The IPBS participates in a newly funded European Twinning for Excellence project to advance research in the activation of anti-tumor immunity

More than a decade has passed since the first immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) was approved for the treatment of advanced melanoma, marking the beginning of immunotherapies in cancer treatment. However, even in the best scenarios involving a combination of ICIs and standard therapies, durable benefit is not achieved in about half of patients.

Therefore, new approaches are needed on how best to exploit the potential of ICIs. In this context, the ZAP Cancer project, bringing together 6 European partners including the Institute of Pharmacology and Structural Biology (IPBS), was selected for funding by the European Commission under the Horizon Europe framework. The scientific objective is to create a multidisciplinary network of cancer research centers that will set up a state-of-the-art, high-throughput, multi-omics in vitro and in vivo research platform. It will then be used to study the effects of Immunogenic cell death induced by electrochemotherapy on the activation of the anti-tumor immune response.

From a European perspective, the aim is to improve access to scientific excellence, optimize research management and accelerate the staff exchange, knowledge and ideas in the European Research Area (ERA). Two slovenian institution, defined as « widening country », are part of this twinning project: the Ljubljana Institute of Oncology (OILJ) and the Faculty of Health Sciences (FHS). In addition, this 3-year project, coordinated by OILJ, will expand an existing collaborative network with the CNRS-IPBS (France), the Catholic University of Leuven (Belgium), The Institute of the Italian National Research Council (Italia) and a new partner: The Medical University of Graz (Austria).

The Cellular Biophysics research group headed by Marie-Pierre Rols at IPBS (CNRS), and represented by Muriel Golzio, as scientific coordinator, will play an important role in this project, particularly in the field of research in vivo. The IPBS international cooperation office, led by Isabelle Saves, will help to strengthen the project management skills of OILJ and FHS staff.

The Kick-off meeting will take place on October 1st in Ljubljana (Slovenia).