Latvian Institute of Organic Synthesis (LIOS) receives €2.5 M ERA Chair grant from Horizon Europe Framework Programme.
The aim of ERA Chair project “Natural Products Research at Latvian Institute of Organic Synthesis as a Driver for Excellence in Innovation (Natalion)” is to promote innovation excellence of LIOS by the establishment of Natural Products Research (NPR) group and implementation of LIOS Innovation hub as a complementary structural change. The aim of the project will be achieved under the competent guidance of the ERA Chair holder Dr. Stefano Donadio and collaboration with the company NAICONS (Italy). Dr. Stefano Donadio is a scientist with an excellent track record in NPR and outstanding leadership skills. He is a founder and CEO of the Biotech company NAICONS and has over 30 years of industrial experience in antibiotic discovery and development.
“Natural products have revitalized the interest of the drug discovery community due to impressive scientific and technological advances in the field. Natalion will be an efficient engine for developing new technologies and products with high innovation potential. I am proud that NAICONS, with its powerful platform in natural products, will be part of the project. Furthermore, the natalion is expected to facilitate the institutional environment fostering innovations and entrepreneurial culture and to promote brain circulation for researchers and innovators,” says Dr. Stefano Donadio.
Research and innovation excellence will be attained by setting up an NPR group comprising high-level scientists and integrating the operations into internal and external collaboration networks. Furthermore, sourcing natural products with a broad spectrum of biological activity will strongly synergize with the existing LIOS competencies in drug discovery.
ERA Chairs are grant schemes under Widening Participation and Spreading Excellence actions of H2020 and Horizon Europe framework programs. The grants focus on implementing institutional changes and increasing research capacity in Widening countries. LIOS is proud to be the first Latvian research organization to receive an ERA Chair grant, contributing to its ambitious goal of becoming one of the leading EU research centers.
About LIOS: LIOS is the leading drug discovery and development center in the Baltics with a broad spectrum of expertise, including medicinal chemistry, organic synthesis, in vitro and in vivo pharmacology, bioanalytics, computational modeling, biophysical chemistry, structural biology, and process chemistry. LIOS strongly collaborates with industry and is part of a comprehensive academic network including 11 EU-funded research consortia and EU-OPENSCREEN ERIC.
About NAICONS: NAICONS Srl is a biotechnology company based in Milan, Italy. Thanks to a world-class technology platform and know-how on Natural Products, NAICONS is building the Micro4all platform, the first Molecule Search Engine that will disrupt the Drug Discovery Process.