HEALTH

Type 2 diabetes (T2DM) is preventable by sustained changes in diet and physical exercise. Despite this, modern societies are already approaching 10% population prevalence of diabetes, and another 15% with pre-diabetes. The costs of T2DM are huge, approaching 10% of all health costs. Prevention of diabetes is a priority for national healthcare agencies and for the health insurance industry. Investment in prevention and lifestyle programmes requires a solid evidence-base for targeting and customising these interventions in a cost-effective manner.

Over the last years, large outbreaks of Crimean Congo Hemorrhagic fever virus (CCHFV) in several European countries and neighbouring areas are on the rise. This disease poses a great threat to public health due to its high mortality rate, modes of transmission and geographical distribution. Climate changes and observation of the CCHFV vector in central Europe alarm the European community as we cannot exclude that future outbreaks will take place in non-endemic area of Europe. To date, there is no vaccine available and no selective antiviral drug for the management of the disease.

Preventing immunological rejection of transplanted organs without the need for long-term use of pharmacological immuno-suppression is a primary objective in transplantation medicine. Reducing the need for immuno-suppression would dramatically improve the outcome for transplant recipients and reduce health costs for society. The means to achieve this goal has not been realised with pharmacological or biological agents yet.

A new generation of molecular tools is becoming available that can digitally record numbers, identities and locations of a broad range of molecular markers for increased diagnostic accuracy.

A detailed understanding of human biology will require characterisation of the human-associated microorganisms, the human microbiome, and of the roles these microbes play in health and disease. Large projects in Europe, the United States, China and Canada target these objectives, using high throughput ?omics approaches. Given the complexity of our microbial communities, composed of thousands of species and differing considerably between individuals, as well as the multitude of effects they have on our biology, none of the projects can hope to achieve their comprehensive characterisation.

International Research Project on Financing Quality in Healthcare InterQuality gathers the interest for financing systems' effect on quality of healthcare of researchers from seven EU countries and US. The study, based on administrative and survey data, is designed for 36 months. It will take into account needs of four different patient groups (sectors), affected by: hospital, outpatient, pharmaceutical and integrated care. The scope of research will cover: utilization of resources and efficiency, quality of care, including: equity of access, patient satisfaction and safety of treatment.

Over the last few years the field of proteomics has evolved into a prolific data producer. As a result, various databases that collect and redistribute the acquired data have been established. While data format standards for quantitative proteomics have now been defined and implemented with significant contribution from the recently completed EU ProDaC grant, standards for quantitative proteomics are still lacking.

Protein glycosylation is a post-translational phenomenon that is involved in most physiological and disease processes including cancer. Most of the known cancer-associated glycobiomarkers were discovered individually using liquid chromatography and mass spectroscopy. Though valuable, there is room for improvement in these approaches for the discovery phase. There is also a critical need for innovative, rapid, and high-throughput (HTP) technologies that will translate the discovery of cancer-associated glycobiomarkers from basic science to clinical application.

High-throughput next-generation DNA sequencing technologies allow investigators to sequence entire human genomes at an affordable price and within a short time frame. The correct interpretation, storage, and dissemination of the large amount of produced genomics data generate major challenges. Tackling these challenges requires extensive exchange of data, information and knowledge between medical scientists, sequencing centres, bioinformatics networks and industry at the European level.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) accounts for more than 90% of liver cancers, and is a major health problem. Its incidence is growing and with more than 700,000 annual cases worldwide -50,000 in Europe-, it is the 3rd cause of cancer-related mortality. Most patients are diagnosed at advanced stages with dismal survival rates lower than 1 year, even after sorafenib, the sole systemic therapy available.