Two of the prestigious ERC Synergy Grants Awarded to Charité

Outstanding acknowledgement of brain research at Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin: the ERC Synergy Grants bestowed by the European Research Council are reserved for research projects that are so complex and sophisticated that they can only succeed thanks to the collaboration of several outstanding scientists. Charité has now secured two such projects: PTSDynamicTwin, coordinated by Prof. Petra Ritter, a neuroscientist at the Berlin Institute of Health at Charité (BIH), in collaboration with two international partners; and IMMUNE-MEMORY, which Charité psychologist Prof. Claudia Buß will conduct together with three other international researchers. Each project will receive initial funding to the tune of approximately 10 million euros over the next six years.

 

As a co-founder of The Virtual Brain digital research platform, Petra Ritter has been working for many years to simulate complex brain networks on a computer as realistically as possible in order to predict individual disease progression based on these simulations. Virtual brain models are also involved in the current project.

The digital brain twin reveals when the mind and soul lose their rhythm

Why do some people develop chronic post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after traumatic experiences such as accidents, natural disasters, or war, while others are capable of regaining their emotional balance? The PTSDynamicTwin project, coordinated by Prof. Petra Ritter at Charité and BIH, aims to investigate precisely this question. Also on board to implement the project are trauma researcher Prof. Thalma Hendler from Tel Aviv University and Japanese neuroscientist and physicist Dr. Mitsuo Kawato.

“The ability to respond flexibly to change determines whether a person remains resilient or becomes ill,” as Petra Ritter states. In order to discover which processes determine whether adaptation to severe changes succeeds or fails, the researchers not merely view the brain as a static snapshot, but in terms of its natural, dynamic fluctuations. In order to achieve this, they draw on the open-source platform The Virtual Brain, which allows them to simulate individual brain models on a computer. Brain scans, wearable everyday sensors, and behavioral tests are deployed to create a “digital twin” of the brain. This tool enables the team to map the personal brain dynamics of affected individuals, test therapeutic approaches, and determine the optimal timing for treatment.

Within the context of the project, the researchers are also addressing ethical issues and the requirements for safe and secure data use. The ultimate goal is predictive, dynamic precision medicine. “We want to be able to offer treatment at precisely the right moment – treatment that restores patients’ flexibility and quality of life,” emphasizes Petra Ritter. For patients, this could replace rigid treatment regimens and tailor treatment precisely to their individual brain dynamics and life circumstances as part of personalized care.

How and what does our brain learn from early infections?

Everyone remembers being sick as a child – the fever, certain smells, particular places. Does the brain simply store these experiences of illness, or do these memories actually help regulate the immune system? This is precisely what Claudia Buß is investigating in close collaboration with the project coordinator, Prof. Tomás Ryan of Trinity College, Dublin; Prof. Staci Bilbo of Duke University, USA, and Prof. Markus Werkle-Bergner at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin. Joining forces, they are exploring whether and how the brain stores experiences of immune responses and inflammation in the form of specific memory traces –known as engrams – and uses them in future situations.

For many years, Claudia Buß has been studying the influence of early-life experiences on health. Consequently, the pre-natal period is also the key focus of her work in this project. Together with her team, she will investigate in humans how chronic inflammatory processes during pregnancy shape the development of the infant’s brain – for example, in cases of maternal obesity and how this affects the ability to form immune memories. “I want to understand how the brain stores early experiences and how these memories can influence our immune system throughout our lives,” as the neuroscientist emphasizes. “If we know whether and why early stressors make some people more susceptible to diseases, this could enable new approaches to their prevention and treatment over the long term.” This applies in particular to diseases in which the immune system plays an important role, most notably autoimmune diseases.

Our brain is constantly learning from experience and uses this knowledge in responding to future situations. It is quite possible that early developmental influences alter the ability to form immune memories or impact on immune function, metabolism, behavior, and cognitive performance later in life. Claudia Buß and her colleagues aim to shed a light on the fundamentals of communication between the brain and the immune system.


The ERC Synergy Grant
Through its Synergy Grants, the European Research Council funds teams of two to four outstanding researchers. The projects are intended to lead to discoveries at the intersections of disciplines and to deliver substantial advances at the frontiers of existing knowledge. A prerequisite is that the project can only be realized through collaboration among the respective researchers. The maximum grant amount per project is just over ten million euros for a duration of up to six years. The selection process is highly competitive; this year, 48 Synergy projects were selected from approximately 940 submissions from across Europe.

 


Links


Contact

Markus Heggen
Head of Business Division Media & Political Communication | Corporate Spokesperson
Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin
T: +49 30 450 570 400

 

 

Back