The mission of HEPA Europe is to provide a forum for the advancement of health-enhancing physical activity (HEPA) research, policy and practice for better health and well-being across the WHO European Region. HEPA Europe membership is open to organizations and institutions active at the regional, national or subnational level, who are willing to contribute to the goals and objectives of the network.

The SYNCHROS-project started Jan. 1st, 2019 and ends June 30th, 2022. The work towards the goal of Coordination and Support for “Synchronising Cohorts and Population Surveys in Europe and worldwide” is structured by 8 work packages and the following three phases.

The RECODID project will develop an equitable, accessible, and sustainable model for the storage, curation, and analyses of clinical-epidemiological and high-dimensional sample data collected by infectious disease cohorts in low-and-middle-income countries (LMIC).

HBM4EU is coordinating and advancing human biomonitoring in Europe and so provide better evidence of the actual exposure of citizens to chemicals. In addition, we provide a robust interpretation of human biomonitoring data and the possible impact of chemical exposure on human health, using the most up to date scientific tools.

HBM4EU partners effectively communicates results to policy makers, ensuring their exploitation in the design of new chemicals policies and the evaluation of existing measures.

This initiative contributes directly to the improvement of health and well-being for all citizens, by investigating how exposure to chemicals affects the health of different vulnerable groups, such as children and pregnant women, as well as of highly exposed groups like workers.

Data used and produced under HBM4EU will be made accessible via IPCHEM – the Information Platform for Chemical Monitoring. IPCHEM is the European Commission’s reference access point for searching, accessing and retrieving chemical occurrence data collected and managed in Europe. 

The overall objective of this 5-year project is to build a multinational, adaptive European COVID-19 and emerging infectious diseases trial network, based on existing initiatives, experience and expertise, allowing European expansion of DisCoVeRy and the establishment of a COVID-19 adaptive platform trial.

ORCHESTRA is a three-year international research project aimed at tackling the coronavirus pandemic, led by the University of Verona and involving 26 partners (extending to a wider network of 37 partners) from 15 countries: Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Congo, France, Gabon, Germany, India, Italy, Luxemburg, Netherlands, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Venezuela.

The project is funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the ERAvsCORONA Action Plan which was developed jointly by Commission services and national authorities.

Objectives

• to develop evidence-based recommendations for effective prevention, protection and optimized treatment of COVID-19 patients (including long-term consequences) with a special focus on ‘at risk’ population, including healthcare workers and fragile individuals
• to assess impact of environmental factors, socio-economic determinants, lifestyle and confinement measures on the spread of COVID-19
• to provide knowledge on the efficacy of vaccines against SARS-CoV-2
• to provide a model for responsiveness for future pandemic outbreaks.

The overall goal of RECOVER is to understand the COVID-19 pandemic through clinical research in order to transform patient care and public health responses. 

IHI's core goals are to translate health research and innovation into tangible benefits for patients and society, and ensure that Europe remains at the cutting edge of interdisciplinary, sustainable, patient-centric health research. Health research and care increasingly involves diverse sectors. By supporting projects that bring these sectors together, IHI will pave the way for a more integrated approach to healthcare, covering prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and disease management.

At the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI), we are working to improve health by speeding up the development of, and patient access to, innovative medicines, particularly in areas where there is an unmet medical or social need. We do this by facilitating collaboration between the key players involved in health research, including universities, research centres, the pharmaceutical and other industries, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), patient organisations, and medicines regulators. IMI is the world's biggest public-private partnership (PPP) in the life sciences. It is a partnership between the European Union (represented by the European Commission) and the European pharmaceutical industry (represented by EFPIA, the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations). Through the IMI2 programme, we have a €3.3 billion budget for the period 2014-2020.

The goal of IMI, particularly in its second phase (IMI2, 2014-2020) is to develop next generation vaccines, medicines and treatments, such as new antibiotics. Our projects will provide Europeans, including the increasing numbers of older people, with more efficient and effective medicines and treatments. Greater coordination across industry sectors will result in more reliable and faster clinical trials, and better regulation. Our research and innovation efforts will also open new commercial possibilities based on new services and products. The research, industry and societal sectors involved in IMI2 will benefit from the cooperation and knowledge sharing which take place in these projects.

In particular, our projects aim to:

• improve the current drug development process by providing support for the development of tools, standards and approaches to assess efficacy, safety and quality of regulated health products;
• develop diagnostic and treatment biomarkers for diseases clearly linked to clinical relevance and approved by regulators;
• where possible, reduce the time to reach clinical proof of concept in medicine development, such as for cancer, immunological, respiratory, neurological and neurodegenerative diseases;
• increase the success rate in clinical trials of priority medicines identified by the World Health Organisation;
• develop new therapies for diseases for which there is a high unmet need, such as Alzheimer’s disease and limited market incentives, such as antimicrobial resistance;
• reduce the failure rate of vaccine candidates in phase III clinical trials through new biomarkers for initial efficacy and safety checks.