FONDAZIONE TOSCANA LIFE SCIENCES

Their core work

Fondazione Toscana Life Sciences is a Siena-based research foundation focused on vaccine development and immunotherapy, with deep roots in infectious disease and cancer research. Their core scientific work centers on engineering new vaccine platforms — from antimicrobial-resistant bacterial infections to colorectal cancer immunotherapy using outer membrane vesicles and microbiome-informed approaches. Beyond bench science, they coordinate regional health policy initiatives, particularly around personalised medicine uptake across European regions. Their dual capability in frontier vaccine R&D and health system coordination makes them a bridge between laboratory discovery and clinical implementation.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

TLS began their H2020 journey firmly rooted in infectious disease vaccinology and antimicrobial resistance, reflected in their flagship vAMRes project (2018). Over time, their focus broadened in two directions: deeper into cancer immunotherapy (VACCIBIOME's microbiome-vaccine intersection) and outward into health system coordination and personalised medicine policy (REGIONS4PERMED, SINO-EU-PerMed). By 2020, they were participating in clinical implementation projects like BornToGetThere, signaling a shift from purely laboratory-based vaccine R&D toward translational health and policy-level impact.

TLS is expanding from core vaccine science into translational medicine, health policy coordination, and international partnerships — positioning themselves as a full-spectrum life sciences foundation rather than a single-topic lab.

How they like to work

TLS operates as both a project leader and a contributing partner, with a roughly balanced split between coordination (2 projects) and participation (4 projects). Their 50 unique partners across 25 countries indicate a broad, non-repetitive network — they build new consortia rather than relying on a fixed circle. This openness to diverse partnerships, combined with their willingness to coordinate mid-sized projects (€700K–€2.4M), makes them accessible and flexible collaborators.

With 50 unique consortium partners spanning 25 countries, TLS maintains one of the broader networks for a foundation of its size. Their reach extends well beyond Italy and Western Europe, including explicit Sino-European cooperation through SINO-EU-PerMed.

What sets them apart

TLS sits at the intersection of advanced vaccine R&D and health policy coordination — a rare combination for a research foundation. While many Italian life sciences institutes focus on either bench research or policy, TLS does both, having coordinated an ERC Advanced Grant on AMR vaccines and a CSA on regional personalised health in parallel. Their Siena location places them in one of Italy's historic vaccine development hubs, and their work on engineered outer membrane vesicles and microbiome-informed cancer vaccines positions them at the frontier of immunotherapy.

Highlights from their portfolio

• vAMRes
  Their largest project (€2.4M ERC Advanced Grant, coordinated) tackling one of global health's most urgent problems — developing vaccines as an alternative to failing antibiotics against resistant bacteria.
• VACCIBIOME
  Combines cancer vaccines with gut microbiome research using molecular mimicry and neo-epitopes — a scientifically ambitious intersection that few groups attempt.
• REGIONS4PERMED
  Demonstrates TLS's policy coordination capability: they led a cross-regional initiative linking personalised health to Smart Specialisation Strategy and structural funds across Europe.