CARE brings together distinguished scientists and highly representative networks in the European region, including Russia, in the fight against HIV/TB/HCV. CARE research objectives are based on already established European cohort networks with extensive and longitudinal data and/or sample collections. Together with new data and sample collections and cohorts created during the project, CARE will produce high-level researchoutputs during the two years of the project timeframe. The specific short term objectives are to: ● Discover and validate novel soluble biomarkers of MDR-TB treatment success and of pulmonary TB. ● Explore host genetic mechanisms of susceptibility to extrapulmonary TB. ● Analyse genotype to phenotype correlations in MDR-TB and develop a decision making support tool. ● Define epidemiology and pathways of drug-resistant HIV, including their relationship with HIV subtypes and TB coinfection to support an evidence-based introduction of INSTIs as part of first line antiretroviral therapy. ● Discover and validate host genomic variants influencing susceptibility to contracting AIDS and serious non-AIDS clinical events and adverse reactions to drugs. ● Derive best practice recommendations for DAA prioritisation strategies for HCV treatment. The longer-term objective of CARE is to implement a research infrastructure that allows the expansion of activities beyond the funding frame, permitting the partners to share technology, protocols, structured data collections and knowledge. Finally, CARE activities include realization of recommendations and intervention plans, communication to the stakeholders, dissemination and training activities in order to develop and distribute the highest expertise and competence throughout the European region for the containment of the epidemics.CARE is fully in line with the call topic and addresses all its subtopics. It involves a recognised Russian partner coordinating 5 top level institutions covering the regions of Russia.

Women’s cardiovascular health is an urgent clinical unmet need as reported by the European Society of Cardiology (ESC), as cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk in women still tends to be underestimated by clinicians and women themselves. CVD is under-diagnosed, under-treated and poorly understood, more so in women in the 40-60 age group, when personalised risk assessment and prevention can have a positive impact on their health. In this context, CARAMEL will deliver an innovative personalised prevention model aimed at women 40-60yrs based upon a risk assessment stratification model considering sex and gender specific risk factors and a self-assessment and self-management approach using innovative digital technologies, empowering women to optimise their cardiovascular health. The proposed CVD-Risk Assessment and Stratification scheme will only be possible by the cumulative risk factors analysis, fueled by AI, emerging from a wide number of different data sources, including clinical data from EHR, medical imaging, biomarkers, metabolomics, lifestyle information (sleep, physical activity, diet) from large cohorts and biobanks. A consortium composed by 25 partners and Affiliated Entities coming from 11 countries, composed by 9 clinical entities, 6 research organisations and 10 industry and SMEs will develop, test and validate the personalised prevention program in observational and interventional studies in clinical sites in Colombia, Croatia, Greece, Lithuania and Spain. To that end, engagement of women aged 40-60, will take place from the onset on the co-design and co-creation of the studies and the self-management app ecosystem to be developed. Likewise, Gender in research will be mainstreamed all along the intervention. CARAMEL will also deliver policy recommendation and clinical guidelines supporting the design and update of CVD Plans by health authorities and healthcare providers, considering novel AI based risk models, applicable to women aged 40-60 yrs.

The European Rare Diseases Research Alliance (ERDERA) aims to improve the health and well-being of the 30 million people living with a rare disease in Europe, by making Europe a world leader in Rare Disease (RD) research and innovation, to support concrete health benefits to rare disease patients, through better prevention, diagnosis and treatment. This Partnership will deliver a RD ecosystem that builds on the successes of previous programmes by supporting robust patient need-led research, developing new diagnostic methods and pathways, spearheading the digital transformational change connecting the dots between care, patient data and research, while ensuring strong alignment of strategies in RD research across countries and regions. Structuring goal-oriented public-private collaborations targeted at interventions all along the R&D value chain will ensure that the journey from knowledge to patient impact is expedited, thereby optimising EU innovation potential in RD. To support its ambition and missions ERDERA has been designed as a comprehensive and integrated ecosystem of which structure can be compared to an institute encompassing three main parts: (i) funding, (ii) internal (in house) Clinical Research Network that implements research activities targeting clinical trial readiness of RDs and accelerating diagnosis and translation of research discovery into improved patient care, and (iii) related supporting services (Data, Expertise, Education and Training) as well as an acceleration hub that serve external and internal RD community, all supported by all-embracing coordination and strategy and foundational (inter)national alignment.

The EuCARE project gathers a comprehensive multidisciplinary team of clinicians, virologists, epidemiologists, statisticians and top experts in artificial intelligence to unveil the impact of SARS-CoV-2 variants on key sectors of public health, as addressed by the call. The specific activities include: 1. The assessment of natural and artificial immunity to the different viral variants in health care workers with the aim of defining the cross-immunization patterns and the risk of vaccine escape, informing vaccination strategies for the general population; 2. The analysis of the clinical course and long-term follow-up of hospitalized COVID-19 patients to derive the role of different viral variants in the outcome of the infection, including post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection; 3. The definition of the best strategies to control the spread of different viral variants in schools, by comparing the outcome of diverse containment and prevention measures in relation to the prevalence and dynamics of the variants. To ensure a suitable representativeness of the different variants, vaccines and preventive measures, EuCARE has secured the appropriate cohorts from diverse geographic areas including European countries, Kenya, Mexico, Russia and Vietnam, and will consolidate or expand interactions with other cohorts. To deal with complex interactions among many variables, including large dimensional parameters, EuCARE harnesses the power of artificial intelligence to define the role of viral variants and inform clinical guidelines and prevention measures. In the longer-term, EuCARE is committed to maintain active cooperation beyond the duration of the project with a dedicated task in the project. The solid IT and ethics infrastructure and the harmonised research procedures will make the cohort and laboratory network rapidly available to tackle newly emerging infectious diseases, thus contributing to pandemic preparedness on a global scale.