The first Annual Meeting of the “Prevention and early detection (Screening)” Cluster of projects will be held on September 7th in San Sebastian, Spain.
In the late 2022, in response to the Horizon Europe call titled ”Develop new methods and technologies for cancer screening and early detection”, 12 research projects were selected for a total funding of €125.6 million budget to support the EU Mission on Cancer.
7 projects have been included in a Cluster of projects oriented on “Prevention and early detection (Screening)”.
The group is composed of the following members:
- LUCIA – Understanding Lung Cancer related risk factors and their Impact.
- MAMMOSCREEN – Innovative and safe microwave-based imaging technology to make breast cancer screening more accurate, inclusive and female-friendly.
- ONCOSCREEN – A European “shield” against colorectal cancer based on novel, more precise and affordable risk-based screening methods and viable policy pathways.
- PANCAID – PANcreatic CAncer Initial Detection via liquid biopsy
- SANGUINE – Early detection and screening of haematological malignancies
- THERMOBREAST – An innovative non-contact and harmless screening modality set to change the course of breast cancer detection and patient monitoring.
- DIOPTRA – Early dynamic screening for colorectal cancer via novel protein biomarkers reflecting biological initiation mechanisms.
The cluster was built with the scope of supporting the Mission objectives, creating added value and increasing the impact of EU funding. The areas to be addressed are:
- Data Management
- Research & Innovation
- Communication & Dissemination
- Citizen Engagement
- Addressing inequalities
- Research Capacity Building
The collaboration should proceed reducing overlaps, harmonising research methods and models to enhance science and policy outcomes, working together on research capacity building.
Additionally, the projects should organise exchanges with citizens, including patients, to engage them and to address their views. This will also be achieved during the scheduled annual meetings, where the cluster components should exchange strategies, best practices and results of organised workshops. The projects coordinators, including MammoScreen, will gather together in San Sebastian next 7th of September.
The projects will also develop common ideas on how they can contribute to reducing inequalities of care and improving access to care.
The cluster work will be harmonised with the involvement of different joint activities, starting from the draw up of a common work plan for scientific collaborations, which has already been submitted to the EC.
