fp7-2009-regpot-1 arcade - europa · fp7-2009-regpot-1 arcade advancement of research capability...

ARCADE-DOMC(IBMCB)/NHRF

03/09/2013

1

FP7-2009-REGPOT-1

ARCADE

Advancement of Research Capability for the Development of New Functional

Compounds

Grant agreement no.: 245866

Final Report

Executive Summary

The ARCADE project was initiated by the Institute of Organic and Pharmaceutical Chemistry (IOPC), later renamed the Division of Organic and Medicinal Chemistry (DOMC), in National Hellenic Research Foundation (NHRF) in the convergent region of Attiki in Greece. Its objectives were to advance research capability in areas that focus on the design and synthesis of functional compounds and, more specifically, of bioactive compounds and materials. This was accomplished by means of the following tasks:

� Collaborations with other European research groups. Fourteen such groups from nine EU member or associated states were involved in the project. Exchange visits with these groups took place to aid the transfer of new knowledge and to reinforce the research potential of the DOMC.

� Recruitment of young post-doctoral researchers with expertise in eight key areas of activity within the DOMC. In all, 13 such researchers were involved in the project for a total of 298 person-months.

� Acquisition of essential new equipment. The main such acquisition concerned the establishment of a new Mass Spectrometry facility with two LC-MS instruments, one for advanced high accuracy work and one for more routine experiments. These were complemented by a protein purification facility and a high-power computational system. In addition, the existing NMR facility was upgraded by the acquisition of a triple resonance accessory.

� Three workshops on specialist topics were organised as well as an International Conference on Chemistry for Health.

� Dissemination of scientific results was achieved through peer-reviewed publications and by presentations at national and international conferences.

� Public awareness activities, including the project website, seminars, poster displays and lecture sessions, were arranged for various sections of the general public.

� A substantial set of reports and deliverables was made available to the EC, while an independent International Advisory Board provided its own report on the progress and achievements of the project.

In summary, the Arcade project provided an excellent opportunity for the DOMC to reinforce its research capability in all the areas in which it is active and also to raise awareness of the quality of its research and facilities.


03/09/2013

2

Summary description of the project context and the main objectives

The ARCADE project was initiated by the Institute of Organic and Pharmaceutical Chemistry (IOPC) which, at the time, was one of the six institutes comprising the National Hellenic Research Foundation (NHRF) which is situated in the convergent region of Attiki in Greece. During the course of the project, in 2012, the IOPC merged with the Institute of Biological Research and Biotechnology, which was also part of the NHRF, and became the Division of Organic and Medicinal Chemistry (DOMC) within the newly formed Institute of Biology, Medicinal Chemistry and Biotechnology. The particular aim of the ARCADE project has been to reinforce the DOMC’s research activities in the areas that focus on the design and synthesis of functional compounds and, more specifically, of bioactive compounds and materials. As such, the project builds on the DOMC’s existing expertise in the design, synthesis and analysis of new compounds with potential applications in medicinal chemistry, catalysis and materials science. The specific research objectives relate to:

- The design, study and synthesis of compounds targeting major diseases such as myocardial infarction, type 2 diabetes, cancer, inflammatory disorders, neglected diseases, malaria and neurodegenerative syndromes.

- The development of the Mass Spectrometry and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance infrastructure to pursue promising lines of research in the area of structural biology and chemistry in combination with increasing capability in X-ray protein crystallography.

- Preparation of libraries of bioactive compounds.

- Investigations concerning nonlinear optical materials, near-infrared chromophores, homogeneous catalysts and dendrimers.

- Development of new routes to nanomolecules and transition metal catalysts and the study of their applications.

Within the ARCADE project, five specific actions were invoked to achieve the desired objectives:

- New partnerships were established or existing ones strengthened further. A total of 14 high level research institutions from 9 EU member or associated states were eventually involved in the project in this capacity.

- The research capability of the DOMC was also reinforced through the recruitment of post-doctoral researchers with experience in the areas of a) mass spectrometry applications and techniques, b) characterization and study of proteins made available from the new purification facility, c) screening of potential drug molecules, fragment-based approaches to drug design, d) synthesis tasks concerning bioactive compounds, organic nanomolecular materials (e.g. dendrimers or dendritic polymers), chiral molecules, transition metal complex catalysts and organocatalysts, and d) computation of basic properties of large molecules.

- The infrastructure of the DOMC was enhanced through the establishment of a new Mass Spectrometry facility with two new instruments. The capabilities of this facility were complemented by the acquisition of advanced equipment for the purification of


03/09/2013

3

proteins and by a substantial upgrade to the DOMC’s computational potential. Also, the existing Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy facility was upgraded in order to tackle with the demands of high-level structure investigations with biomacromolecules.

- Three specialised workshops and an International Conference on Chemistry for Health were organised in order to promote scientific aspects related to the activities of the DOMC.

- General information was disseminated through public awareness activities for specific sections of the general public as well as via the project’s website and printed material.


03/09/2013

4

Description of the main S & T results/foregrounds.

The description is arranged according to Work Packages 1-5 of the project. Work Package 6 is devoted to the project management and is described in the appropriate section below.

Work Package 1 (Exchange of know-how and experience) This Work Package concerns personnel exchanges with well-established partner groups in Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK to reinforce and transfer necessary know-how. Two types of exchanges took place during the course of the project: a) short visits of a few days by senior DOMC staff to the partner labs and vice-versa and b) longer visits to and from the partner groups, nominally of 30 days, by young researchers. Ten partner groups were involved with the Arcade project from its conception (numbers 1-10 in the list below) and a further four groups joined during the course of the project:

1. Prof. Mark Bradley, School of Chemistry, University of Edinburgh, UK 2. Prof. Giancarlo Cravotto, Dipartimento di Scienza e Tecnologia del Farmaco,

Università di Torino, Italy 3. Prof Wim Dehaen, Department of Chemistry, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven,

Belgium 4. Prof. Edwin de Pauw, Laboratoire de Spectrometrie de Masse, Université de

Liège, Belgium 5. Prof. Athanassios Giannis, Institut für Organische Chemie, Universität Leipzig,

Germany 6. Dr. Simona Golic Grdadolnik, Laboratory for Molecular Modelling and NMR

Spectroscopy, National Institute of Chemistry, Slovenia 7. Dr. Josep Maria Luis, Institut de Química Computacional, Universitat de

Girona, Spain 8. Prof. Sijbren Otto, Stratingh Institute for Chemistry, University of Groningen,

The Netherlands 9. Prof. Andreas Pfaltz, Department of Chemistry, University of Basel,

Switzerland 10. Dr. Matthias Wilmanns, EMBL-Hamburg, Germany 11. Dr. Thomas Steinbrecher, Institut für Physikalische Chemie, Karlsruher

Institut für Technologie, Germany 12. Prof. Dimitrios Fessas, Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Alimentari e

Microbiologiche, Università di Milano, Italy 13. Prof. Johan Trygg, Department of Chemistry, Umeå University, Sweden 14. Prof. Simon Ward, School of Life Sciences, University of Sussex, UK

During the project, 21 outgoing visits of 10-30 days duration were made during which researchers engaged in collaborative research projects with the partner groups while additionally 9 visits of shorter duration were also made. These visits had the objective of becoming acquainted with the partners and of programming future collaborations. Within the framework of the project, 6 incoming visits were made by young researchers from partner groups of 2-4weeks duration and 3 short visits by senior researchers. Although the original goal for this work package, in terms of the


03/09/2013

5

number of long and short incoming visits was not fully realised, the outgoing visits, and in particular those of longer duration, came close to the objectives given in the original proposal. It should be noted that, in addition to the visits in this Work Package, with the exception of Professor Trygg, who joined the project in its final year and made one visit for one of the Arcade workshops, all partners made at least two short visits to Athens of 2-5 days duration as participants in the meetings which were organised, i.e. the Kick-off and Final meetings, the three Workshops and the International Conference on Chemistry for Health.

Work Package 2 (Reinforcement of Human Resources)

Eight post-doctoral positions were provided for within the framework of ARCADE for various research projects related to the activities of the DOMC, for a total of 298

person-months for the whole duration of the project. Four of the researchers originally appointed remained for the whole duration of the project, while others departed for various reasons and new researchers were appointed in their place. A summary of the appointments that were made is provided in Table 1.

Table 1: Summary of post-doctoral appointments for the Arcade project

Name Qualification Research Topic Appointment

1 Fotini Andreadaki

PhD (Athens, GR) Biochemist

Expression, isolation, purification and characterization of protein targets and their study in the presence of ligands.

01/03/2010 - 31/08/2011

Katerina Tsitsanou

PhD (Athens, GR) Biochemist

As above 01/09/2011 – 31/05/2013

2 Constantinos Baskakis

PhD (Athens, GR) Chemist

Design and synthesis of libraries of bioactive compounds.

01/05/2010 – 31/10/2011

Theano Fotopoulou


As above 01/11/2011 – 31/05/2013

3 Robert Csonka

PhD (Pannonia, HU) Chemist

Synthesis of dendrimers and interactions with small molecules by mass spectrometry and NMR

01/05 2010 – 31/05/2013

4 Spyros Georgakopoulos

PhD (Crete, GR) Chemist

Synthesis of organic nanomaterials

01/04/2010 – 31/05/2013

5 Giorgos Leonis PhD (Florida, USA) Chemist

Computational approaches to drug design

01/03/2010 – 31/05/2013

6 Florian Pitterl

PhD (Innsbruck, AT) Chemist

Development and application of hyphenated high-resolution mass spectrometry techniques to the study of new functional compounds

01/10/2010 – 31/11/2011

Ariadni Vonaparti

PhD (Athens, GR) Pharmacist

As above 01/12/2011 -28/04/2012

Eftychia Koini PhD (Athens, GR) Chemist

As above 01/05/2012 – 31/03/2013

7 Constantinos Potamitis


Application of NMR and computational methods for

01/03/2010 – 31/05/2013


03/09/2013

6

the identification of molecular targets and the investigation of potentially bioactive compounds

8 Kalliopi Vallianatou


Synthesis of chiral ligands and asymmetric catalysis

01/03/2010 - 31/08/2011

Kyriakos Prousis


As above 01/09/2011 – 31/05/2013

Work Package 3 (Acquisition and upgrade of research equipment)

A major part of the budget for the ARCADE project concerned the acquisition and upgrade of research equipment. The objective for this work package involved the establishment of a state-of-the-art Mass Spectrometry facility and the upgrading of the existing NMR facility.

The requirements were therefore initially perceived to be for:

1. The acquisition of a) a new mass spectrometer with capability of measuring accurate mass of small molecules and low resolution protein or dendrimer molecular weights, and employing Electrospray Ionisation (ESI) and/or Matrix Assisted Laser Desorption Ionisation (MALDI) methods b) a new LC-MS/MS for the routine analysis of mixtures of bioactive compounds or materials produced by the IOPC. The possibility of acquisition of a third instrument lower resolution instrument for the measurement of large molecules by MALDI would also be considered. The new MS facility would be complemented by an HPLC system for the analytical method development and an automated multiparallel protein purification system for the preparation of high quality samples and to increase the capacity and streamline the sample preparation pipeline process.

2. The second item in this work package related to an upgrade of the existing NMR 600 MHz instrument with a 3rd channel accessory and a 1H/13C/15N triple resonance probe and software. This would enable the sequence assignment and determination of the secondary structure of large molecular weight biomolecules and also the mapping of ligand-target interactions at a molecular level.

The new equipment would be complemented by a high-level computational infrastructure comprising a cluster of suitably configured PCs.

In accordance with national regulations governing the acquisition of major items of equipment, tenders were invited in the first half of 2010 for the above items of equipment with the exception of the 3rd channel accessory and the triple resonance probe which, since it was necessary for it to be compatible with the existing Varian 600 MHz spectrometer and no alternatives were available from other sources, was acquired directly from Varian, Inc. The magnitude of the sums involved determined the nature of the invitation for tender. Thus an international invitation for tender was drawn up for a Mass Spectrometer and HPLC system, while national invitations for tender were prepared for the protein purification system and for the computer cluster. The tender for the MS system closed in March 2010 while the remaining tenders closed in April 2010 and June 2010. There was therefore a delay of 2-5 months compared with the originally planned timetable but, in order to prepare the invitations for tender, extensive market research need to be carried out by the scientific staff of the IOPC in order to determine the technical requirements which would need to be


03/09/2013

7

specified and which best suited the needs of the institute. All of the new infrastructure had been acquired and installed by December 2010 and is now in full operation.

The details of the newly acquired equipment are as follows:

For the Mass Spectrometry Facility:

1. LTQ Orbitrap Velos Mass Spectrometer with an Accela LC (Thermo Scientific)

2. LCQ Fleet Mass Spectrometer with Surveyor LC (Thermo Scientific)

3. Two Spectra System HPLC instruments (Thermo Scientific)

4. ACTA Purifier UPC10 Fast Protein Liquid Chromatography System (General Electric)

5. LSI-1005R Temperature-Controlled Shaking Incubator (Labtech)

6. Ultra Clean TWF-UV Ultrapure water production system (Siemens)

7. Kubota7780 High Speed Refrigerated Centrifuge (Kubota)

8. Centrivap Speed Vac/Freeze Drier (Labconco)

9. Varioscan flash UV/VIS/ Luminescence plate reader (Thermo Scientific)

For the NMR Facility:

10. A 3rd channel accessory and a 1H/13C/15N triple resonance probe for the 600MHz NMR spectrometer (Varian)

Computing equipment

11. A computer cluster system comprised of 14 servers, each with two 6-core CPUs, a 10Gb switch and a 42 U rack (Kestrel Information Systems)

UHPLC - LTQ Orbitrap Velos Mass Spectometer / Thermo Scientific

Ultra High Pressure Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometer

The LTQ Orbitrap Velos combines the proven mass accuracy and ultra-high resolution of the Orbitrap mass analyzer with the increased sensitivity and improved cycle time of the LTQ Velos to deliver high-performance suitable for accurate mass analyses, Proteomics, Drug discovery and development, and Metabolomics


03/09/2013

8

NMR Spectrometer Varian V600 MHz

Upgrade with 3rd channel accessory and 1H/13C/15N triple resonance probe funded by the Arcade project

This upgrade permits triple resonance experiments of chemical or biomolecular samples, offering the capability for 1H observation with simultaneous or single

irradiation of 13C and 15N frequencies.

HPLC-LCQ Fleet / Thermo Scientific

High Pressure Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometer The LCQ Fleet Ion Trap Mass Spectrometer delivers rich information for routine analysis of complex samples while providing excellent full-scan sensitivity, ruggedness and reliability.

Protein Purification

With the acquisition of the protein purification equipment, the DOMC now has all the necessary facilities for cloning, expression and purification of protein targets: PCR thermocyclers, bacteria culture incubators, cold room, large refrigerating unit equipped with an integrated system for carrying out liquid column chromatography (2 AKTA purifiers UPC10), solely dedicated to protein purification and standard laboratory equipment.


03/09/2013

9

Work Package 4 (Conference and Workshops)

This Work Package involves the organisation of three Workshops on specialised subjects and an International Conference on Chemistry for Health. The first of the workshops was held in the 11th month of the project in the NHRF from 4-6 October 2010 and was focussed on “Asymmetric Synthesis and Non-Conventional Advanced

Synthetic Techniques for Fine Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals”. The workshop was attended by approximately 60 persons and included presentations from invited speakers from Greece and abroad. Three of these speakers were heads of groups cooperating in the Arcade project (Professors Cravotto, Giannis and Pfaltz), one was an International Advisory Board member (Professor De Vries), one was an Arcade post-doctoral researcher (Dr. Vallianatou) and the remaining six speakers were invited especially for the Workshop being experts in fields covered by this event.

Computing facilities

• 6 Intel-PCs and 3 DECs-workstations with adequate memory and disc space

• Linux cluster with 11 PCs (quad-processors,2GB RAM)

• A Linux cluster with 8 dual-processor PCs; Memory:768 MB RAM X 8; Disc:40GBX7 and 50GBX1

• A Linux cluster with 8 single-processor PCs

• Memory: 1GB RAM X 8; Disc:40GBX6, 120GBX1 and 80GBX1

• Free access to an SMP Hewlett-Packard computer with 48 processors

• Memory:36GB RAM; Disc: There are 86 discs, the capacity of each one of them is 36 GB.

• System of 16 nodes Fujitsu, each node involves 2 CPUs

and each CPU 6 cores.


03/09/2013

10

The Second workshop was held jointly with a workshop that was organized within the framework of the “EUROSTRUCT” FP7-RegPot-2008-1 project which was also being implemented in the NHRF. This joint 5-day workshop was held from 7-11 November 2011 and had the theme of “Structure- & Computer-aided Design

Workshop: Bioactive Molecules & Materials”. The workshop was attended by almost 100 persons and included presentations from invited speakers from Greece and abroad. These included three heads of groups cooperating with the IOPC in the Arcade project (Dr. Thomas Steinbrecher, Professor Josep Maria Luis and Dr. Matthias Wilmanns), and one of the Arcade post-doctoral researchers (Dr. Giorgios Leonis). The remaining speakers were invited experts on the topics covered by the workshop.


03/09/2013

11

The third Workshop, entitled “Advanced Mass Spectrometric and NMR Methods”

was held from 28-30 May 2012. The workshop was attended by 86 persons and included presentations from invited speakers from Greece and abroad. These included two heads of groups cooperating with the IBMCB in the Arcade project (Prof. Edwin De Pauw and Professor Johann Trygg), a representative from one of the collaborating groups (Dr. Mihael Simcic) and one of the Arcade post-doctoral researchers (Dr. Constantinos Potamitis). The remaining speakers were invited especially for the Workshop.


03/09/2013

12

In both the second and the third workshops participants also had the possibility of attending practical sessions relating to computational techniques for solving structures, docking experiments, and spectral analysis.


03/09/2013

13

The International Conference on Chemistry for Health was held in the NHRF from 9-14 September 2012. The aim of the Conference was to provide a forum for the presentation and discussion of the role of chemistry in the development of functional compounds and techniques designed to meet current issues relating to health and well-being.


03/09/2013

14

The Conference attracted participants from 24 countries and included invited speakers of a very high scientific level, not only from Greece but also from major institutions in Europe, Singapore and the USA while two of the speakers were also from the private sector. The theme of the conference had been chosen to provide coverage of subject which interface chemistry and medicine but which were not usually embraced by the term “Medicinal Chemistry”. In this sense the meeting was somewhat experimental but the feedback from the participants was that it was a very successful idea and, indeed, many of the participants were eager to know whether there would be a follow-up conference. This is being considered as a possibility as an event to be organised independently of any funded research project.

In addition to the organisation of scientific meetings, members of the DOMC have participated in numerous conferences, symposia, workshops etc. where they have made oral or poster presentations of their work.

In this context also, it should nbe noted that the research output has been significantly enhanced and, in particular, apart from the conference announcements mentioned above, the contribution of the Arcade project has been acknowledged up to now in 35

peer-reviewed research publications and in one book chapter.

Work Package 5 (Dissemination and promotional activities)

The creation of the Arcade website was one of the first priorities of the project. Initially information regarding the project was hosted from the first month of the project on the NHRF website before the Arcade website (www.arcade-iopc.eu) was made accessible to the general public in July 2010. The site has been continually updated as the project progressed with information regarding Arcade meetings, research results etc. (See screenshot on next page) Due to the merger of the IOPC with the Institute of Biological Research and Biotechnology mentioned earlier, it was decided to delay certain of the dissemination activities until after the reorganisation had taken place. As a result, the preparation and production of a new brochure took place during the final 6 months of the project. Since the purpose of the brochure is largely to promote the activities of the DOMC (i.e. the former IOPC) at a national level, the Greek version of the brochure was undertaken first. An English version is planned, however, and it is hoped to be available shortly. One-day dissemination events for students, the general public and for stakeholders were also planned and organised. The events for students and the general public were combined into a two-day event which was held on 23-24 April 2013 and was very successful, attracting 170 applications. The first day of the event consisted of talks which for the most part were presented by young researchers from the DOMC while on the second day, there were visits to the laboratories of the DOMC where demonstrations were made of the facilities available. The feedback from the event was very encouraging. In particular, it served to raise the awareness among students of the high standard of work being done in the DOMC and the options for pursuing research projects at a Master’s or Doctoral level at the DOMC in association with one of the local higher education institutions


03/09/2013

15

A one day event for the private sector was planned for May 13th 2013. However, the response was disappointing, and it was decided to cancel the event and hold it at a later date after the end of the project. Instead, the DOMC was able to contribute printed information (brochures and posters) to the Greek Innovation Expo which was held in Athens towards the end of May 2013 with the support of the General Secretariat of Research and Technology.


03/09/2013

16

Project management during the period

The Management activities of the project include the day-to-day running of the project, the organisation of Kick-Off, Final and Advisory Board Meetings, project reporting and auditing. It should be noted that during 2012 application was made for a six-month extension for the project. This was granted and an amended Description of Work was drawn up which also included some modifications to the budget which also had an impact on certain of the objectives, mainly those regarding the exchanges and secondments. Within the management work package, the following objectives have been achieved:

• The project Kick-Off meeting was originally arranged for February 11th 2010 but due to flight disruptions had to be rescheduled for March 23rd. Seven of the ten partner groups were represented at the meeting which was also attended by nearly all of the permanent scientific staff of the IOPC as well as the four post-doctoral Arcade researchers who had already been appointed at that time. Presentations were made by the Project Coordinator and the representatives of the partner groups followed by discussions concerning the project, the programming of future events and exchanges, and potential collaborative research projects.

• The Arcade Project was assisted in its goals by an International Advisory Board consisting of

� Professor Dame Louise N. Johnson FRS, Department of Biochemistry, University of Oxford, UK,

� Professor Alexandros Makriyannis, Director - Center for Drug Discovery, Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Northeastern University, Boston, USA,

� Professor Dr. Johannes de Vries, DSM Pharmaceutical Products - Innovative Synthesis & Catalysis, The Netherlands.

• During 2010, two of the members the International Advisory Board, Professor Makriyannis and Professor de Vries, visited Athens and this provided the opportunity for informal discussions of the project. On May 23rd 2011, a special meeting was held in the NHRF with all three members of the International Advisory Board. Prior to this meeting, the Scientific Coordinator had provided an Interim Report for the IAB and a report was subsequently issued by the IAB with their observations.

• During the International Conference, the members of the DOMC had the opportunity to discuss the project with the International Advisory Board Members, Professor Alexandros Makriyannis and Professor Johannes De Vries. The third member of the Advisory Board, Dame Louise Johnson, had also been invited to the conference but due to ill health was unable to attend and it was with great sadness that we were informed at the end of September 2013 that she has passed away. Dame Louise was a key supporter of the activities of the IOPC/DOMC for many years and her advice, cooperation and invaluable assistance will be sorely missed. In view of the fact that, when this news reached us, 34 months of the project had already passed and that it was approaching its conclusion, it was decided not to make any approaches to fill the vacant position.


03/09/2013

17

• The Final Advisory Board Meeting could not be arranged on-site at the NHRF due to commitments of the two board members, Prof. Makriyannis and Prof de Vries, and consequently their evaluation was performed remotely based on materials which had been provided by the project coordinator.

• Financial Auditing of the project was performed after the first 18 months of the project and after its completion.

• The Final Meeting of the project was held on May 21st 2013. In addition to the members of the DOMC, the meeting was attended by the heads or members of 10 of the Arcade partner groups. The meeting consisted of presentations by the Arcade post-doctoral researchers and by the visiting scientists.


03/09/2013

18

Potential impact of the project

The Arcade project is expected to display its impact in the following areas:

• Establishment or strengthening of partnerships with fourteen high level research institutions (from 9 EU member or associated states). A number of collaborations with the partner groups had already existed prior to the commencement of the Arcade project, while a number of new collaborations were initiated as part of the project. All of these collaborations have provided invaluable transfer of knowledge to the DOMC and all are still continuing after the termination of the project. In addition, all possibilities are being explored for ways to ensure that they can be reinforced through recruitment or secondment of personnel, through joint applications for research grant from national or European funding agencies, and of course through the joint dissemination of research results.

• The project has provided a very good opportunity for young post-doctoral researchers to further their career potential by participating in high level research projects not only under the guidance of the experienced personnel in the DOMC but also through the interaction with the expert scientists in the partner groups which many also had the opportunity to visit. This is considered to be especially important at a time when career opportunities for young people, particularly in Greece, are few and those who have been trained to a high level will have the more likelihood of success.

• The new infrastructure which has been acquired through the Arcade project grant will provide for an increased research capability in:

- Mass spectrometry applications and techniques, especially the use of mass spectrometry for the study of interactions of macromolecules and their with low molecular weight compounds.

- The characterization and study of proteins made available from the protein purification facility.

- The screening of potential drug molecules and the application of fragment-based approaches to drug design using a combination of mass spectrometry, computational techniques and NMR.

- The study of synthetic approaches for the production of bioactive compounds, organic nanomolecular materials, dendrimers or dendritic polymers, chiral molecules, transition metal complex catalysts and organocatalysts.

- The computation of basic properties of large molecules.

In addition, the new mass spectrometry facility, in combination with existing capability for NMR and X-ray structural studies, will enable the DOMC to provide specialised integrated state of the art services which are currently unparalleled in Greece to third parties from academia and industry.

The new capabilities of the DOMC have also impacted on the production of many peer reviewed papers which have appeared during the course of the Arcade project and the this trend will undoubtedly continue in the coming years.

• The strengthening of the overall profile of the DOMC through the sharing of information with interested parties from industry, governmental and non-


03/09/2013

19

governmental environmental and health organisations, press and other media, university undergraduate and postgraduate students, young scientists, authorities and policy makers and other stakeholders. The dissemination of information is a priority of the DOMC and the activities undertaken as part of the Arcade project or in those in which the project was participant have demonstrated that this is an area which can have fruitful results. As an example, the dissemination event for students was much more successful than had been anticipated. The interest of the participants was very high and the feedback from students who had not previously considered carrying out undergraduate research projects or of continuing with post-graduate research in the DOMC was extremely encouraging. It is intended that the event should be repeated regularly and other institutes have also informed us that they plan to organise similar activities.

• The profile of the DOMC among the scientific community has been enhanced by the three specialised workshops that were organised and through the International Conference on Chemistry for Health. The possibility for a repeat of the conference has been considered, since its scope differs somewhat from other related meetings. These plans are still at an exploratory stage, however, since the conference calendar is nowadays very congested, and the successful undertaking of such an event needs careful planning.

Conclusions

The Arcade project has provided an outstanding opportunity for the IOPC/DOMC to reinforce its research capability in all the areas in which it is active and also to raise awareness of the quality of its research and facilities. The establishment and reinforcement of collaborations with other groups will be fundamental also to its future development and it is crucial that they should be continued. There has been a significant research output in terms of conference presentations and publications in peer-reviewed journals. To date 35 publications on work which has been supported by Arcade funding have already appeared or have been accepted, and this number is expected to rise substantially in the following months. Another significant achievement of Arcade may also be considered the provision of almost 300 person-months of employment to young post-doctoral scientists, this being especially important at a time when unemployment of young people has reached alarming proportions.

The involvement with the national private sector has, unfortunately, lagged behind and is certainly an area where more effort needs to be devoted, although it is expected that the results of these will not be seen in the short term due to the current serious recession in Greece which started more or less at the same time as the project.

fp7-2009-regpot-1 arcade - europa · fp7-2009-regpot-1 arcade advancement of research capability...

Documents