GlioZERO · Advanced technologies for zeroing in on high-grade gliomas

Despite advances in diagnosis and therapy, glioblastoma (GBM) remains one of the most challenging cancers to treat, with overall survival under two years and a five-year survival rate of just 5%. This poor prognosis stems from three key factors: anatomical barriers, biological heterogeneity, immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment (TME).GlioZERO will establish a network of scientists with expertise in drug delivery, immunology, neurosurgery, robotics, and computational sciences to design microstructured polymeric films (microGRID) enabling deep, uniform, and sustained release of various therapeutic agents at the tumor margins; assess the efficacy of multimodal therapies in rigorous GBM models, leveraging microGRID to overcome anatomical barriers and systemic toxicity; improve surgical resection through intraoperative AI-assisted imaging; and employ advanced biological mapping to identify post-surgical TME alterations driving recurrence.To achieve these objectives, GlioZERO will bring together two EU Research Institutions, specialized in drug delivery, robotics, imaging (IIT) and brain cancer biology (Curie); two EU Enterprises, with expertise in neurosurgery (HUM) and computational modeling (BioIRC); four world-renowned US institutions advancing various therapies against GBM, including targeted therapies and immunotherapies (Stanford), oncolytic viruses (MD Anderson), anti-epileptic therapies (UCSF), and image-guided surgical therapies (BWH); and a Japanese partner (KU), focused on nano-therapies. Through interdisciplinary, intersectoral, and international secondments, GlioZERO will train a new generation of EU scientists, develop a novel class of drug delivery systems, and identify more effective therapies against GBM. Finally, partnerships with biotech accelerators in Silicon Valley, the Texas Medical Center, and the Greater Boston area will instill an entrepreneurial mindset and accelerate the clinical translation of GlioZERO discoveries and technologies.