Open Info Day Horizon 2020: “Health, demographic change and wellbeing”

This month ELF attended the Open Info Day Horizon 2020 “Health, demographic change and wellbeing” in Brussels.

The area of health and research benefits from funding through a series of programmes created by the European Commission (EC). These include the Horizon 2020 programme and the Innovative Medicines Initiative.

For 2017, one of the top priorities in research is personalised medicine. Pioneering projects on new therapies on and profiling of rare conditions will also be funded. Areas of e/m-health and coaching tools will also be included, specifically in topics connected to healthy ageing. The EC is keen on maintaining a patient-centred approach, working towards patient empowerment.

During the conference, Ruxandra Draghia-Akli, Director of the Health Directorate at the Directorate-General of Research and Innovation at the EC, covered some key points including that:

• Research and innovation are a growing priority for the EU and that the H2020 programme supports European priorities in terms of health and demographic changes
• The EC is going to develop a set of rules to be implemented by all funding bodies to make processes simpler for all the organisations applying for funding
• In light of Brexit, the EC has reassured that nothing changes in the short term and urged all beneficiaries of the programme to continue with business as usual