B-ACTIVE HORIZON MSCA Doctoral Network

The B-ACTIVE program received funding from the European research and innovation program MARIE SKŁODOWSKA-CURIE ACTIONS Doctoral Networks – Horizon 2022 under grant agreement No. 101120187. The recent death of almost 7 million people during the COVID-19 pandemic shows that the treatment of excessive inflammation is still a major challenge. Indeed, during infection a balanced immune response and proper control of inflammation is crucial. Leukocyte migration and activation drive inflammation and those processes are regulated by chemokines and their receptors. The different members of the family of chemokine ligands and their receptors were identified in the last 3 decades. More recently, it has been revealed that posttranslational regulation of chemokine ligands and receptors may impact the inflammatory reaction significantly. In this B-ACTIVE network, we will study the impact of posttranslational modifications of chemokine ligands and receptors and train 10 PhD candidates to future experts in this domain with a translational and interdisciplinary mindset. They will study interactions between ligands, receptors and glycosaminoglycans, investigate signaling pathways and reveal their importance in inflammatory reactions. B-ACTIVE will improve our understanding of inflammatory reactions and aid in identifying the right drug targets, improving the treatment of patients with disproportionate inflammatory responses.