COST Action CA22170 - TENET
Description of the action
The main aim of TENET Action is to create the TEndon regeneration NETwork, a scientific network of excellence mainly based in Europe integrating academics, research laboratories, clinicians, biotechnological companies, and regulatory bodies to foster the scientific and industrial capacity to develop, test and translate advanced regenerative therapies to promote tendon tissue regeneration and restoration of tendon function.
Musculoskeletal disorders/diseases are among the main causes of disability worldwide and are exacerbated by an increasingly sedentary lifestyle and ageing population. Among these, tendinopathies, account for 30-50% of musculoskeletal-related primary care visits worldwide. These diseases produce pain, swelling and restricted ranges of motion, and affect individuals across ages in their work and leisure time. The estimated costs to European Union healthcare systems are in excess of 800 M€ annually. Despite the impressive progress achieved on the development and translation of regenerative therapies for specific applications, major progress in designing and translating clinically-relevant advanced regenerative therapies for tendon is still missing. The lack of coordination and scattering of research and knowledge in the field of tendon mainly justifies the disappointing results attained so far.
The main aim of TENET Action is to create the TEndon regeneration NETwork, a scientific network of excellence mainly based in Europe integrating academics, research laboratories, clinicians, biotechnological companies, and regulatory bodies to foster the scientific and industrial capacity to develop, test and translate advanced regenerative therapies to promote tendon tissue regeneration and restoration of tendon function. This Action will bring together sufficient expertise and critical mass to produce an integrated, coordinated and multidisciplinary response to the challenges in the field. This will allow the full deployment of advanced regenerative therapies for tendon, not only to respond to open scientific questions, but more importantly to boost the clinical translation of these therapies in order to improve patient treatments and outcomes.
Background
Advanced regenerative strategies aim at providing alternative therapeutic approaches to current conservative and surgical interventions, by developing biological therapies and substitutes that would restore, maintain, or improve tissue function. However, despite the significant body of research in the field throughout Europe, knowledge is mainly scattered and not coordinated, which is particularly significant in the case of tendon research. Thus, major progress in designing and translating clinically-relevant advanced regenerative therapies for tendon is still missing.
The TENET Action will create a TEndon Regeneration NETwork, gathering the community performing research on different disciplines related to tendon, to overcome the main challenges in the field and develop advanced regenerative medicine therapies for tendon regeneration and recovery of normal function.
The following objectives shall be accomplished:
Research Coordination
- Generate, align and coordinate research activities to create a joint research agenda for tackling the challenges in the field and pushing the boundaries beyond the state-of-the-art.
- Foster the multidisplipinary collaboration between researchers to favour skills exchange towards the development of breakthrough advanced regenerative therapies for tendon.
- Facilitate the transfer of knowledge between basic, translational, clinical, and industrial investigators, and with regulatory bodies.
- Disseminate research results to the scientific community and stakeholders.
Capacity Building
- Build up a critical mass of stakeholders from different fields, ensuring an even representation of countries, gender, and ages, that can contribute to advance in the field of tendon regeneration.
- Support young researchers to acquire new training-through-research and transversal skills to become a new generation of multidisciplinary tendon researchers in Europe.
- Promote the participation of young researchers, women, and researchers from Inclusive Target Countries (ITCs) and improve their scientific profile.
- Involve patients and health professionals in defining the research agenda, as well as encourage their active involvement in raising awareness and dialogue about tendon diseases.
- Raise awareness among the scientific community and general public about tendon diseases and the importance of research in the field of regeneration.