ECNIS2
ECNIS2: towards ECNIS Centre for Research and Education on Cancer, Environment and Food
Areas / Research groups
Project participants
- Matullo Giuseppe (Manager)
Project description
The project ECNIS2 continued the integration and coordination initiated during the ECNIS network with the ultimate goal of transforming the network into a virtual centre for research and education on cancer, the environment and food.
ECNIS had already laid the ground for the development of a virtual centre by bringing together researchers from different disciplines (epidemiology, chemical analysis, genetics, molecular biology, nutrition, exposure assessment, risk assessment, harmonisation and standardisation of methodologies and analytical techniques).
The initiatives started within ECNIS were continued during ECNIS2 and focused on a few specific pillars, the “ECNIS added values”: the Molecular Epidemiology and Cancer (MEC) database, Core facilities for: standardised chemicals, antibodies and analytical methodology, the European Standards Committee on Urinary DNA Lesion Analysis (ESCULA), the European Comet Assay Validation Group (ECVAG), the ECNIS Repository, training and educational programmes.
The work of as many as 21 ECNIS2 partner institutions from 13 countries (including 4 SMEs) was structured within nine work packages on infrastructure (establishment of an ECNIS centre; validation and standardisation; molecular epidemiology and cancer database; knowledge dissemination; education and training), the implementation of biomarker technologies for cancer prevention, and dietary exposure and cancer risk as modified by genetic polymorphisms. Additional work packages covered ethics, communication, gender and project management.
ECNIS2 facilitated the transformation, through close cooperation with EIEC, of a dynamic European consortium into a sustainable structure of coordinating centre and ‘clearing house’. The network also formulated a strategy for environment- and food-related cancer research in Europe and worldwide, contributing to the development/coordination of new and ongoing national and European research projects that not only conduct research, but are in a position to support regulators, industry and the general public.