This is the official homepage of the TiMaScan project.

ERC Advanced Grant for research on monitoring of cancer via tissue macrophages

The TiMaScan project is supported by the EU through European Research Council (ERC) Advanced Grant ERC-2015-AdG-695655 entitled Recirculated tissue macrophages (TiMa) in blood: Novel approach to early diagnosis and treatment monitoring in oncology. This ERC Advanced Grant was awarded to Principle Investigator Prof. J.J.M. van Dongen, MD, PhD in 2016.

Aim

The aim of the TiMaScan project is to perform basic research on the function of the monocyte-macrophage system, and to use this fundamental knowledge for the development of improved, minimally-invasive diagnostic tools for early diagnosis of cancer, as well as monitoring of treatment and disease progression in oncology. Read more about the concept and aims of the TiMaScan project here.

Achievements

One of the main findings of the TiMaScan project so far is that a monocyte-specific antibody panel for flow cytometry can be used to show that the numbers of different monocyte subsets in humans, including classical, intermediate and non-classical monocytes, differ depending on age and tissue. To learn more about the results of the TiMaScan project, go to the Achievements page.

Team

The research is performed by the TiMaScan Research team of the Immune monitoring group of Prof. Van Dongen at the Dept. of Immunology, Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC) in Leiden, The Netherlands, in close collaboration with local partners (e.g. Depts. of Internal Medicine, Surgery, Pathology, Cardiology, Pediatrics), national partners (e.g. Erasmus Medical Center, Martini Hospital Groningen), international partners (e.g. University of Salamanca, Spain), and the EuroFlow Consortium.