RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT

DEFLeCT is a research and development project gathering 19 industrial and research partners led by aizoOn, the University of Turin, Turin Polytechnic and S. Luigi Gonzaga hospital (P.O.R. F.E.S.R. 2014/2020, Piattaforma Tecnologica “Salute e benessere”).

DEFLeCT's main research areas are precision medicine (personalized therapy), predictive medicine (evaluating a person’s sensitivity and the effectiveness of a specific treatment), healthcare digitalization and «Data Commons», in the context of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer, NSCLC.

Lung cancer is the third most common type of malignant tumor in Europe, with 8% of five-years survival rate. NSCLC represents about 85% of all malignant lung tumors. Pharmacological interventions succeed rarely (between 1 in 4 and 1 in 25 times) mainly due to the difficulty of managing the amount and complexity of information that the specialist must take into consideration to define a therapy.

DEFLeCT is based on the excellences in oncology present in the Piedmont region, to create an ecosystem combining data coming from different sources (oncological, clinical, molecular and historical), with the intention of:

- moving beyond the current NSCLC classification

- identifying new molecular alterations that could be responsible for NSCLC

- consolidating new therapeutic approaches

- fostering the creation of new diagnostic equipment at sustainable costs

- supporting the creation of preclinical predictive systems

- laying the groundwork for a future system which will support oncologists during the diagnostic process, integrating all the different factors

- developing the future decision-making process through quantitative and statistical techniques

DEFLeCT main goals are:

- Exome, transcriptome and epigenetics analysis of 500 patients affected by pulmonary neoplasm

- prototyping of organ-on-chip technologies as biological models for pharmaceutical screening

- prototyping of lab-on-chip technologies for the extraction of exosomes and applications of liquid biopsy

- development of a digital platform for molecular, clinical and biofunctional data

- creation of a living biobank for the preservation of tissues, nucleic acid sequences and organoids

Finanziatore  Regione Piemonte - POR FESR 2014-2020 - Piattaforma Salute e Benessere

Contributo 4.514.606 €

Periodo  ottobre 2018 - dicembre 2022

Partner  Abich S.r.l, Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria San Luigi di Orbassano, Chimete S.r.l., Essebi S.r.l., Fluody S.r.l, Gem Chimica S.r.l, Honestamp S.r.l., Human Brain Wave S.r.l., Lamp S.r.l., OSAI A.S. S.p.A., Politecnico di Torino, Consorzio per la promozione della cultura plastica – PROPLAST, Renishaw S.p.A., S.IN.CO.S. Applications S.r.l., STV Italia S.r.l., Università degli Studi di Torino