ESPACE is one of six projects that form the H2020-HCA cluster. They are all funded by the European Union within Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme. Each of the projects has been designed to characterize single cells or their nuclear components, their interactions and/or spatial location in tissues from one human organ.
Nine months into the projects, the European Commission invited this H2020-HCA cluster to get together for a second time to discuss the status of the projects. The group met virtually on September 22, 2020 to update each other on recent project progress and to report on the implications of restrictions caused by the coronavirus pandemic. During the meeting, the participants also discussed collaboration opportunities and joint next steps in building the HCA.
Despite the challenges all projects faced during COVID-19 lockdown, all reported significant progress in setting up procedures and infrastructures for generating and analysing data to be fed into the HCA.
All six cluster projects are dedicated to working together to increase the impact of the projects in the coming months. As a starting point, LINQ , the management partner of ESPACE, worked together with the HCA Executive Office to set up a joint webpage that provides information about the cluster. To facilitate further joint communication activities, they have also started to prepare a social media strategy.
As a next step, the projects agreed to explore options for organising joint meetings and workshops to promote their research and intensify their collaboration. Stay tuned for more information!