Charting Immunological Maps of Populations Across Complex disease and lifetime Trajectories
| Title | Charting Immunological Maps of Populations Across Complex disease and lifetime Trajectories |
|---|---|
| Acronym | IMPACT |
| Start date | 2025-07-31 |
| End date | 2031-04-30 |
| Sponsor | European Research Council - Advanced Grant (ERC-AdG) |
| Institution | Fondazione Human Technopole |
Associated cell lines
Project Description
The extending human lifespan and its associated accumulation of morbidities due to chronic disorders calls for new models to accelerate the early detection, prognosis and treatment of chronic conditions. To date, anchoring detailed molecular knowledge of disease processes with diagnoses of chronic diseases from ‘real-world’ biomedical data remains an open challenge. We propose a new research paradigm to study chronic human diseases by combining the power of single-cell technologies with deep information from health records and genomics derived in large-scale population settings. In Objective 1, we will use state of the art statistical modelling (including machine learning) on a world-unique dataset of 12M peripheral blood mononuclear cells assessed in 6,500 individuals from two deeply characterised population cohorts. We combine data from health records to characterise cell types, immunological states and multicellular programmes, and to generate comprehensive understanding of how lifestyle factors, environmental exposures and biology contribute to deterioration of immune functions during the human life-course. In Objective 2, we will use new recall studies, multimodal profiling and in vitro/ex vivo experiments to validate genes and regulatory networks associated with disease-relevant cell state variation. In Objective 3, we will apply this new knowledge to assess the value of single-cell technologies for predicting the long-term risk of disease in diverse population settings. Overall, this project promises to add a fundamental new perspective to our understanding of the dynamic changes of the immune system over the human adult lifecourse, and its interaction with health and disease states.