News

ELF in EU projects in 2022

Find out the latest about ELF’s involvement in EU projects.

Moving into 2022, ELF is proud to be part of many exciting EU-funded projects. We want to make sure you are informed about all the activities happening and know how you can get involved.

If you would like to get involved in any EU projects please get in touch with us at info@europeanlung.org. We would also encourage you to take the EU-funded projects module as part of the European Patient Ambassador Programme (EPAP) to learn more about the role you or your organisations can play.

OPTIMA – lung cancer


OPTIMA is an Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI)-funded EU project aiming to ensure that every patient with lung, prostate and breast cancer has access to the most up-to-date, individualised treatments and innovative therapies. It will do this by giving patients and their healthcare providers the tools to make decisions together. By using new computer technologies, Optima will make clinical information more accessible. It will combine information from different clinical guidelines to personalise treatment for each patient and their needs.

ELF, together with the European Cancer Patient Coalition (ECPC), will manage the patient advisory group for the project, as well as communication and dissemination to patients and the public.

It is fantastic that Lung Cancer Europe (LuCE) have a representative on the Patient Advisory Board, as well as a representative from the ELF Lung Cancer Patient Advisory Group.

We invite any organisations working in the field of lung cancer to join the stakeholder group of the project to be kept informed and up-to-date with progress. For more information please contact clare.williams@europeanlung.org

www.optima-oncology.eu

UNITE4TB – tuberculosis


UNITE4TB is funded by the IMI AMR accelerator and aims to develop better-tolerated drug regimens of shorter duration that can be used to improve the lives of people living with TB.

Over the next 7 years, ELF will manage a Community Advisory Group (CAG) to input into all aspects of the project. ELF will also be involved in communicating and disseminating news from the project to patients and the public. We are delighted that some members of the ELF patient network have joined us on the CAB.

We invite any organisation working in the field of TB to join the stakeholder group of the project to be kept informed and up-to-date with progress. For more information please contact clare.williams@europeanlung.org

www.unite4tb.org

DRAGON – COVID-19 and digital health


DRAGON is an IMI-funded project which started in the middle of the 2nd wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. DRAGON is focussed on the diagnosis and management of COVID-19 and future pandemics using AI.

ELF has brought together a COVID Patient and Community Advisory Group to help lead the project, which many organisations from the ELF network are part of.

In 2022, DRAGON will focus on producing information materials about digital health and AI and providing updates on long-COVID. For more information on the advisory group please contact clare.williams@europeanlung.org or to learn more about the materials we are producing please contact Jessica.denning@europeanlung.org

www.europeanlung.org/dragon

3TR – asthma and COPD


3TR is another IMI-funded project, focusing on autoimmune, inflammatory and allergic diseases – including COPD and severe asthma. The project aims to provide insights into mechanisms of response and non-response to treatment across different diseases.

ELF is pleased to be running the cross-disease patient forum for this project, and to be running the asthma and COPD Patient Advisory Group together with European Federation of Allergy and Airways Diseases Patients’ Associations (EFA).

In the first 3 years of the project, ELF and EFA have been working closely to coordinate input from asthma patients into the project.

Currently 3TR is recruiting patients, parents and carers to help define treatment ‘response’ in severe asthma. They are also disseminating a Core Outcome Set for severe asthma to research and patient communities, which sets out the factors, such as quality of life and lung function, that should be measured in all future research studies. See the recruitment flyer.

The focus for 2022 will be on COPD and new research to understand why some patients do not respond to current treatments. For more information please contact courtney.coleman@europeanlung.org

https://3tr-imi.eu/

BETTER B – breathlessness in chronic lung disease


BETTER-B is a HORIZON2020-funded study involving international breathlessness experts from respiratory, palliative care and rehabilitative specialisms. The project is testing whether an antidepressant can be repurposed to help in managing breathlessness. ELF is involved in communication and dissemination.

The project is currently recruiting individuals to take part in the study in the UK, Germany, Ireland, Italy and Poland.

If you meet the following criteria, you may be eligible to take part:

  • You have COPD or ILD (including chronic fibrotic lung disease following SARS-CoV-2 infection)
  • You experience breathlessness and need to stop for breath after walking around 100m or after a few minutes or while dressing/undressing
  • You are over 18 years old
  • You are receiving the recommended treatment for your condition
  • The management of your condition has not changed in the last 2 weeks

If you are interested in taking part or are able to share more details of this opportunity, then please contact jessica.denning@europeanlung.org

https://betterbreathe.eu/

DiscovAIR – mapping of the human lung in health and disease


DiscovAIR is a HORIZON2020 funded project that is developing a lung cell atlas. This will be a 3D reconstruction of how the cells in the lungs interact with other cells and certain medications, and how the lungs in people with lung diseases are different from those without disease.

The project will be coming to an end in 2022 and ELF is working with the project members to share the findings with patients and the public. A lay overview of the project can be found here: https://europeanlung.org/en/discovair/

For more information please contact jessica.denning@europeanlung.org

https://discovair.org/

FAIR – a new way of delivering antibiotics for lung infections


The EU-funded FAIR project aims to look at a new way of delivering antibiotics for the treatment of pneumonia and other respiratory infections. The research focuses on a medicine called flagellin that enhances the way a person’s immune system responds to infections.

FAIR want to learn about people’s attitudes towards a new treatment for lung infections. They want to understand what makes people feel a certain way and what changes they might need to take to make the treatment more suitable for patients and their doctors and nurses.

If you would be willing to complete a survey to contribute to the project, please go here: https://europeanlung.org/en/get-involved/surveys/study-on-new-treatment-for-lung-infections/

There is also the opportunity to partner on factsheets on pneumonia and antimicrobial resistance for any interested organisations.

For more information please contact courtney.coleman@europeanlung.org

https://fair-flagellin.eu/