Successful First Evaluation of B-SMART

3rd Progress and 1st Review Meeting in Aprilia, Italy

From June 18-20, 2018, the B-SMART consortium came together for their longest meeting so far: Three days were scheduled to discuss the next steps ahead and the progress of the project, including the evaluation by the EC officer on the occasion of the 1st Review Meeting, a workshop dedicated to B-SMART dissemination activities at the University Hospital Tor Vergata in Rome as well as the liaison with the EU-funded project Starbios2. To counterbalance this heavy workload, it was decided to hold the meeting in beautiful Italy on the premises of partner Istituto Biochimico Italiano (IBI) with most consortium partners staying in hotels close to the seaside. It was a special honour to be at IBI for this meeting, since 2018 marks the year of their centenary.

The first meeting day was reserved for internal discussions between the consortium members who were exchanging the latest news and the achievements since the last progress meeting. Coordinator Raymond Schiffelers was pleased with the overall advancement of the project. The consortium once again welcomed Dr Dorota Roberts for her second participation as external monitoring expert appointed by the European Commission as well as Richard Broadhead, who had also joined the previous meeting.

On the second day, the EC representative Mathias Lucas joined the B-SMART consortium for their 1st Review Meeting. The partners presented their progress over the first 18 project months. The Officer was impressed with the presented achievements and the dissemination activities the consortium had already initiated. He stressed their importance and encouraged the consortium to continue to pursue them and deepen their networking activities with other projects and initiatives.

On the last meeting day, the consortium took a tour around the IBI facilities. The highlight, however, was the workshop at the University Hospital Tor Vergata in Rome where the coordinator Raymond Schiffelers and Hannah Walgrave presented the B-SMART objectives and approach to nanomedicine in front of over 50 participants. Prof. Vittorio Colizzi (Tor Vergata) presented the EU-funded Starbios2 project and Prof. Nicola Mercuri (Tor Vergata) gave a well-received presentation entitled “Alzheimer’s Disease: from bench to bed”.

The wonderful organisation and generous hospitality of partner IBI became particularly visible in the kind invitation of IBI’s CEO Dr Camilla Borghese Khevenhuller to her home: Dinner on her terrace overlooking the Mediterranean Sea and the surrounding gardens provided the perfect backdrop for a relaxing and balmy summer night. The whole consortium left the meeting excited and ready for the upcoming tasks.

The next Progress Meeting will take place in Utrecht, the Netherlands, at the beginning of 2019.

    The B-SMART consortium at the 3rd Progress Meeting in Aprilia, Italy
    Impressions of the lab tour
    Impressions of the lab tour
    Dr Camilla Borghese Khevenhuller (IBI) and B-SMART coordinator Prof. Raymond Schiffelers (UMCU) at the workshop at Tor Vergata
    Participants at the workshop at Tor Vergata
    Prof. Vittorio Colizzi at the workshop at Tor Vergata
    Hannah Walgrave (VIB) at the workshop at Tor Vergata
    Prof. Nicola Mercuri at the workshop at Tor Vergata
    Astrid Hyldbakk (SINTEF), Ruth Schmid (SINTEF) Corinna Hahn (Eurice) and Sven Even Borgos (SINTEF) at the B-SMART meeting dinner
    View from the terrace
    The tables are set!
    Ruth Schmid (SINTEF), Raymond Schiffelers (UMCU) and Camilla Borghese Khevenhuller (IBI) discussing B-SMART matters at the dinner
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