A kick-off event held at Area Science Park officially launched Pathogen Readiness Platform for CERIC-ERIC Upgrade (PRP@CERIC), the initiative aimed at the creation in Europe of a highly specialized research infrastructure for the study of human, animal and plant pathogens.
Coordinated by Area Science Park, the project involves – as partners – the National Research Council (CNR) together with the Universities of Salerno, Naples and Salento. PRP@CERIC will run for 30 months and will be funded with 41 million euros under Mission 4 of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP) managed by the Ministry of University and Research (MUR).
The project will upgrade the European CERIC-ERIC research infrastructure through the implementation of a digital ecosystem that will provide academic and industrial users with the tools to tackle emerging pathogens with a potential impact on human health, safety and the economy.
Specifically, the initiative aims to integrate instrumentation and skills in the fields of biology, biochemistry, physics, bioelectronics, bioinformatics and data science in order to prevent the spread of future disease outbreaks. Caterina Petrillo, President of Area Science Park, commented: “The integration of different kinds of expertise and the setting up of a network of laboratories located in different geographical areas will create a unique infrastructure in Europe that will be at the service of the national and international research and business communities”.
The project involves both the construction of new facilities and the upgrading of existing services which will be interconnected in a network of thematic platforms and interoperable macro-platforms. PRP@ERIC will support both fundamental and applied research in the fields of infectious diseases and life sciences, including through the development of dedicated strategies for the handling and study of samples, in compliance with the Do No Significant Harm (DNSH) principle endorsed by the NRRP stating that the actions outlined in the Plan may not cause any significant harm to the environment.
