Linking excellence in biomedical knowledge and computational intelligence research for personalized management of CVD within PHC

Project Information

LINK

Grant agreement ID: 692023

DOI

10.3030/692023

Project closed

EC signature date 23 October 2015

Start date 1 January 2016

End date 31 December 2018

Funded under

• Twinning of research institutions

Total cost

€ 1 010 590,00

EU contribution

€ 1 010 590,00

Coordinated by

UNIVERSIDADE DE COIMBRA
Portugal

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - LINK (Linking excellence in biomedical knowledge and computational intelligence research for personalized management of CVD within PHC)

Reporting period: 2017-04-01 to 2018-12-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Our vision is that LiNK project will deepen cooperation between two international leading research centres and a research institution of a widening region in the area of intelligent processing to support cardiovascular disease management in PHC, by identifying common research interests and by exploring synergies and knowhow to address specific research questions, create an increased momentum in scientific excellence and international impact, and an intensified continuum in EU participation.
The strategic goals of LiNK are clustered into 5 broad objectives:
Objective 1: To define a research agenda.
LiNK builds on top of a research forum with key scientific organizations, academics, industrial actors as well as societal actors that have contributed to advancement and deployment of intelligent algorithms for PHC for CVD management in order to identify key gaps and to define, a structured research agenda for the project.
Objective 2: To deepen the link between research institutions in a sustainable way.
One of the main goals of LiNK is to deepen the cooperation links between the three research institutions in a sustainable manner in the mid/long term by identifying and deepening common scientific interests, by exploring common resources and by sharing outcomes.
Objective 3: To enhance S&T excellence in intelligent algorithms for PHC for CVD management.
LiNK is contributing to close gaps in patient-specific predictive algorithms by defining and implementing research tracks involving some of these key issues. Research questions identified in these research tracks are being used as contexts for shared advanced training, such as in PhD thesis and post-docs.
Objective 4: To increase international impact and recognition.
LiNK is cooperating with international leading organizations in the biomedical field in order to deepen involvement of its members at the international level.
Objective 5: To enhance Innovation and Inclusion
LiNK has established an innovation forum involving key international players as well as key regional players in the PHC area in order to identify gaps and industrial needs to foster innovation culture in PHC.

These goals were fully achieved by the project.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

Link established a research forum for intelligent algorithms for PHC in CVD management (23 experts) which helped the consortium to identify the key gaps in intelligent processing for PHC, leading to a structured research agenda to coordinate the area and to be used inside the project.
A research agenda in Personalised Health Care (PHC) for Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) management has been elaborated to serve as roadmap beyond the project, which will enhance S&T excellence of LINK institutions but also for the entire community in systems for pHealth solutions for CVD management.
Three specific research tracks (RT) have been defined to be jointly pursued inside the project based on the identified gaps and challenges in the research agenda. These RT and the implemented activities are a strong foundation for common research activities beyond the project. Namely,LINK has identified and developed 5 Concept ideas aligned with H2020 goals. Seven H2020, four P2020 (Portuguese programme) and two EIT-Health project proposals have been identified and have been submitted.
A shared resources repository has been put in place to support the pursue of the common RTs, consisting in (1) Data of interest and (2) Processing toolboxes.

Regarding the enhancement of S&T excellence, efforts were mainly dedicated to the use of the research questions identified in the RTs as contexts for shared advanced training such as in PhD thesis development and post-doc programs. Two post-doc and 14 PhD thesis have been implemented (an increase of 180%).

Increased international impact and recognition has been achieved through the definition of a reference curricula in intelligent algorithms for PHC in CVD management, organization of 19 International Scientific Events such as Conferences and Workshops, co-organization of a Summer School and further cooperation with international leading organizations in the biomedical field (IFMBE, IEEE-EMBS).

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

The common research activities started inside the RTs have already led to some progress beyond the SoA in some of the identified areas:


RT1 - Stratification and diagnosis, the main advances have been on the development of interpretable models for cardiovascular risk assessment and stratification, algorithms for the detection of cardiovascular and cardiorespiratory conditions. Furthermore, algorithms for the estimation of the cardio-respiratory coupling have been developed for the identification of stress conditions, which constitute a risk factor for cardiovascular patients.

RT2 - Personalized predictions, the main advances were on the development of models able to produce an understandable decision by the clinicians. The work performed in this field focused on the development of interpretable models to assess the patient’s condition based on supervised clustering theories, fusion strategies and case-based reasoning for Heart Failure decompensation, hyptertension, glucose level prediction and epileptic seizures . Furthermore, algorithms for the detection of changes of emotional and stress-related physiological response, particularly using modulations of the autonomic nervous system, during cognitive/stress demanding tasks (e.g. software coding and analysis) have been developed based on a multimodal bio-signal analysis.

RT3 - Integrated care and process mining, the main advances have been on the implementation of Process Mining tools aiming to provide researchers with proper frameworks to further advance the research in this field. An interactive process mining technique has been researched and is being evaluated to support daily clinical practice in the management of cardiovascular diseases (e.g. How do the Stroke processes times affect patients cognitive deterioration).

One of the potential impacts aimed at LiNK is to increase international impact, visibility and leadership:
(1) The number of citation in the consortium increased by 94% during the project (widening partner 52%);
(2) The achieved global funding for research by the widening partner increased 25% overall. The international competitive funding (H2020, EIT-Health, etc.) increased 211% during the period for the widening partner.
(3) The number of PhD students in the widening partner increased 180%
(4) Key positions in major scientific organizations:
- Coordination of the Working Group on Health Informatics and e-Health, of the IFMBE;
- Associate Editor of the IEEE Journal of Biomedical and Health Informatics;
- Membership of Technical Committee of the Cardiopulmonary System of the IEEE;
- Membership of Technical Committee on Biomedical Signal Processing of the IEEE.
- Chair of the 2019 edition of the Mediterranean Conference on Medical and Biological Engineering and Computing
- Invited keynote at the Gordon Research Conferences on Health Informatics
(5) a clear roadmap for research in the mid/long-Term


Another impact aspired by LINK is related to the increase of attractiveness to PhD students and Post-Docs through its immersive international research ecosystem and cutting–edge research questions. This has already increased in 180% the number of PhD students enrolled.

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