EATRIS Connect: a new European project focusing on adoption and application of digital tools in health systems, with the leadership of IRYCIS
EATRIS-Connect is an initiative funded by the UE, which is meant to use digital transformation as a tool to boost translational medicine. Coordinated by EATRIS (European distributed infrastructure), it is a 3-year-project in which 21 organisations all around Europe participate as partners (101130349).
The project will boost transnational collaboration towards adoption and use of new digital tools and will help to settle European research infrastructures (RI), fostering interdisciplinary teamwork between them. Altogether, they will explore how innovation in the digital world can be unlocked and implemented in clinical practice by use cases.
This almost-4-million-euro project will also reinforce EATRIS national nodes role at the design of national priorities roadmaps and at the transformation of their Health Systems, enabling each country to strengthen their digital skills and contributing to EATRIS long-term sustainability. The final objective of this project will be delivering EATRIS Digital Hub, an open-access toolkit that will be full of resources such as validated process protocols, standard operating procedures, quality and regulatory frameworks, gold standards and best practices. The Digital Hub content and usefulness will be provided by the WP6 (EATRIS Digital Hub in the context of use: the pancreatic cancer AI use case) led by Dr García Bermejo at IRYCIS (SERMAS). In the WP6, 8 Spanish Health Research Institutes from 7 different Spain Regions (i12, ibs.Granada, IIS BIOGIPUZKOA, IIS Aragon, IDIS, IS La Fe, IDIVAL), will work together for demonstrating the usefulness of AI in identification of population at risk and early diagnosis of pancreas cancer, establishing best practices and supporting EATRIS healthcare institutions in adoption. Moreover, procedures established in Spain will be validated by other European Institutions (Radboud in The Netherlands, University of Helsinki in Finland, UPOL in Checz Republic, among others), led by IRYCIS.
Dr García Bermejo, Head of Biomarkers and therapeutics targets Group (Area 4), National Director of EATRIS Spanish Node and IRYCIS Scientific Director, is the Principal Investigator steering a very skilled and multidisciplinary team. Special recognition to Dr Sicilia Urbán and Dr García Barriocanal (Biomedical Data Science and engineering group, Area 4), Dr Earl and Dr Rodríguez Garrote (Biomarkers and personalized approach to Cancer - BioPAC - group, Area 3), Dr García García de Paredes (Liver and digestive diseases group, Area 5), Dr Conde Moreno (Biomarkers and therapeutics targets Unit) and Dr Fernández Lanza (Genomics and Bioinformatics Unit).
The kick-off meeting took place in Utrecht, the past May 14th 2024. Dr García Bermejo and Dr Sicilia Urban attended the gathering in which Dr Garcia Bermejo presented the WP6 tasks and expected milestones and deliverables and she also chaired a panel related to the pancreatic cancer AI use case, including the inspiring testimony of Richard Buck, a PC patient and IRYCIS close collaborator. 
Congratulations to IRYCIS Team for its strong leadership in this new European project focused on the generation of AI tools for improving the pancreas cancer patients´ life. Moreover, E-Connect is perfectly aligned with the IRYCIS strategy for our own Digital Transformation contributing to the European Health Space construction.
