ABOUT IntelDots project

Project aims to capitalize the scientific skills of a renown Spanish PI, Dr. Maria Concepcion Ovin Ania, and the interdisciplinary and complementary expertise of a Romanian team working in academia and at Petru Poni Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry, to develop new and advanced theranostic systems, contributing thus at finding efficient solutions for a societal problem placed among the financing priorities of the European Union, the diagnosis and treatment of cancer. The assumed task will enrol the Romanian team in the joint efforts hosted by the Horizon Europe programme under „Cancer” mission.

Theranostic products for oncological use recently entered on the drug market, and, according Market Data Forecast, an annual increase of their market share by 12 % is envisioned, reaching more than 40 million Euro until 2027. Based on an original approach, IntelDots project will develop a revolutionary theranostic nanomedicine platform for imaging-guided and drug delivery, applicable in oncology under the syntagm of “visible cancer therapy”. An intelligent combination of two non-invasive imaging techniques, nuclear magnetic resonance and fluorescence, is envisaged for the early detection of malignant evolution at cell and tissue level, to support the establishment of efficient individualized treatments.

The nanometric theranostic system to be developed under the IntelDots project is based on the so-called carbon-dots, which capable of acting both as molecular "reporters" and as drug carriers. Our study on obtaining the theranostic carbon-dots will start from molecular modelling through the most advanced techniques (from quantum chemistry, to molecular ontology) and will evolve in tandem with the laboratory-scale synthesis, characterization and in vitro and in vivo evaluation of their antineoplastic efficacy.

A significant increase if the skills of the Romanian team to compete for Horizon Europe scientific projects funding is expected, after completion of IntelDots project