Phys2BioMed - Biomechanics in health and disease

Phys2BioMed will offer excellent interdisciplinary and cross-sectoral training to a team of motivated early stage researchers (ESRs) on the application of cutting-edge physical tools for the mechanical phenotyping of cells and tissues of clinical relevance, aiming at developing novel early-diagnostic tools. The Phys2BioMed network will merge diverse competences at European level, from different fields like nanoscience and nanotechnology, physics, biology, and medicine, and will expose ESRs to the non academic and private sector. A key element of the project is the peer-to-peer collaboration of research academic institutions with industries and world-leading medical and clinical centers; they will highlight unmet clinical needs, and actively cooperate with academic colleagues for developing novel diagnostic strategies. Phys2BioMed will provide scientific and technological outcomes on biomechanics, and the mechanical determinants of diseases, by: defining standardized procedures for nanomechanical measurements, and the main features of new-generation instrumentation optimized for the mechanical phenotyping of clinical specimens; providing, in the longer-term, the platform and know-how to build a data bank of mechanical fingerprints of diseases, for the development of effective early-diagnostic tools.