Complementarity of Partners
To guarantee success, the partners of the consortium must cover the entire spectrum of project needs. Aiming at implementing a pragmatic clinical study, the IMPORTANT consortium includes 19 organisations with 8 clinical sites (ORB, AHUS, HUS, RUL, LHUTC, UNIFI, HCB, HECOG) and 4 from the cancer medical domain (CARE, IMTA, PHAZE, BCF).
These partners, with a long experience in the area of clinical studies, can ensure that all critical activities (patient recruitment and support, clinical study monitoring, decentralised operations, analysis of results, engagement with external healthcare stakeholders, monitoring of relevant regulations and policies etc.) will be completed efficiently and with minimum risk of failure or delay.
Furthermore the 3 academics will bring necessary expertise SSH on the fields of psychology, cognitive neuroscience of aging (UNED), user experience (FHNW) and system orchestration, security and privacy (UPAT). A non-profit organization (CEF) focused on circular economy will cover and steer all innovation and exploitation opportunities.
Finally, for the 2 non-healthcare SMEs, one of them will monitor project’s legal and ethical aspects (EUNL), and the other (SLC) will address any required technical
The Consortium
OREBRO LANS LANDSTING (ORB)
ORB is participating in the IMPORTANT project with the Department of Oncology, Faculty of Medicine and Health of Örebro University. This is an Academic department with a broad spectrum of clinical activities including medical oncology (chemotherapy, targeted therapies, immunotherapy) and radiotherapy (both external and brachytherapy) for all types of malignant diseases as well as several research programs with clinical trials, epidemiological studies, and meta-analyses.
Role: Using its core expertise in clinical studies, ORB will lead the IMPORTANT project from the critical positions of Project Coordinator and Clinical Coordinator. It will also act as the SPONSOR of the IMPORTANT clinical study and one of the participating clinical sites.
PANEPISTIMIO PATRON (UPAT)
UPAT is the 3rd largest university in Greece participating through the Wire Communications and Information Technologies Laboratory (WCL) of at the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. UPAT has a great participation record in R&D projects and the participating lab has an excellent expertise on systems and infrastructures orchestration, security and privacy. It has participated in various EU projects, also focusing on cancer care.
Role: UPAT will contribute to the technical activities and the security and privacy aspects of the IMPORTANT project. Also, it will offer infrastructure resources (UPAT private cloud) for deployment and testing of technical tools for the DCT.
UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI FIRENZE (UNIFI)
The University of Florence is an important and influential centre for research and higher training in Italy, with 1,800 lecturers and internal research staff, 1,600 technical and administrative staff, and over 1,600 research assistants and doctoral students. Inside this project, UNIFI participates with the Department of Experimental Biomedical Sciences and Clinics.
Role: UNIFI will be one of the clinical sites participating the IMPORTANT clinical
study and participate in external stakeholders’ engagement activities.
AZIENDA UNITA' SANITARIA LOCALE TOSCANA CENTRO (LHUTC)
LHUTC is part of the Azienda USL Toscana centro which incorporates the former Ausl of Florence, Empoli, Prato and Pistoia and includes with an area of 5,000 square kilometers, 1,500,000 patients, over 14,000 employees, 13 hospitals, 220 territorial structures, 8 District Zones and 7 Health Societies.
Role: LHUTC will be one of the clinical sites participating the IMPORTANT clinical study and participate in external stakeholders’ engagement activities.
HUS-YHTYMA (HUS)
HUS is Finland’s largest hospital district. HUS Comprehensive Cancer Center is Finland’s largest cancer research center, with more than 150 ongoing studies annually. It carries out cancer treatment and clinical cancer pharmaceutical studies as academic research and in cooperation with pharmaceutical companies. With clinical pharmaceutical studies, we are increasing patients’ access to treatments with medicines that are not yet publicly available. Currently it participates in 7 ongoing clinical studies for breast cancer.
Role: HUS will be one of the clinical sites participating the IMPORTANT clinical study and participate in external stakeholders’ engagement activities.
INSTITUTE FOR MEDICAL TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT BV (IMTA)
Since its foundation in 1988, iMTA has played a key role in HTA research in the Netherlands, in Europe and worldwide. iMTA offers expertise in health economic modelling, cost analysis, and outcomes research and is dedicated to the use of cost-effectiveness information in healthcare decision making. Its staff consists of about 30 scientists from different disciplines, including economics, econometrics, medicine, psychology, epidemiology, mathematics and pharmacy.
Role: IMTA will organize and participate in the analysis activities performed inside the IMPORTANT project as well as engagement with healthcare stakeholders.
SECURITY LABS CONSULTING LIMITED (SLC)
SLC specializes in Cyber Security Risk Assessment and Management, Cyber Threat Management, Secure Software Systems Lifecycle, and Privacy-by-Design. It provides innovative solutions, underpinned by strong research, and consulting services that empower organisations, businesses and governments to achieve their goals without compromising on security and privacy.
Role: SLC will be the technical coordinator of IMPORTANT contributing to the technical, security and privacy aspects of the IMPORTANT project.
CIRCULAR ECONOMY FOUNDATION (CEF)
The Circular Economy Foundation is a Brussels-based non-profit organization established with the sole purpose of enhancing the efforts of the European Union in achieving the fusion of digitalization and circular economy. Its services are provided with respect to the limitations of the finite resources towards restorative and regenerative models for a sustained future.
Role: CEF will organize all exploitation and impact creation activities and also contribute expertise in the study’s economic analyses.
UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL DE EDUCACION A DISTANCIA (UNED)
UNED is the biggest public university in Spain in terms of both number of students (more than 200,000 students) and academic offerings, as well as the largest campus in Europe offering quality Higher Education through an online and blended learning model leader in its sector. The department of Basic Psychology II and the Aging and Cognition Lab have an excellent research background in implicit and explicit memory in normal and pathological aging, attention, cross-modal priming and cognitive neuroscience of aging.
Role: UNED will bring disciplines from social sciences related to patient management (e.g., self-compassion).
ELLINIKI SYNERGAZOMENI OGKOLOGIKI OMADA (HECOG)
The ΗeLLENIC COOPERATIVE ONCOLOGY GROUP (HeCOG) is a non-profit scientific organisation that consists of leading physicians and other scientists, members of the Medical Oncologic community. It collaborates with more than 20 oncology centers across 2 countries (Greece and Cyprus) and 6 cities and a Laboratory of Molecular Oncology (LMO) conducting molecular/genetic research in cancer with clinical and histological correlations.
Role: HECOG is network that will bring multiple clinical sites inside the IMPORTANT clinical study.
AKERSHUS UNIVERSITETSSYKEHUS HF (AHUS)
Akershus University Hospital (AHUS) is a local and area hospital for approximately 560,000 inhabitants with focus on patient treatment, research, teaching and patient education. AHUS is affiliated with the University of Oslo. AHUS has extensive research activities, and research is part of our core business. The Department of Oncology in AHUS is driving both clinical and translational cancer research with main focus on breast cancer, cardio-oncology, virus infection and carcinogenesis, and melanoma.
Role: AHUS will be one of the clinical sites participating the IMPORTANT clinical study and participate in external stakeholders’ engagement activities.
REGION UPPSALA (RUL)
Akademiska sjukhuset – Uppsala University Hospital is one of the largest hospitals in Sweden and the oldest university hospital in the country. The hospital employs a great many world-leading specialists who provide successful and advanced healthcare services. Uppsala University Hospital is one of the leading university hospitals for cancer treatments in Sweden working with centralized and standardized cancer care.
Role: RUL will be one of the clinical sites participating the IMPORTANT clinical study and participate in external stakeholders’ engagement activities.
FUNDACIO DE RECERCA CLINIC BARCELONA-INSTITUT D INVESTIGACIONS BIOMEDIQUES AUGUST PI I SUNYER (FCRB)
Fundació Clínic per a la Recerca Biomèdica (FCRB) was created to manage and promote the research activities of Hospital Clínic i Provincial de Barcelona (HCB). Fundació Clínic per a la Recerca Biomèdica (FCRB) was created in 1989 to manage, and promote the research activities of Hospital Clínic de Barcelona (HCB), one of the best hospitals in Spain. FCRB perform the research of HCB.
Role: FCRB will perform the research for the patients recruited in the HCB clinical site, participate in external stakeholders’ engagement activities.
PHAZE KLINIKI EREVNA & FARMAKEFTIKES SYMVOULES ANONYMI ETAIREIA (PHAZE)
Phaze S.A. is a Contract Research Organization (CRO) established in April 2010, in Athens, Greece, offering a wide range of services in the Clinical Research field. Their team consists of dedicated & experienced Clinical Research professionals offering high-quality tailor-made services to Pharmaceutical & Biotechnology companies as well as CROs and other Research Institutions.
Role: PHAZE will support the clinical sites, submit ethics applications as well as regulatory applications and perform clinical trial monitoring, and data verification and quality checks (data in EDC).
BROSTCANCERFORBUNDET (BCF)
Bröstcancerförbundet is the Swedish Breast Cancer Patient Association. The Association has 11000 members and includes 33 local patient advocacies in Sweden. It was established in 1982 and since then it has been focused on financing breast cancer research, supporting patients with breast cancer, and participating in discussion on policy- making about breast cancer.
Role: Inside this project BCF will act as patients’ advocacy, connect with external stakeholders and engage in activities relevant to EU healthcare regulations and policy making.
EUNOMIA LIMITED (EUNL)
EUNOMIA is a company build to provide analysis of security, privacy, and ethical issues of systems and services from both the legal and the technological perspective. This approach applies to the provisioning of guidance regarding compliance with the relevant applicable regulations at the EU level, such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Regulation on the free flow of non-personal data, the Directive on security of Networks and Information Systems (NIS) etc.
Role: Inside this project EUNL will monitor all the legal and ethical aspects considering the design and implementation of the study as well as data management, IPR issues, EU healthcare regulatory and policies monitoring etc.
OREBRO UNIVERSITY (ORU)
ORU is an Affiliated Entity of ORB. Örebro University (ORU) is a modern university with a broad scientific base and the ambition of building research and education for the future. It is one of Sweden’s most expansive universities with 16,000 students, 490 doctoral students and 1,700 staff. ORU offers 85 degree programs, with a total of 920 courses across 8 Schools. At the School of Medical Sciences, research and education is offered within a number of specialities in close collaboration with Region Örebro County and the health care organisation at the University Hospital Örebro. The medical research is primarily patient-oriented and encompasses studies of common diseases, focusing on everything from genetic and molecular aspects to pathophysiology, symptoms and treatment. The school is host to a number of strong research environments.
Role: In the IMPORTANT project, Örebro University will facilitate project coordination tasks, assist with management duties, and administrative dissemination tasks.
HOSPITAL CLINIC DE BARCELONA (HCB)
HCB is an affiliated Entity of FCRB. HCB is a university tertiary hospital located in Barcelona with a long reputation of excellence in care provision, training and research at national and international level. It is a community hospital that employs around 4,000 workers (23% doctors, 55% nurses and 22% clerical and other supportive stuff). The institution is very active in scientific research and has a strong track record working in European projects and has a dedicated European Projects Office (OPE).
Role: HCB will be the clinical site on the IMPRTANT clinical study and FCRB will perform the research of the trial in its premises. It will also participate in external stakeholders’ engagement activities.
FACHHOCHSCHULE NORDWESTSCHWEIZ (FHNW)
FHNW is one of Switzerland’s leading universities of applied sciences and arts, actively involved in teaching, research, continuing education and service provision. The nine schools of the FHNW cover a broad spectrum of subjects and enable diverse, interdisciplinary research.
Role: Inside the IMPORTANT project, FHNW will also bring contributions for social sciences like art, user experience, techniques for engaging with older or less tech-savvy people.
CARE ACROSS LTD (CARE)
CARE is an SME focusing on people diagnosed with cancer and their caregivers using advanced technology. It offers personalised services that aim at improving their quality of life. It prides itself in being a responsible content creator and facilitator of patient “education”, while strengthening the relationship between the patients/caregivers and healthcare professionals. It is supported by a Scientific Committee comprised of 30 experts from 20 countries, 7 of them being current or past Presidents of European or American Oncology Societies. CARE is an Associated Partner of the Consortium.
Role: Inside the project CARE is offering its platform for ePROMs, supporting the implementation of the DCT.