Participants in a COST network have advanced knowledge on the state-of-the-art of ‘e-health’ in Europe. Two Marie-Curie training networks, an H2020 palliative care project and inspiration for new business models, products and services have resulted.
Connected health systems gather data from sources such as medical tests, reports or wearable sensors for doctors to analyse and share, improving care for people with complex needs, such as cancer patients, and saving costs.
In the COST Action ‘European Network for the Joint Evaluation of Connected Health Technologies’ (ENJECT), specialists in healthcare, ICT, engineering and sociology, along with businesses, economists and patients, shared knowledge and ideas, improving the ability of researchers and businesses to adapt to the e-health trend.
The collaboration has resulted in new EU funding for training. “The Action was a platform for two successful Marie Skłodowska-Curie Innovative Training Networks, CHESS and CATCH,” says the Action Chair, Brian Caulfield of University College Dublin, Ireland.
CHESS trains young health researchers to understand other domains in connected health, while CATCH improves research-industry links for cancer e-health innovation. Both networks were created by, among others, partners who met through ENJECT.
To extend networking opportunities, ENJECT opened up its training schools to CHESS and CATCH trainees. “The overlap between ENJECT and Innovation Training Networks drives forward the next generation of research,” says Caulfield.
An entire-landscape approach
Cross-sector training in the Action’s research schools also provided young researchers with new perspectives. “At one event, we took early-stage researchers to a start-up incubator. In another, in 2018, Parkinson patients set challenges for a hackathon,” says Caulfield.
Pharmaceutical multinationals Merck Group and Abbott took part in the 2018 school. According to Caulfield, “It was a great example of putting together researchers, patients, and experts in digital health.”
Other Action outcomes strengthen Europe’s innovation base. “The H2020 project INADVANCE was set up through a study in ENJECT,” says Caulfield. This project supports industry-research collaboration on technology for palliative care.
Eight rounds of research exchanges – short-term scientific missions (STSMs) – between business and research partners further developed skills, knowledge and connections.
Luis Fernandez Luque, a partner in Spanish digital healthcare SME Salumedia Tecnologias SL, experienced this first hand. “One of our employees went to a clinical partner in Switzerland. We are now looking into a joint project.” He adds that the short duration of the STSMs makes them attractive. “There is not a huge time investment – just one week to a month.”
According to Luque, Salumedia Tecnologias evolved thanks to the COST Action. “We are moving away from consultancy towards digital products that, for example, empower people to stop smoking or engage cancer patients more in their care. ENJECT allowed us to learn more about healthcare needs across Europe.”
View the Action: https://www.cost.eu/actions/TD1405
View the Network website: http://enject.eu/