FucoSan Project Advisory Group meeting in Odense

The second FucoSan Project Advisory Group meeting took place in Odense, Denmark on 20 June. Efthalia Arvaniti from SUBMARINER Network was there as a member of the Project Advisory Group.

The 3.5 years project is funded by Interreg Deutschland-Danmark and led by Alexa Klettner, University Medical Centre Schleswig-Holstein, Department of Ophthalmology. FucoSan is involved in valorising fucoidan polysaccharides derived from brown seaweed in cosmetic and medical applications. In the meeting, the project partners presented progress of their work, exchanged information of further developments and current challenges they face, and received advice and suggestions from the Project Advisory Group (PAG).

The project work is progressing very well and it is characterised by good quality of science. Currently, the partners are developing models for sustainable production of relevant brown algae from Danish and German waters, optimise new techniques and methods for extraction and characterisation of fucoidans from different species of algae. In three pilot cases, the fucoidan extracts are tested for their suitability in the fields of ophthalmology (age-related macular degeneration), regenerative medicine (tissue engineering) and cosmetics. The partners aim at creating a joint database mapping harvest and cultivation, extraction and analytical methods for isolating and characterising fucoidans. Publications based on the partners’ acquired knowledge are already listed at the project website www.fucosan.eu. 

The project is coming to an end in August 2020.