A consortium coordinated by the FNR, together with partners including the Luxembourg Institute of Health and the Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine (LCSB) at the University of Luxembourg, have been successful in Phase 1 of the EU Commission’s H2020 programme ‘TEAMING’. With the support of international partners, the FNR and the national partners propose to establish a ‘Centre of Excellence in Digital Health and Personalised Healthcare’. The project – CLINNOVA – is one of only 30 projects to make it to Phase 1, out of 208 projects submitted to the Commission.
Digitalisation has the potential to increase the efficiency and transparency in healthcare, as well as to improve the care of patients. Around 10 years ago, the Luxembourgish Government decided on a diversification strategy, which encompasses the life sciences and healthcare domains. The strategic development and the investments in personalised medicine were strong contributors to the development of the Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine (LCSB), as well as to the strengthening of the position of the Luxembourg Institute of Health (LIH).
In this context, a consortium, consisting mainly of the FNR, LIH and LCSB of the University of Luxembourg, are developing a strategy for the establishment and development of a new ‘Centre of Excellence in Digital Health and Personalised Healthcare’ – CLINNOVA.
The Centre will aim to build on the previous investments into fundamental biomedical research and form a bridge to the hospitals in Luxembourg; ensuring lab innovations reach clinical implementation and benefit patients.
26 September 2017 saw the first official kick-off meeting of the consortium and various stakeholders in the endeavour. Present at the meeting was Luxembourg’s Minister of Health, Lydia Mutsch, as well as representatives from ministries, hospitals, industry and research, including representatives from the international partners.
Main international partners
Teaming up with the University of Southern Denmark (SDU) and the Odense University Hospital (OUH) will allow the consortium to benefit from the experience Denmark has in setting up modern eHealth infrastructures. Focus will be put on the disease areas of cancer, where the consortium will team up with the National Centre for Tumour Diseases (NCT) of the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), as well as neurology (especially neurodegenerative diseases), immunology and inflammation.
Visit the CLINNOVA website for more information on the kick-off meeting, project and roles of the individual partners
About Horizon2020 TEAMING
Despite a recent tendency for the research and innovation performances of individual countries in the EU to converge, sharp differences among Member States still remain. Teaming will address this challenge by supporting the creation of new centres of excellence or upgrading the existing ones in low R&I performing countries, building on partnerships between leading scientific institutions and partner institutions in low R&I performing countries.
CLINNOVA project has successfully made it to Phase 1 and the consortium, coordinated by Frank Glod at the FNR, has received funding from the EU Commission to develop a sound business plan for the CLINNOVA proposal. If the project is also successful in this phase, financial support will be awarded via H2020 to make CLINNOVA a reality. National partners in successful projects are expected to match the amount awarded by the EU Commission.