From 3 to 7 May, Heraklion, Crete, will host the final conference of the ARCH project, dedicated to the study of physiological changes in the haematopoietic system throughout life in relation to different diseases that occur preferentially at different ages (childhood, adulthood, old age). Funded by the European Commission (H2020-Marie Sklodowska Curie Actions) to the tune of 3,969,936.36 euros, the project started in June 2019 and will end in November 2023.
ARCH involved fifteen European public and private sector laboratories and was coordinated by Milano-Bicocca. Fifteen students from all over the world were recruited to carry out the research and placed in the different laboratories and PhD programmes, with exchanges between countries and research institutes to promote multidisciplinary and multicultural training. In recent years, ARCH has elucidated important aspects of the behaviour of haematopoietic stem cells, their differentiation and their interactions with the cellular microenvironment, identifying specific vulnerabilities of cancer cells and new potential therapeutic targets.
The young ARCH researchers will present and discuss the results of their research at the final conference, entitled 'Molecular and Cellular Pathways of Aging in Hematopoiesis', to an audience of scientists from around the world. The photo exhibition 'STEM Passion - A journey Inspired by Women in Science' will also be held at the final conference.