Virtual Human Twin (VHT) Models for Cancer Research
- Fetched
- 2026-06-09T15:42:49Z
Topic description
Expected Outcome: Proposals under this topic should aim to deliver results that are directed and tailored towards and contribute to all of the following expected outcomes: Researchers of different disciplines use advanced multiscale Virtual Human Twins (VHTs) to expand the knowledge and understanding of cancer onset and progression Healthcare professionals and researchers have access to advanced VHT-based solutions that model cancer onset and progression over time, contributing to improve personalised treatments Researchers, healthcare professionals, innovators and citizens have access to cancer VHTs through the UNCAN.eu and the advanced Virtual Human Twin platforms Scope: Virtual human twins (VHTs) are digital representations and in-silico models of an individual’s health and disease at different levels of the human anatomy (e.g. cells, tissues, organs or organ systems) for the prevention, prediction, screening, diagnosis and treatment of a disease, as well as the selection and personalisation of intervention options [1] . The proposed topic will contribute to the EU Cancer Mission objectives by improving the accuracy of dynamic and multiscale VHTs to better understand cancer onset, predict progression and develop personalized treatments. Of particular interest for this topic are cancers with limited treatment options or unclear biological mechanisms, refractory cancers, rare cancers, early-onset cancers, cancer types with low five-year survival rates, or paediatric and adolescent cancers [2] . Applicants should take advantage of technological advances in AI tools which open new opportunities to collect, combine and analyse large datasets of diverse types, including multi-omics patient data, tumour molecular profiles, immune profiles, medical images and real word data. Age, sex and gender differences should be duly considered. When relevant, proposals should build on current approaches, standards, data repositories and use modelling assets including but not limited to those provided by the future Advanced VHT Platform [3] , the European Open Science Cloud [4] , the European 1M+ Genomes [5] and the European Cancer Imaging initiatives [6] . The applicants should address all of the following activities: To develop innovative, dynamic multiscale VHTs for advancing the mechanistic knowledge and understanding of cancer onset and progression and develop or improve innovative personalised treatments. VHTs should integrate AI tools for the analysis of large volumes of FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) multimodal data, increasing their predictive capability and, when appropriate, utilise IT solutions for model visualisation via Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality. To update and validate VHTs with longitudinal newly collected or existing FAIR patient data and generate evidence that VHT models can deliver clinically meaningful observations to improve treatment of the studied cancer type, demonstrating VHT accessibility and usability for clinical uptake. The use of data and services provided by ESFRI research infrastructures in the life science domain [7] should be considered when appropriate. To enrich and make available data and model assets in the UNCAN.eu research platform and in the Advanced VHT Platform following the principles of open science. Newly collected patient datasets must be described with metadata records in the EU dataset catalogue of the European Health Data Space. Collaboration among different scientific disciplines, including healthcare professionals and patients throughout all stages of VHTs development is envisaged [8] . Successful proposals will be asked to join the 'Understanding' project cluster of the EU Cancer Mission [9] and should include a budget for networking, attendance at meetings and joint activities [10] . The Commission will facilitate coordination of this activity. Collaboration is encouraged also with Horizon Europe projects supporting the VHT initiative [11] , as appropriate. Applicants envisaging to include clinical studies should provide details in the dedicated annex using the template provided in the submission system. [1] See the ‘European Virtual Human Twin’ Coordination and Support Action, EDITH, funded under the DIGITAL programme https://www.edith-csa.eu/ [2] Age at first diagnosis 0-19 years [3] https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/funding/platform-advanced-virtual-human-twin-vht-models [4] https://research-and-innovation.ec.europa.eu/strategy/strategy-research-and-innovation/our-digital-future/open-science/european-open-science-cloud-eosc_en [5] European '1+ Million Genomes' Initiative | Shaping Europe’s digital future [6] E uropean Cancer Imaging Initiative | Shaping Europe’s digital future [7] https://lifescience-ri.eu/home.html [8] Proposals should include an appropriate mix of stakeholders from various disciplines and sectors, including but not limited to medical doctors, patient representatives, health-IT experts, researchers, AI-experts, solution providers, academia and research institutes, EU research infrastructures, and SMEs [9] In order to address the objectives of the Cancer Mission, participants will collaborate in project clusters to leverage EU-funding, increase networking across sectors and disciplines, and establish a portfolio of Cancer Mission R&I and policy actions [10] Examples of those activities are organising joint workshops, establishing best practices, joint communication or citizen engagement activities with projects funded under other clusters and pillars of Horizon Europe, or other EU programmes, as appropriate. Proposals are not required to include details of these activities, as they will be defined during the grant agreement preparation and during the life of the project [11] Including the projects funded under call HORIZON-HLTH-2023-TOOL-05-03, https://hadea.ec.europa.eu/calls-proposals/horizon-europe-health-calls-2023-destination-5-unlocking-full-potential-new-tools-technologies-and_en
Conditions and documents
General conditions 1. Admissibility Conditions: Proposal page limit and layout described in Annex A and Annex E of the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes. Proposal page limits and layout: described in Part B of the Application Form available in the Submission System. 2. Eligible Countries described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes. A number of non-EU/non-Associated Countries that are not automatically eligible for funding have made specific provisions for making funding available for their participants in Horizon Europe projects. See the information in the Horizon Europe Programme Guide . 3. Other Eligible Conditions Subject to restrictions for the protection of European communication networks. described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes. 4. Financial and operational capacity and exclusion described in Annex C of the Work Programme General Annexes. 5a. Evaluation and award: Award criteria, scoring and thresholds are described in Annex D of the Work Programme General Annexes. 5b. Evaluation and award: Submission and evaluation processes The thresholds for each criterion will be 4 (Excellence), 4 (Impact) and 4 (Implementation). The cumulative threshold is 12. are described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes and the Online Manual . 5c. Evaluation and award: Indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes. 6. Legal and financial set-up of the grants The granting authority may, up to 4 years after the end of the action, object to a transfer of ownership or to the exclusive licensing of results, as set out in the specific provision of Annex 5. described in Annex G of the Work Programme General Annexes. Specific conditions described in the [specific topic of the Work Programme] Application and evaluation forms and model grant agreement (MGA): Application form templates — the application form specific to this call is available in the Submission System Standard application form (HE RIA, IA) Evaluation form templates — will be used with the necessary adaptations Standard evaluation form (HE RIA, IA) Guidance HE Programme Guide Model Grant Agreements (MGA) HE MGA Call-specific instructions Information on clinical studies (HE) Additional documents: HE Main Work Programme 2026-2027 – 1. General Introduction HE Main Work Programme 2026-2027 – 12. Missions HE Main Work Programme 2026-2027 – 15. General Annexes HE Programme Guide HE Framework Programme 2021/695 HE Specific Programme Decision 2021/764 EU Financial Regulation 2024/2509 Rules for Legal Entity Validation, LEAR Appointment and Financial Capacity Assessment EU Grants AGA — Annotated Model Grant Agreement Funding & Tenders Portal Online Manual Funding & Tenders Portal Terms and Conditions Funding & Tenders Portal Privacy Statement
Budget overview
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