The VOLABIOS group, which combines advanced technologies and multi-omic analysis, is expected to improve the accuracy in diagnosing mental illnesses and provide innovative tools for the treatment and monitoring of schizophrenia worldwide
Prof. Hussam Hayek of the Technion led to the winning of an impressive grant of 8 million euros on behalf of the European Union. The achievement is particularly impressive in view of the high competition for grants of this type, where the success rates are extremely low, and in view of the complex attitude towards Israeli academic institutions in the international arena.
Prof. Haik, dean of certification studies at the Technion, is a faculty member in the Wolfson Faculty of Chemical Engineering with a secondary affiliation in the Faculty of Biomedicine.
The winning project, Volabios, focuses on improving the early diagnosis and monitoring of schizophrenia - a chronic disease that affects about 1% of the world's population (about 80 million people). The disease, which is considered one of the 15 leading causes of disability in the world, shortens life expectancy by an average of 15-10 years.
The goal of the project is to make available advanced tools for early and inexpensive diagnosis of the disease, improve the quality of life of the patients and their families, reduce diagnostic errors by about 30% and optimize the treatment and follow-up processes. To this end, the project harnesses advanced technologies, including multi-omics, which includes genomics, proteomics, metabolomics and transcriptomics alongside mobile spectrometry (voltomics) and artificial intelligence. All of these will be used to make accurate and fast identification of chemical and biochemical signals of the disease that are secreted by the human body and used as non-invasive biomarkers.
The project will be conducted within the framework of a unique international association of 20 partners from 11 countries across Europe. The partners, including the University of Aachen (Germany), the University of Cambridge (UK), the Ministry of Health of Greece and the French company FIRALIS, combine knowledge and experience in the fields of academia, research, technology, medicine, law and public policy to promote innovative solutions for early diagnosis and optimal treatment of schizophrenia. The participants in the association include scientists, doctors, patients, developers and policy makers who will work together to promote its goals. The advisory committee brings together world-renowned expert members in the relevant fields.
"One of the goals of modern medicine is the development of technologies that will detect diseases, including schizophrenia, at an early stage and with a high degree of accuracy," he said. The Vice President of the Technion for Research Prof. Noam Adir. "Prof. Hussam Haik is one of the leading scientists in the world in diagnosing diseases using methods to identify molecular markers. In the research described here, Prof. Haik brought together scientists from academia, the government sector, and industry to connect molecular markers with artificial intelligence and thus produce a leap forward in speed and accuracy in diagnosing schizophrenia. The members of the association believe Because this research will lead to the development of a system that will be applicable to bodies all over the world dealing with mental health."
As part of the project, biomarkers extracted from different sources in the body will be tested. The study will be conducted in several phases, the first of which will focus on retrospective data analysis from 9 million medical records, including 120,000 records related to schizophrenia. After that, a clinical study will be conducted including 3,692 patients who will be recruited from 6 medical centers across Europe. Another blind study will be conducted on 1,000 participants for the purpose of validation of the biomarkers and their validity.
The VOLABIOS project aims not only to improve medical care but also to make advanced tools available to health systems around the world, while creating an open knowledge base that will contribute to future research and the development of new approaches to diagnosing complex mental illnesses.
The association's leadership team includes Prof. Hussam Haik, who will serve as the project's chairman and coordinator, and Dr. Yoav Baroza and Ms. Liat Tzuri from Prof. Haik's research group, who will serve as the association's director and the project's financial and administrative director, respectively.
More of the topic in Hayadan:
