Partners – Synair-G

Project coordinator

Ethniko Kai Kapodistriako Panepistimioathinon (Coordinator)

Consortium partners

EFA

Bio Check Up SRL

Cy.R.I.C Cyprus Research and Innovation Center Ltd

TEQOYA

Naava Group Oy

Inlecom Group

Global Allergy and Asthma European Network

Din Deutsches Institut Fuer Normung Ev

Idryma Technologias Kai Erevnas

Center for Allergy and Immunology Research

About

Center for Allergy and Immunology Research (CAIR) includes the major outpatient clinic in Transcaucasian region. It treats over 10000 allergy patients per year; trains students and specialists; and, conducts clinical trials and basic research. It is led by Prof. Maia Gotua, Vice President of the Georgian Association of Allergology and Clinical Immunology, who actively participates in different international task forces, and multicenter studies with a special interest in asthma and allergic rhinitis. CAIR has conducted in Georgia the ISAAC study, a huge global epidemiological survey in children with over 1.2 million participants worldwide.

Role in the project

As a clinical partner in SynAir-G, and in the frame of WP2 “Real-life multipollutant scenario: children at school and beyond”, CAIR will equally recruit and follow-up participants. CAIR will provide local communication with schools and families, representing diverse cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds. It will perform: a provision of instructions, training for participation, and baseline assessments of respiratory, immune, and mental health, using questionnaires and relevant physiological measurements (e.g. spirometry, FeNO). It will be in charge of the positioning of the sensors, developed in WP1, and to cross-checking their functionality.

Maia Gotua| Principal scientist, local PI, Prof., MD., PhD
As a Principal scientist of CAIR and local PI of the project in Georgia, I have responsibility to coordinate CAIR’s activity to participate in: 1) cohort inclusion stage of WP02, and communication with schools and families representing diverse cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds in Tbilisi, Georgia; 2) cohort follow-up for a school year. Organize regularly visits to schools to keep sensors running and collect materials, provide real-time tracking, that will be coupled with regular communications and face-to-face visits for health outcome assessments; 3)Together with my colleagues I’ll take part in health outcomes analysis and reporting. In the frame of WP03, I have to organize identification of indoor sources of air pollutants in schools and homes.

Tamar Abramidze | Senior scientist, PhD
In the frame of WP02, CAIR participates in: 1) cohort inclusion stage of WP02, and responsible for communication with schools and families representing diverse cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds in Georgia; 2) cohort follow-up for a school year. As local investigator, CAIR, will regularly visit schools to keep sensors running and collect materials, real-time tracking will be coupled with regular communication and face-to-face visits for health outcome assessments; 3) health outcomes analysis and reporting. In the frame of WP03, CAIR participates in identification of indoor sources of air pollutants in schools and homes.

Maia Rukhadze | Senior scientist, Prof., MD., PhD
In the frame of WP02, CAIR participates in: 1) cohort inclusion stage of WP02, and responsible for communication with schools and families representing diverse cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds in Georgia; 2) cohort follow-up for a school year. As local investigator, CAIR, will regularly visit schools to keep sensors running and collect materials, real-time tracking will be coupled with regular communication and face-to-face visits for health outcome assessments; 3) health outcomes analysis and reporting. In the frame of WP03, CAIR participates in identification of indoor sources of air pollutants in schools and homes.

Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche

Aristotelio Panepistimio Thessalonikis

Panepistimio Patron

Department

Internet of Things Lab (IoT-Lab)

About

The Internet of Things Laboratory (IoT-Lab) at the Computer Engineering and Informatics Department of the University of Patras aims at the design, analysis and development of efficient sensor algorithms; IoT systems and applications for digital health; smart cities and buildings, industries, transport, crowdsourcing, privacy and cybersecurity. Our vision is pursuing high quality, scientific, multidisciplinary research, which is inspired by practice and applied to the real world. For digital health, we have created allergy maps using crowdsourcing and social network analytics; multi-sensing activity recognition systems for allergic symptoms; as well as a voice based diagnostic system.

Role in the project

UoP will lead WP6 (the “Intelligence Engine”), and will conduct the following two research tasks: the design and development of effective Artificial Intelligence (AI) methodologies for identifying synergistic effects of pollutants, and their health impacts; and, the spatiotemporal modeling of pollution dispersion in classrooms. Also, UoP will contribute to the wearable devices of the sentinel system and the wireless communications of the integrated sensor and mitigation system.

Sotiris Nikoletseas | Professor of Computer Science, Director of oT-Lab
Professor of Computer Science, specializing in algorithms, systems and applications for the Internet of Things (IoT). He is the University of Patras (UoP) site leader in SynAirG, a member of the Steering Committee and the WP6 leader.

Gabriel Filios | Post-doctoral researcher
Leader of the IoT systems R&D team of IoT-Lab of University of Patras, Greece (SynAir-G’s UoP partner). He is responsible for the development of communication solutions for the pollutants sensing systems and the mitigation systems (WP5), and the crowdsensing solutions for data aquisition form the wearable devices (WP2).

Pantelis Tzamalis | Post-doctoral researcher
AI Team Leader of the SynAirG’s University of Patras (UoP) partner, specializing in developing Trustworthy and Robust AI solutions. In particular, he is responsible for the development of the intelligent component that will automatically extract information about the synergistic effects between the project’s data resources.

Christoforos Raptopoulos | Assistant Professor at the Department of Mathematics
Dr Christoforos Raptopoulos holds a PhD in Theoretical Computer Science. His research is concerned with various aspects of randomness in computation, including random graphs, randomized algorithms and average case analysis. Within the project he will consider how mathematical statistics may be employed to reveal synergies between pollutants.

Dimitris Markantonatos | PhD researcher
AI Research Engineer of the SynAirG’s University of Patras (UoP) partner, specializing in developing robust ML/data pipelines with a particular interest in the optimization of AI solutions. He is responsible for the development of the pipelines and the algorithms comprising the intelligence component that will extract the synergistic effects among the project’s multivariate data resources.

Fotis Kalioras | Research Engineer
Member of the IoT-Lab of the Computer Engineering and Informatics Department at the University of Patras. He assists with the development of communication solutions for the pollutants sensing and mitigation systems as well as the selection of wearable devices and the development of the platform for reliable data acquisition from these.

Panos Kapetanidis | Research Engineer
Panos Kapetanidis is a member of the IoT Lab of the Department of Computer Engineering and Informatics at the University of Patras. His research interests focus on the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and he will work in SynAirG for the development of the intelligent component that will automatically extract information about the synergistic effects between the project’s data resources.

Lulea Tekniska Universitet

Turun Yliopisto

Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Montpellier

About

The Montpellier University Hospital Centre (CHUM) is a French university hospital centre and reference center with an international reputation. It hosts many referral units and competence centers labelled by the French Ministry of Health, a real center of excellence. Its main missions are care, research and teaching and it developed health innovation with a lot of convictions. The Montpellier University Hospital Centre is in the 5th position of the national SIGAPS ranking for the numbr of publications.

Role in the project

The CHUM will lead WP3 dedicated to indoor air pollution and routes of exposure. It will also be one of the 5 centres to participate in the clinical study aiming to evaluate the impact of synergies of indoor air pollutants on childhood health and wellbeing. The CHUM will contribute to the WP 5 , 7 and 8 regarding sensor integration, data management, guidelines development, standardization activities , project management and networking.

Isabella Annesi-Maesano | Prof. MD, PhD, DSc Allergy Department and IDESP Co-director
I’m an expologist and an epidemiologist involved in the exposomic approach of schoolchildren’s health. As expologist I will estimate schoolchildren’s exposome integrating exposures and sources of exposure at the individual and ecological level. Among others, I will deploy individual sensors (Canarins) assessing air pollutants concentrations in real time. As epidemiologist, I will assess exposome’s impact on schoolchildren’s health (asthma, mental health, etc). through EnWAS. I will conduct Health Impact Assessment to evaluate prevention measures. To better understand the mechanisms, I will also assess inhalation rate and assumed dose of major air pollutants in schoolchildren in real life conditions. Finally, I will contribute to policy proposals.

Davide Caimmi | MD, Allergy Department
I am a clinician and a researcher and will be supervising the clinical project in the Montpellier center.

Luciana Kase Tanno |

Sylvie Broussous| European Project Manager
I manage the Europe team at Montpellier hospital’s Research and Innovation department. For SynAir-G project, I will support the team project for the financial aspectn, ethics, commmunication and dissemination.

Alexandra Avonde| Assistant european project manager
I work directly with Catherine and Sylvie for the administrative and financial management. I can also work with the medical team to organize the meetings or purchase what they need for the project. I am in contact with the CHUM communication department to develop flyers and posters for the schools involved in the project. I declare the reports on the European portal.

Catherine Barjot | Project Manager
I work as a project manager in the European team of the hospital’s Research and Innovation department. We intervene as a support for the setting-up (budget/regulatory/ethical aspects of the projects, agreements signatures) and the follow-up of european projects (financial reportings).

Universitatsklinikum Erlangen

Associated partners

Swiss Institute of Allergy and Asthma Research (Associated Partner)

About

The Swiss Institute of Allergy and Asthma Research (#SIAF) is an associated research institute of the University of Zurich, and a member of Life Sciences Zurich Graduate School and Academia Raetica. It is performing front academic and translational research in collaboration with universities, research institutes, science academies, the pharma industry, and regulatory authorities on the prevention and treatment of allergic and inflammatory diseases, asthma and respiratory infections, epithelial barriers, microbiome, metabolomics, antigen-specific immune response with a focus on human immunology and precision medicine.

Role in the project

SIAF will conduct research under WP 4. Cell culture models and lung organoids will be used to assess the toxic and barrier-damaging effects of indoor air pollutants on the lungs. Airway organoids will be used to analyze critically dose-dependent pro- and anti-inflammatory balance at the epithelial barrier, including tissue healing, survival factors to noxious high doses, toxic thresholds, and remodeling. For these purposes single-cell sequencing, multiplex cytokine analyses by proximity extension assay and visium spatial imaging, confocal staining, and FITC-dextran flux will be performed.

Cezmi A.Akdis | Professor, Director of SIAF, MD
At SIAF, we seek to elucidate the effect of various air pollutants on human airway mucosa using primary bronchial epithelial cell-derived airway organoids. We will use airway organoids to analyse critically dose-dependent pro- and anti-inflammatory balance at the epithelial barrier, including tissue healing, survival factors to noxious high doses, toxic thresholds and remodelling.

Mubeccel Akdis | Professor, Head of Immune regulation group at SIAF, MD
At SIAF, we seek to elucidate the effect of various air pollutants on human airway mucosa using primary bronchial epithelial cell-derived airway organoids. We will use airway organoids to analyse critically dose-dependent pro- and anti-inflammatory balance at the epithelial barrier, including tissue healing, survival factors to noxious high doses, toxic thresholds and remodelling.

Yagiz Pat | Postdoctoral scientist
At SIAF, we seek to elucidate the effect of various air pollutants on human airway mucosa using primary bronchial epithelial cell-derived airway organoids. We will use airway organoids to analyse critically dose-dependent pro- and anti-inflammatory balance at the epithelial barrier, including tissue healing, survival factors to noxious high doses, toxic thresholds and remodelling.

Juan Felipe Lopez Crespo | PhD candidate
At SIAF, we seek to elucidate the effect of various air pollutants on human airway mucosa using primary bronchial epithelial cell-derived airway organoids. We will use airway organoids to analyse critically dose-dependent pro- and anti-inflammatory balance at the epithelial barrier, including tissue healing, survival factors to noxious high doses, toxic thresholds and remodelling.

Ecole Polytechnique Federale De Lausanne (Associated Partner)

The University of Manchester (Associated Partner)

Advisory board

Advisory board 1

Advisory board 2

Advisory board 3