Dario Bonanomi, of the San Raffaele Hospital in Milan, has been awarded a 2025 European Research Council (ERC) Synergy grant. With him in the winning research team, are Isabelle Brunet from Inserm (France), Tambet Teesalu from The University of Tartu (Estonia), and Ellie Tzima from The University of Oxford (United Kingdom). The grant,  which will finance a project on the blood-nerve barrier, is worth 10 million Euros, the maximum amount that can be financed, and will last 6 years.

The ERC, a body of the European Union, supports outstanding researchers from all disciplines, nationalities, and career stages who seek to conduct pioneering work within EU member states. Including Dr. Bonanomi’s grant, San Raffaele reaches 37 ERC grants awarded since 2007, when this European programme was launched.

In particular, Synergy Grants are conferred to projects that combine the expertise of multiple leading researchers, fostering collaboration that drives breakthrough discoveries and sets new global standards. The research team impressed the ERC’s distinguished panel of experts with the bold and innovative approach of its MINerVA project, earning recognition for its potential to make a transformative impact in its field.

The MINerVA project

The ERC-funded project explores an enigmatic neurovascular structure called the blood-nerve barrier, which safeguards the intricate network of nerves that develop throughout our body. These nerves control movement, sensation, and the function of every organ. To perform these tasks efficiently, nerves require a tightly controlled environment - one that the blood-nerve barrier maintains by shielding nerve fibers from toxins and pathogens.

Because of the complex anatomical organization of nerves, the properties of the blood-nerve barrier have remained poorly understood. MINerVA will bring a new perspective on this critical neurovascular interface by uncovering its cellular and molecular composition, determining how it responds to the continual mechanical challenges that nerves face during everyday movement, and revealing how it becomes disrupted in pathological conditions such as chemotherapy-induced neuropathic pain. Leveraging this new knowledge, the team will employ an innovative strategy to target and manipulate the blood-nerve barrier using a new class of synthetic peptides. This breakthrough approach will open the door to delivering drugs directly to and across this barrier, creating new therapeutic opportunities for a wide range of disorders affecting peripheral nerves that cause numbness, weakness, and chronic pain.

Bonanomi commented: “I am thrilled by the opportunity to work on this ambitious and innovative project made possible by the Synergy ERC grant. It offers a unique chance to bring together a diverse set of expertise and combine them in a truly original way to achieve paradigm-shifting discoveries. This grant will allow me to deepen my interest in the basic cell biological principles and pathological implications of neurovascular interactions in nerve regeneration and degenerative conditions, and to develop new molecular maps and tools that will serve the scientific community and push the field forward.” He added: “It is exciting to shed new light on a long-standing enigma —the blood-nerve barrier— through a state-of-the-art molecular perspective. Equally important, this project will foster a highly collaborative and interdisciplinary environment, giving younger researchers the opportunity to grow, share ideas across laboratories, and develop unique skills. Our ambition is not only to redefine the field but also to help shape the next generation of scientists.”

Dario Bonanomi

Dr. Bonanomi studied Biology at the University of Milan and completed his PhD at San Raffaele Hospital, focusing on membrane traffic in neurons with Prof. Flavia Valtorta. During his postdoc at the Salk Institute in San Diego (USA), he investigated axon guidance and neuromuscular circuit formation with Prof. Samuel Pfaff. He then received an ERC Starting Grant and the Career Development Award from the Giovanni Armenise-Harvard Foundation, which enabled him to establish his lab at San Raffaele as group leader of the Unit on Molecular Neurobiology. Their research focuses on motor neuron development, neurovascular interactions in nerve regeneration, and pathological changes in neurodegenerative disorders such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.