Development of a platform and toolkit for understanding interactions between nanoparticles and the living world

We combine state-of-the-art techniques, methodologies, skills and instrumentation from several scientific arenas to create discipline-independent platforms to address key questions in nanotoxicology Thus, we identify the routes via which nanoparticles enter and accumulate in living organisms, and connect this to representative cell-nanoparticle systems. Then using the most advanced methods of chemical, physical, biological and toxicological sciences we connect nanoparticle properties (in physiological conditions) to the mechanisms via which they interact with, and disrupt, cellular processes. We establish means and protocols via which every step of the project will be controlled, eliminating the factors that currently cause irreproducibility. We emphasize novel unbiased assessments of intra- and inter-cellular processes after exposure to nanoparticles, enabling us to explore known, and unknown, processes.
Key companies, large and small from several end-user groups that are currently facing the challenge of applying nanotechnology in their products are built into the project in a substantial manner, and other key stake-holders will also substantively interact with the consortium via the Advisory Committee.