Coordinating personalised medicine research

Specific Challenge

By providing the right intervention to the right person at the right time, personalised medicine[[Personalised medicine refers to a medical model using characterization of individuals’ phenotypes and genotypes (e.g. molecular profiling, medical imaging, lifestyle data) for tailoring the right therapeutic strategy for the right person at the right time, and/or to determine the predisposition to disease and/or to deliver timely and targeted prevention.]] can improve quality of life and contribute to more sustainable healthcare at Member State level. It may drive new and faster development processes and products, providing European life sciences industries with a competitive edge that can secure growth and jobs. Today, development is uneven across and within sectors, regions and Member States due to fragmented activities, insufficient communication and lack of commonly accepted solutions and standards.

Scope

Support the development and operations of a European platform for collaboration between funders of personalised medicine research, possibly based on the International Consortium model[[See for example the International Rare Diseases Research Consortium (IRDiRC) or the International Human Epigenome Consortium (IHEC.]]. The platform should coordinate research and innovation efforts across borders, regions and countries. It should foster an interdisciplinary approach to personalised medicine by actively involving relevant interested parties. It should develop policies, guidelines, etc. aiming to speed up the development and implementation of personalised medicine (addressing policy-related, economic, and socio-cultural factors). The platform should aim to create synergies with ongoing activities at European and national level (e.g. research infrastructures[[http://ec.europa.eu/research/infrastructures/index_en.cfm?pg=esfri]], ERA-NETs, personalised medicine pilot projects, EIT Health KIC[[http://eit.europa.eu/eit-community/eit-health]]). It should moreover explore the best use of funds in the implementation of personalised medicine. It should actively disseminate information and best-practice examples and contribute to awareness raising in the medical professions (accelerating the reshaping of academic curricula) and among the general public. The proposal should explore scenarios for long-term sustainability.

The Commission considers that proposals requesting a contribution from the EU of around EUR 2 million would allow this specific challenge to be addressed appropriately. Nonetheless, this does not preclude submission and selection of proposals requesting other amounts.

Expected Impact

  • Improved coordination across and within regional, national and pan-European research funding programmes and initiatives.
  • Faster development of personalised medicine approaches through the development of frameworks for research priorities, policies and guidelines aimed at accelerating research and implementation efforts.
  • Development of a framework for linking established research efforts, platforms, infrastructures such as biobanks or databases, building synergies between ongoing activities.
  • Increased information exchange between sectors and scientific disciplines.
  • Increased public awareness and understanding of personalised medicine approaches among the public and the medical professions.
  • Improved use of funds in the implementation of personalised medicine.
Institution
Date de candidature
Discipline
Sciences sociales
Humanités : Anthropologie & Ethnologie