Irish academic Prof Paul Ross said the new network is designed to ‘tackle some of the major challenges that exist across the food-pharma interface’.
A new European Microbiome Centres Consortium (EMCC) has launched in Brussels today (29 February) and aims to advance research collaboration in the field.
Bringing together leading institutions and experts in the area of human microbiome, the EMCC has been set up to unlock the connections between microbiomes and various diseases.
The microbiome is made up of trillions of microorganisms living in our bodies. Over the years, research into the effects the microbiome has on our health and the complex role it plays in our bodies has been carried out, but the full potential of this research has yet to be fully realised.
The consortium was launched through the EU-funded Human Microbiome Action project.
Joël Doré, scientific coordinator of the Human Microbiome Action project, and member of INRAE, one of the five founding partners of the EMCC, said the consortium is committed to promoting regulatory frameworks in Europe as well as advocating for the requirements in the field of microbiome research.
“This will foster innovative translational developments, potentially transforming preventive nutrition and healthcare,” he added.
Prof Paul Ross, director of the SFI research centre APC Microbiome Ireland and co-director of Food, Microbiome and Health Futures programme at University College Cork (UCC), attended the launch in Brussels today.
He said the EMCC will provide an essential partnership between institutions and research centres from across the EU. “The mission of the EMCC is to provide guidance and advice on how to advance microbiome science to tackle some of the major challenges that exist across the food-pharma interface,” he said.
“In this respect, this initiative should accelerate the science-based translation of microbiome research to its main stakeholders including the public, policymakers, and food and health-based industries.”
UCC and APC Microbiome Ireland have led several studies on the microbiome that could provide important advances in the field of health and medicine. Last year, a UCC-led study found evidence that Alzheimer’s symptoms can be transferred to a healthy young organism through the gut microbiota. And a project carried out at APC Microbiome Ireland led to the development of an AI system for ulcerative colitis management.
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