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The aim of the COMBIVET project is to establish an ERA Chair of Comparative Medicine under the Institute of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Sciences (IVMAS) at the Estonian University of Life Sciences. Comparative medicine has great untapped research potential as many of the health challenges faced by humans and animals are the same. This includes age-related diseases, cancer, neurodegenerative diseases, cardiovascular diseases, bone and joint diseases (e.g. osteoarthritis and osteoporosis) and metabolic diseases (e.g. diabetes and insulin resistance). Thanks to these similarities, knowledge gained from studying and treating animal patients can be applied in humans while developing new diagnostic tools, vaccines and therapies for both humans and animals. As such, IVMAS seeks to establish the ERA Chair of Comparative Medicine in order to develop its competences and capacities in the research field and ultimately become one of the leading European research organizations in comparative medicine. As the first step, the COMBIVET project will focus on e.g. creating the new ERA Chair as a physical unit at IVMAS, recruiting an outstanding Chair holder and research team with complementary skillsets, improving the ERA team’s comparative medicine skills and knowledge, developing databases and animal models based on collected samples and carrying out various activities designed to increase the sustainability of the ERA Chair beyond the project lifetime (including making presentations, preparing publications, organizing seminars, industry and public sector meetings, submitting research proposals and popularizing comparative medicine in society). |
