Project description
Advancing cellular immunotherapy with virtual twins
The EU-funded CERTAINTY project is dedicated to enhancing cancer treatment through the development of virtual twins for CAR T cell therapy, utilising patients' own cells. Born from the need to make this innovative therapy more accessible and personalised, CERTAINTY will employ sophisticated computational models and real-world patient data to create digital replicas that mirror individual health conditions. These virtual twins could refine treatment strategies for cancers like multiple myeloma and are designed to predict patient responses to therapy. Integrated into the Digital Europe Programme, the project plans to adapt its technology to other cellular therapies. By merging cutting-edge technology with clinical data, CERTAINTY will support more personalised and potentially effective treatments, making advanced therapies more accessible and improving healthcare outcomes through informed decision-making.
Objective
"This project aims to create a multi-scale patient-specific human virtual twin for patients who are eligible for CAR T cell therapy, which can be extended to cellular immunotherapies in general. The virtual twin will be fully integrated into the ecosystem under the Digital Europe Programme and will be available as a research-use-only prototype in relevant application environments with technology readiness level 6. The virtual twin will support decision-making throughout the patient's journey, from diagnosis to pre-treatments, cellular immunotherapy, and late patient monitoring. This will enable patients and health experts to identify the most effective course of therapy.
The virtual twin for cellular immunotherapies will take multi-scale modelling to the next level by providing methodological concepts for integrating ""living drugs"" such as CAR T cells into the human virtual twin ecosystem.
To achieve this goal, the project builds on existing data models for hematological malignancies and multiple myeloma (MM) to create a virtual twin for CAR T cell therapy for MM patients. The implementation process follows software development principles for software as medical devices, ensuring the exploitation of the research-use-only prototype. Patient's, SSH, gender differences, and other stakeholders' perspectives are fully integrated into the design, specification, and implementation process.
Throughout the implementation process, a modular software architecture and extensible ontologies/terminologies are utilized, making the reference model easily transferable to other indications that can be treated with CAR T cell therapy or other cellular immunotherapies. Overall, the CERTAINTY virtual twin will provide decision support for patients and health experts, improving the effectiveness of cellular immunotherapies and advancing precision medicine."
Fields of science
- natural sciencescomputer and information sciencessoftwaresoftware development
- medical and health sciencesclinical medicineoncology
- medical and health scienceshealth sciencespersonalized medicine
- medical and health sciencesbasic medicineimmunologyimmunotherapy
- medical and health sciencesmedical biotechnologycells technologies
Keywords
Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
HORIZON-RIA - HORIZON Research and Innovation ActionsCoordinator
80686 Munchen
Germany