Towards new treatments of psychiatric disorders - a systems-oriented approach

The TrePsy project aims to integrate the Maj Institute of Pharmacology of the Polish Academy of Sciences (IP PAS) with leading European brain research centres in development of novel treatments of psychiatric disorders, strengthen research excellence at the IP PAS, and empower it to become leader in other Horizon Europe projects.

To this end we will create a unique advanced research curriculum for students and early-career scientists, who will lead future neuropharmacological research, and form a cluster of institutions of excellence in the fields of Neuropsychopharmacology.

The project will provide students, and PhD programme participants at the Maj Institute of Pharmacology of the Polish Academy of Sciences (IP PAS), as well as partner Institutes, with lectures and training in emerging topics and research methodologies.

These activities will be organised through four advanced schools, each including lectures and hands-o training in advanced research methods, and additionally a University Specialist course that will be developed by the consortium.

The training activities will be complemented with participation in regional science outreach events, with presentations focused on brain research, the importance of Neuropsychopharmacology-driven research.

Furthermore, as an exploratory research project, we selected the study of neuronal and molecular mechanisms involved in the actions of cannabidiol.

Each of the partners will contribute their unique research competence including transgenic mice and rats, a multiome approach to gene regulation analysis with RNA-Seq and ATAC-Seq, advanced methods of imaging and controlling neuronal activity in behaving animals, and multimodal neuroimaging methodology.

The planned research activities emphasize mutual benefits for all consortium partners, nevertheless, interactions with the three leading European research centres will have the greatest impact on research excellence at the IP PAS.