Tag: ITN CONSENSE

  • EU funds H2020-MSCA-ITN CONSENSE

    EU funds H2020-MSCA-ITN CONSENSE

    The EU-funded Innovative Training Network (ITN) CONSENSE was funded under the H2020 MSCA call 2020.

    The CONSENSE project is developing a new sensor technology suitable for measuring biomolecules important for monitoring disease status and treatment efficacy. A generic technology that enables continuous measurement of a wide range of biomolecular parameters could revolutionize patient monitoring and enable truly personalized therapy with better outcomes.

    CONSENSE brings together internationally leading pioneers in biomolecular switch engineering with research groups that have an excellent track record in biosensor development using advanced optical approaches, including two high-tech companies that have spun out from these groups. The consortium is completed by a strong network of partner industries and organisations, including four large medical technology companies, clinical experts, and six SMEs providing specific technological expertise and training. The consortium will provide exceptional training to 15 ESRs, allowing them to develop professionally and perform world-class research that will fundamentally advance the field of continuous biomolecular monitoring for healthcare.

    The consortium is already looking forward with great anticipation to the imminent start of the project and is excited to be contributing to an important research effort in biomolecular switch engineering together with a strong network of partner industries and organisations.

  • CONSENSE meets for the first time in the Netherlands!

    CONSENSE meets for the first time in the Netherlands!

    The first meeting of CONSENSE has taken place in a hybrid form to allow everyone to join despite the Covid-19 pandemic. Being the first meeting of the consortium, Professor Prins gave a short introduction regarding the principles behind an International Training Network (ITN) and the aims of CONSENSE.

    The program continued with three lectures about the challenges in different areas relevant for our projects in continuous biosensing. The first one was given by Professor De Jonge regarding clinical patient monitoring. The main take-away of this lecture was to underline two areas where continuous biosensing is crucial: in the intensive care unit (ICU) to provide a prompt intervention and in diseases requiring a personalized treatment, for example those occurring with a dysregulated response to infection. For the second lecture, Professor Merkx focused on nanoswitches, highlighting the state-of-the-art and reminding the most important requirements for a continuous biosensor. Lastly, a lecture regarding optical detection technologies, that is the readout method chosen for the CONSENSE project, was held by Professor Lammertyn.

    CONSENSE ESRs in Netherlands

    After, each of the ESRs introduced themselves and their respective projects, typically including the previous work done by the research group and the main concept to develop during their PhD. Each presentation was followed by questions and suggestions coming from all the people involved: other ESRs, PIs or members of the partner organizations. The opportunity to have feedback from people belonging to different backgrounds and experiences is a part of what makes ITNs so special because it allows the researchers involved to grow, develop scientific criticism and find ways of collaborating.

    The scientific program was then concluded with a tour of the laboratory facilities at TU/e, which was particularly interesting to foresee collaboration opportunities and possible secondments.

    The social activities during the CONSENSE introduction days was the first opportunity for the ESRs to get to know each other. The PhD students working at the host institution typically organize some activities to have fun together and we have to say that the ESRs from Tu/e really did a great job! Among the several activities, we visited the Philips Museum with the special guide of a passionate former employee and we had a day trip to Den Bosch. There, we walked around the city, hometown of the painter Bosch until we reached a cafeteria, where we participated in a workshop and had the chance to decorate the typical dessert of the city disguised in the funniest way.

    Many thanks to Anna, Helen, Livio and Sebastian (ESRs at TU/e) for organizing this fantastic introductory meeting. We are looking forward to the next conference in early 2022!

    Authors: Claudia Scarpellini and Emily Tsang

  • CONSENSE Introduction Days

    On 24-25 November 2021, the CONSENSE ITN has its first in-person meeting since the start of the project. Hosted by the CONSENSE coordinator TU Eindhoven, this will be an opportunity for the early-stage researchers to have a broad introduction into the CONSENSE project and to get to know their fellow researchers across the different partnering universities and companies involved.

    During the two-day event, ESRs and supervisors will be following a number of lectures on biosensing technology, and the different ESRs will present their research projects to the rest of the network. In addition, visits will be planned to the biosensor labs at TU Eindhoven.

  • Back in the Netherlands! CONSENSE meets EU project officer and SensUs teams.

    Back in the Netherlands! CONSENSE meets EU project officer and SensUs teams.

    Midterm check meeting

    CONSENSE is funded by the Marie-Skłodowska-Curie scheme. One important goal of this program is to train the students to become highly skilled researchers and enhance innovation in fields of interest within the EU. In this network, specialists and students are working towards the goal of creating continuous sensors of biomolecules for the health sector. 

    During this bi-annual meeting, we linked up with the EU project officer to ensure the network is on track for achieving their ultimate goal.  The meeting was a success and feedback was provided to allow CONSENSE to continue striding forward. 

    “We had very fruitful meetings with the EU project officer, all PhD students and their supervisors, on the research projects and the training. In addition, the Consense students met for the first time with the student teams in SensUs, the annual international student competition in the field of sensors for health. The Consense students do in-depth biosensor research while the SensUs students build working prototypes, you can imagine how this leads to inspiring exchanges!”
    Menno Prins Network coordinator

    Network update

    Following the check meeting, the ESRs showcased their research progress in the field of continuous biosensing. The day was filled with many scientific discussions, and possible collaborations, as everyone shared their experience and provided feedback.

    The two previous meetings took place in a hybrid form, mainly due to travel restrictions from the COVID-19 pandemic. Fortunately for the check meeting, all the ESRs and most PIs were finally able to join the network face-to-face. 

    “Being able to attend the CONSENSE meeting in-person was an excellent opportunity to get to learn more from our partners and witness their true passion in developing creative solutions that can revolutionise disease diagnosis field.”
    Abtin Saateh ESR10

    SensUs competition

    The third and final part of this CONSENSE meeting was the SensUs competition at TU/e. This competition is all about allowing undergraduate students to gain experience in impactful research in the field of biosensing. This year, many teams from around the globe met up and showed off their biosensor design, pitched their business proposals and competed for the most sensitive set up. The ESRs from CONSENSE also participated the event by presenting their posters on their work, providing feedback to the student teams and sharing thoughts on life as a PhD student and possible opportunities available, such as the Marie-Skłodowska-Curie scheme. Check out more pictures from the SensUs competition:

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    Overall, it was a very packed but insightful and rewarding week. As always, we look forward to the next meeting. 

    Authors: Andris Jeminejs and Emily Tsang

  • Introducing ESR8!

    Introducing ESR8!

    Hello, my name is Helen Tan and I am known as ESR8 in the CONSENSE consortium. I am happy to have this opportunity to write a short blog post to introduce myself, so here we go!

    I was born and raised in Malaysia, in a middle-class family of four. Since I was young, I have always been curious about the things around me and eager to learn new things. To quench my curiosity, I garnered an interest in reading and watching documentaries; these hobbies have helped me to understand the world better and to develop my own view and perspectives. I believe that these interests have led me to continue on the scientific journey after completing my secondary school education.

    I studied Materials Science and Engineering at Imperial College London, UK. During my studies, I have participated in research activities in multiple research groups, both at my home university and also overseas research institute (IST Austria), to gain experience. However, I have to say that the most memorable research that I have done during my university years is my research on fiber-reinforced composite as a potential cartilage mimic. In that project, I developed an in-silico model to establish minimum design requirements for a poroelastic mimic of articular cartilage, and I was very lucky to be able to publish my results in a scientific journal.

    I could not be more happy and fortunate to have chosen materials science as my major. I was – and am still – mesmerized by the interdisciplinary nature of the field, and I developed a passion for biomaterials and nanomaterials thanks to my prior experiences. This has fueled my will to further study as a PhD. candidate in the group of Prof. Menno Prins at the Eindhoven University of Technology to do research on the novel biosensing technology, known as Biosensing by Particle Mobility (BPM), that has been established in the group previously. I cannot wait to see what I can learn and gain from this journey.

    Thanks for reading!

  • Introducing ESR14!

    Introducing ESR14!

    Hi guys, I am Sebastian Cajigas, ESR14 in the CONSENSE consortium.

    First, I would like to introduce myself. I was born and raised in Colombia, more specifically, in southern Colombia, in a small town known as Sandoná. However, after finishing my secondary school education at the age of 17, I moved to Medellín, one of the main cities of Colombia, to continue my university studies.

    In 2016, I got my bachelor’s degree in chemistry at the University of Antioquia (Colombia). As an undergraduate, I studied the correlation of functional groups of humic acids with photochemical properties. This research project allowed me to learn different characterization techniques, including FT-IR and UV-Vis spectroscopy, potentiometric titration, thermogravimetric analysis, and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Afterwards, in 2020, I obtained my master’s degree in chemical sciences in the Max Planck Tandem Group in Nanobioengineering at the same university. I specifically worked on the project entitled “Dual electrochemical magneto-nanogenosensor for differential diagnosis of Zika virus”, where I was in charge of the development of gold/DNA-based amplification in biosensing. I studied the temperature, ionic strength, pH, and length of DNA strands and nanobioconjugates for hybridization temperature on the stability of the nanobioconjugates. I developed hand-on-skills on the synthesis of nanomaterials, biofunctionalization, electrochemistry, and some principles in molecular biology. Luckily, the results of the project allowed us to publish two scientific papers and one review paper in the biosensing field.

    Currently, I have the privilege of being part of the CONSENSE consortium as a PhD. candidate. I work with Dr. Junhong Yan and Prof. Menno Prins at Helia Biomonitoring and the Eindhoven University of Technology. We are working together on a novel biosensing technology known as biosensing by particle mobility (BPM) where my main goal is to study the stability of our BPM systems. To finish, I would like to say that, even with all the challenges that this journey involves, I am very happy with all the acquired knowledge, and, of course, excited for all the knowledge that I will acquire until I finish my PhD.

  • Get to know Estelle Bonedeau – ESR 4!

    Get to know Estelle Bonedeau – ESR 4!

    Hi, I’m Estelle!

    If you want to know a bit more about me, you’re in the right place.

    What’s my academic background?

    I have studied at the University of Bordeaux (France) and the University of Auckland (New Zealand) and obtained my bachelor and master’s degree at the bioengineering school ENSTBB (Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Technologie des Biomolécules de Bordeaux), (France). During my studies, I specialized in biotechnology, biomedicine and, more particularly, the characterization of biomolecules. I have completed my master’s thesis at the Max Planck Institute for medical research on the biochemical characterization and engineering of the human sepiapterin reductase (hSPR) in the context of NAD(P) semi-synthetic biosensors.

    Why did I choose the CONSENSE training program?

    I was impressed by the biosensing interdisciplinary projects and the international dimension of CONSENSE. I believe the entrepreneurial vision supported by the strong network of both public and private organisations will contribute greatly to the development of new biosensor technologies for therapeutic purposes. Also, CONSENSE combines my appeal for healthcare entrepreneurship as well as my desire to pursue an academic PhD in the biomolecular engineering field.

    What about the other side of science?

    My life outside of the lab is filled with travels, joyful adventures in the mountains and walks in nature. On the sports side, I love longboarding, Taekwondo, and am always down for a volleyball game. Finally, I enjoy all sorts of DIY projects from painting to woodworking and pottery.

  • Introducing ESR12!

    Introducing ESR12!

    Hello and nice to meet you! 

    I’m Claudia, ESR 12 in the CONSENSE project. Like many of the other PhD students, I was also keen on everything related to science ever since I was a kid. During my school years, I enjoyed studying chemistry, physics, and mathematics. But what I enjoyed the most is the process of learning. Besides that, a strong drive I’ve had throughout my growth was the desire to create something. When I was a little girl, this could be building something with recycled materials or painting. Later, when I chose my university studies, I combined my passion for learning and the one for creating something in my Physics Engineering course, which I started in 2015 at Politecnico di Torino. There I got the opportunity to broaden my horizons to a wide range of physics subjects, ranging from nuclear to quantum physics to the physics of semiconductors.

    For my master, I decided to stay at Politecnico di Torino and study in the Nanotechnology for ICTs programme. The course was focused on teaching physics and the technical processes involved in the micro and nanofabrication processes of the ICT industry. I enjoyed a lot deepening my understanding of the world at the nanoscale. For my thesis, I chose to jump into a new adventure. I moved to Stockholm to work on a thesis project called “Programmable matter: shape programming of 2D physical objects”. There I got the chance to take my first steps in the research world. I enjoyed a lot working in this environment and I felt I wanted to pursue a research job after my studies. I wished to combine my nanotechnology studies with something more related to bioscience, as it’s a field that I’ve always been curious about, but didn’t have the chance to explore further. In addition to that, I was looking for multidisciplinary projects with applications directly translatable into the real world.

    Thanks to CONSENSE, I was able to join the lab of professor Jeroen Lammertyn at KU Leuven. I’m really glad for having had this opportunity and it has already expanded immensely my knowledge and research expertise.

    Thanks for reading!

  • Introducing ESR5!

    Introducing ESR5!

    Hello, my name is Nicola Porzberg – ESR5 of the CONSENSE consortium – and I have the opportunity to introduce myself to you.

    Born and raised in Germany, I decided to move abroad to the Netherlands for my studies in Molecular Life Sciences at the Radboud University, Nijmegen. I wrote my first master’s thesis in the field of medicinal chemistry, where I worked on the development of small molecule inhibitors towards the treatment of osteoarthritis. The field of chemical biology then quickly caught my interest due to its interdisciplinarity. I have always been fascinated by interdisciplinary research because combining knowledge from the fields of chemistry, biochemistry, and molecular biology creates many new opportunities to manipulate and study living systems from different angles. Therefore, for my second master’s thesis, I expanded my knowledge and skills towards protein engineering and cell biology and worked on the development of a calcium sensor to record neuronal activity.

    After finishing my university degrees, I had the opportunity to start my PhD in the Chemical Biology department of Prof. Kai Johnsson at the Max Planck Institute for Medical Research in Heidelberg, Germany. Combining fluorophore chemistry and protein engineering, our lab develops new tools for fluorescence microscopy imaging as well as protein-based biosensors. These biosensors not only enable the study of molecular processes that are currently inaccessible but could also be implemented in patient monitoring and point-of-care diagnostics. 

    In this context, I am grateful to be part of the CONSENSE consortium, which enables great opportunities, discussions and collaborations with fellow ESRs and research partners in the network. I have already had the chance to perform an industrial secondment at Hybrigenics Services in France, which allowed me to expand my knowledge into a new field and gain first experiences in an industrial work environment.

    Thank you for taking the time to read!

  • Last but not least – let’s welcome ESR11!

    Last but not least – let’s welcome ESR11!

    Hello, I am Daniil Riabov, ESR 11 and I am glad to be a part of the CONSENSE project!

    About me

    I was born in Cherepovets, Russia and spent my whole childhood in this lovely city. Even though my high school had a major in teaching languages (English and German), I was lucky to also have wonderful and dedicated teachers in math and physics. They cultivated in me a love for technical subjects, gave me a strong basis for professional education, and supported my thirst for knowledge and personal development. Besides that, I am a devoted hockey fan. Since my early childhood, I attended games in the arena with my father and continue passionately supporting our local team “Severstal” (although remotely now).

    My academic path

    I moved to St. Petersburg for my bachelor studies and entered the program “Nanophotonics and Quantum Optics” at ITMO University, Department of Physics and Engineering. I was always fascinated by “nanostuff”, and even though I had a vague idea of the photonics concept at that moment, I felt that nanoscale objects in combination with profound light manipulation are incredibly interesting for investigation and could find their application in various “technologies of the future”. My university studies were extremely hard (for me at least), especially in the beginning. However, this allowed me to enter scientific research relatively early and become a co-author of several papers related to nonlinear nanophotonics and optical spectroscopy. For 3.5 years, I was a member of Prof. Sergey Makarov’s research group in “Laboratory of Hybrid Nanophotonics and Optoelectronics” and had common projects with Prof. Mihail Petrov’s theoretical research group. My research experience includes mainly working with Nanophotonics and Metasurfaces which perfectly matches my scientific interests and is closely related to my current project.

    Where I am now

    In 2023, I joined Prof. Hatice Altug’s group, BIOnanophotonic Systems Laboratory, EPFL. I believe that my research experience could contribute to the CONSENSE project development. Currently, I am working on photonic design optimization and nanofabrication. I believe that an in-depth investigation of optical read-out from my side along with profound methods of surface functionalization from my colleagues would result in the creation of state-of-the-art technologies for health monitoring.