UNICORN aims at developing cutting-edge Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR)-based metabolomic approaches to offer unprecedented prognostic and diagnostic solutions for personalized medicine, with an application to one of the major causes of death worldwide, the cardiovascular diseases (CVD). This project, at the interface of chemistry and biology, will thus answer a key societal health-related question. The originality of UNICORN is to apply for the first time novel NMR-based methods to an ambitious biological question, by deciphering the biological mechanisms sustaining athero-protection and identifying a broad spectrum of biomarkers. Thanks to a well-chosen study design, the project will provide a wider picture of CVD-related phenotypes and innovative insights for the implementation of precision medicine in the most at-risk patients. The characterization of a specific athero-protection signature should also enable the identification of new therapeutic targets to reduce the risk of CVD. In terms of methodology, the project will open new horizons to NMR-based metabolomics by offering highly resolved and sensitive analytical strategies that represent many advantages in clinical settings, namely the intrinsically quantitation, the possibility of doing longitudinal studies over a long-term period of recruitment and with minimal sample preparation. UNICORN will allow the scientific coordinator of the project to set up her own impactful and independent research team at the interface of NMR-based metabolomics and clinical research.
