PORT Scientists Receive ERA-NET NEURON Funding to Unlock the Brain’s Secrets
The AutoHealth consortium, involving Dr. Raluca Contu from the Group of Astrocyte Biology at Łukasiewicz – PORT, aims to uncover how early life stress affects the brain and the body in adulthood. Meanwhile, Dr. Ali Jawaid, under the EMPATHY consortium, investigates the brain—body interactions underlying eating disorders. Both research proposals have received funding from ERA-NET NEURON – a network of 35 research funding organizations and ministries from 28 countries dedicated to supporting research into the brain and its diseases.
Understanding how the brain and body work together is essential for improving our overall health and wellbeing. Research shows that the brain and body are in constant communication, influencing each other in ways that affect everything from mental health to physical health. When this connection is disrupted—due to genetic factors, environmental stress, or lifestyle choices—it can lead to a variety of conditions, including metabolic and psychiatric disorders, which impact millions of people worldwide.
By exploring brain—body interactions in the context of disease, scientists can develop better treatments and prevention strategies to support brain health and improve quality of life for people everywhere. Thanks to the funding received, Dr. Raluca Contu and Dr. Ali Jawaid will be able to advance their research and make a step forward toward addressing some of the most pressing health challenges of our time.
The Impact of Stress on Cellular Health
It is widely known that stress impacts every cell in our bodies, but how exactly does it work? The AutoHealth project focuses on a cellular process named autophagy, which helps to maintain cells healthy. Autophagy enables cells to clean up and recycle damaged components, playing a critical role in maintaining cellular balance and responding to stress. The significant financial support enables Dr. Raluca Contu to continue this critical work.
The AutoHealth consortium is a multinational team coordinated by Dr. Nils C. Gassen from University Hospital Bonn (Germany) and includes Dr. Mouna Maroun from University of Haifa (Israel), Dr. Mathias Schmidt from Max Planck Institute for Psychiatry (Germany), and Dr. Hale Yapici Eser from Koç University (Türkiye) besides Dr. Raluca Contu from Łukasiewicz – PORT (Poland). These scientists will use advanced techniques to study how early life stress affects physiology and metabolism over time. Parallel investigations will be conducted in biological models and human participants with psychiatric and metabolic profiles and with a history of stress to identify systemic correlates suitable for clinical settings.
Innovative Strategies for Stress-Related Disorders
The ultimate aim of these studies is to explore strategies for reversing stress-induced autophagy deficits in both the brain and the body, providing innovative solutions for managing stress-related disorders. The findings will be translated into clinical trials, where the consortium will assess how novel therapeutic strategies can benefit individuals with stress-related metabolic and psychiatric conditions. The AutoHealth project builds up on collaborations established previously within Horizon Europe SAME-NeuroID project, led by Łukasiewicz – PORT (with Dr. M. Schmidt) and Weave-Unisono ASTROMICS (with Dr. M. Schmidt, Dr. N. Gassen and Dr. M. Ślęzak, a leader of the Group of Astrocyte Biology at Łukasiewicz – PORT).
Tackling Eating Disorders: Investigating the Brain-Immune System Link
Eating disorders, such as anorexia and bulimia, affect millions worldwide. The research led by Dr. Ali Jawaid, Head of the Translational Neuropsychiatry Research Group (TREND Lab) at Łukasiewicz – PORT, will significantly advance our understanding of the underlying causes of these disorders. The EMPATHY consortium hypothesizes that maternal metabolic health during pregnancy and breastfeeding influences offspring brain development, particularly in areas that regulate feeding behaviours, thus increasing the risk of eating disorders.
In particular, the role of brain immune cells called microglia takes centre stage. Microglia are highly responsive to nutritional signalling and can affect the development of neuronal circuits that control feeding behaviours. The EMPATHY project will examine how metabolic insults alter the interaction between neurons and microglia in the developing mouse brain, as well as their effects on feeding behaviours. Parallel investigations in a human cohort of mother—child dyads will help translate the findings to humans. Finally, candidate pathways will be manipulated in a fly model to explore the conservation of molecular cascades controlling feeding behaviours across species. Dr. Ali Jawaid will oversee all translational aspects of the EMPATHY project.
An International Team of Experts Leading the Way
The consortium brings together top experts in behavioural and molecular neuroscience, as well as immunometabolism, from the Czech Republic, France, Lithuania, Poland, and Switzerland. These include Agnes Nadjar from the University of Bordeaux (France), Urte Neniskyte from the Vilnius Life Sciences Center (Lithuania), Isabelle Mansuy from ETH Zurich (Switzerland), Michaela Fenckova from the University of South Bohemia (Czech Republic), and Ali Jawaid from Łukasiewicz – PORT (Poland).
Łukasiewicz – PORT Scientists Contributing to Global Health Research
Scientists at PORT continue to play a significant role in the international research community and have a unique opportunity to improve the quality of human life. Research conducted by Dr. Raluca Contu and Dr. Ali Jawaid will help to better understand complex brain–body interactions, and by translating their findings into clinical applications, they aim to offer innovative solutions for patients suffering from metabolic and psychiatric diseases.