ENABLE Consortium expands through EU Hop-On success

The ENABLE project was fortunate to receiving funding via the Hop-On Facility under Horizon Europe’s WIDERA (Widening Participation and Strengthening the European Research Area) programme which aims to enhance research and innovation capacities across Europe, particularly by allowing institutions from nearby countries to join existing Horizon Europe projects. These initiatives collectively aim to build a more inclusive and robust European Research Area, ensuring that all regions can contribute to and benefit from advancements in research and innovation.  

UAveiro has been recognized as an international leader in the field of integrated lipidomics, and for the quality of their inter- and transdisciplinary research activities. The Lipidomics Lab will synergically contribute with comprehensive analyses of lipid signatures in blood/plasma from mothers and their newborn children, to explore the role of lipids and lipid metabolism in mother and child health status, inflammation and metabolic disturbances in children, and susceptibility to NCDs in early life. This achievement not only exemplifies ENABLE’s collaborative strength but also reinforces our long-term vision of advancing an exposome approach in maternal and child health research.

 UAveiro brings a unique and specialized perspective to preventative care for NCD management and we glad to welcome their expertise to ENABLE and the biomarker sub-study, says Feyissa Challa Waka, EPHI Director, Referral and Reference Laboratories Directorate.  

Under this collaboration, the new activities mark a significant expansion of Work Package 4 (WP4), focusing on the identification of lipidomic biomarkers to prevent early non-communicable disease (NCD) risks among pregnant women in Ethiopia. This task will be carried out by a dedicated team specializing in bioinformatics and lipidomics. As with other activities under ENABLE, fostering knowledge transfer and capacity building between Europe and Ethiopia will remain paramount. The lab at EPHI will coordinate closely with UAveiro for a holistic analysis of samples during the ENABLE intervention. This collaboration underscores the consortium's commitment to leveraging international expertise to address global health challenges. This collaboration strengthens ENABLE’s role as a trailblazer in multi-level, multi-sectoral approaches to NCD prevention in low-resource urban settings.