Train-Heart
TRAIN-HEART brings together leading academic teams and (biotech) companies to train the next-generation of innovation-minded researchers who can expand the scientific horizons and accelerate future development of RNA-based therapeutics
for the treatment of ischemic heart failure. Under chronic cardiac stress, non-coding RNAs, in particular microRNAs and long
non-coding RNAs, act as critical regulators of cardiac tissue remodelling. Innovative therapies targeting these RNA
molecules hold great promise in treating the underlying causes of ischemic heart failure. With the exception of heart
transplantation, there is no curative therapy available for this detrimental disease. Given the challenges related to delivery,
specificity and tolerability of RNA therapeutics, developments in chemically modified oligonucleotides and drug delivery
strategies are growing substantially. TRAIN-HEART’s proposition is to train a league of 15 promising fellows that harness
novel insights in the pathogenesis of ischemic heart failure, study the therapeutic potential of existing RNA therapeutics and improve its efficacy by the design of novel drug delivery systems.
TRAIN-HEART provides such training in a European network of top-level academic teams and (biotech) companies active
in the fields of cardiovascular biology, functional genomics and drug development. All individual research projects
demonstrate multidisciplinary content and supervision arrangements, momentous intersectoral exchanges and
international synergies. These PhD programmes are complemented with the right combination of specialised research- and transferable skills trainings to encourage excellent science, innovation and long-term employability. The TRAIN-HEART
fellows are envisioned to become entrepreneurial researchers who are keen to bring cutting-edge scientific concepts in RNA
therapeutics to the clinic.