PMU Attica 1

Goal

The first Unit of the Network will be hosted in Attica by the Biomedical Research Foundation of the Academy of Athens (BRFAA) in collaboration with the Department of Molecular Pathology (MolPath) of the Medical school of the National Kapodistrian University of Athens.

BRFAA possesses a 12-year experience and expertise in a variety of biological and clinical sectors as well as cutting-edge infrastructures; this means that BRFAA has the ability to further develop and provide services regarding Precision Medicine.

General Information

Coordinator:
Biomedical Research Foundation Academy of Athens (BRFAA)

Participating entities:
1. Biomedical Research Foundation Academy of Athens (BRFAA)
2. 1st Dept. of Pathology, School of Medicine University of Athens (MOIPath)

Scientific representative:
Dr. Dimitrios Thanos (BRFAA)

Main R&D activities

MolPath will play a central role in offering Precision Medicine services, as it analyses a wide range of solid tumours yearly. MolPath has also been recognized by large European organizations. It should be noted here that BRFAA will pay special attention to the exhaustive analysis of tumours, based on Next Generation Sequencing. On the other hand, MolPath will perform low-throughput techniques, in order to measure the integrity of selected genes in clearly-defined cancers. The Unit will deal in the next two years with the following activities:

Development of standardised analysis procedures

The Unit will work on developing standardised procedures for all steps of NGS and data analysis related to the diagnosis and prediction of solid tumour mutations. More specifically, the Unit will have a key role in training staff regarding every aspect of NGS and data analyses, using BRFAA workflows. Moreover, special focus will be given to the security of the stored data.

Analyzing the genetic profile of a tumour

After referral from the attending oncologist, the tumour (surgical sample) of each cancer patient will be analyzed either via Whole Genome sequencing or exome sequencing. In this context, BRFAA will focus on analyzing the DNA sequence of cancer, prostate, colon and breast cancers.

Molecular biomarkers analysis

The Unit will develop biomarkers used for diagnostic purposes or for monitoring the tumour’s response to certain drugs or therapeutic approaches. It will also coordinate with the 3rd unit of Pathology of the Medical School of the University of Athens (director: prof. K. Syrigos) in order to clinically verify and categorize lung cancers; moreover it will focus on developing prediction biomarkers and personalized treatment not only for lung, but also other types of cancers. It is estimated that about 2000 cancer samples will be analyzed by the Unit.

Cooperation with the MolPath lab

The cooperation with MolPath will guarantee a large amount of technical knowledge regarding the targeted treatment of solid tumour patients. This is facilitated by the great expertise of the Lab in modern Pathology and the use of efficient models for the estimation of pharmaceutical targets in colon, lung as well as other cancers. Furthermore, the Unit will assist in the selection of appropriate protocols for use of more targeted approaches in cancer immunotherapy.