoming cancerous. The project aims to develop methods to isolate and study these cells to understand which factors increase the risk of cancer.