Periodic Reporting for period 1 - HELICAL (HEalth data LInkage for ClinicAL benefit)
Okres sprawozdawczy: 2019-01-01 do 2020-12-31
The overall goal of HELICAL is to establish a European training network to prepare the next generation of Health Informatics Researchers. Advances in information science and artificial intelligence provide unprecedented opportunities for using these datasets to study the complex biology of these disorders, how this is influenced by environmental triggers, and to personalise their management. Currently, exploitation of these opportunities is severely limited by the shortage of researchers with the required informatics skills, knowledge of requisite data protection and stewardship principles, and understanding of the clinical context.
HELICAL addresses this unmet need by developing a trans-sectoral and interdisciplinary training programme that builds on the expertise and existing collaborations of its partners. It uses autoimmune vasculitis as a paradigm because it is scalable, the analysis of different forms will allow the influence of age and gender to be assessed, and comprehensive biological and clinical datasets are already available.
The HELICAL training programme focuses on three complementary objectives:
1. application of informatics to such datasets to gain new biological insights
2. translation of biological into practical clinical outputs
3. identification of the novel ethical constraints imposed on such studies and development of strategies to manage them.
The programme is delivered through a multidisciplinary and trans-sectoral partnership of world-leading researchers from Academia and Industry with expertise in biomedical research, epidemiology, statistics, machine learning, health data governance and ethics.
HELICAL addresses this unmet need by developing a trans-sectoral and interdisciplinary training programme that builds on the expertise and existing collaborations of its partners. It uses autoimmune vasculitis as a paradigm because it is scalable, the analysis of different forms will allow the influence of age and gender to be assessed, and comprehensive biological and clinical datasets are already available.
The HELICAL training programme focuses on three complementary objectives:
1. application of informatics to such datasets to gain new biological insights
2. translation of biological into practical clinical outputs
3. identification of the novel ethical constraints imposed on such studies and development of strategies to manage them.
The programme is delivered through a multidisciplinary and trans-sectoral partnership of world-leading researchers from Academia and Industry with expertise in biomedical research, epidemiology, statistics, machine learning, health data governance and ethics.
HELICAL began its work on 1/1/19, focusing initially on assembling an excellent cohort of 15 ESRs, aligned across four scientific work packages. It is leveraging the large European vasculitis registry and biobank resources developed over the last decade to learn about the environmental impacts on both vasculitis onset and flare (WP1). By providing training in cutting edge computer science and artificial intelligence techniques across academic and industry sectors, we are moving towards predictive physician tools that can provide advance warning of flare. Further application of such advanced analytical approaches by the three leading European investigators in large vessel vasculitis is also informing early development of novel therapies (WP2), while innovative proteomic and histological image analysis techniques are illuminating novel biomarker ensembles (WP3). Underpinning these three work packages, and generating a new ethical framework for application of such data science techniques in a wide range of chronic diseases, are the foremost proponents of trustworthy linking of clinical data across Europe (WP4).
By the end of 2020, strong progress has been made on meeting the deliverables, mainly relating to administration and management of the programme, and establishment of a solid ethical framework for the research. Despite the global pandemic, all ESRs are well established in their projects, interacting through virtual journal clubs, and HELICAL-linked publications have started to appear. An active dissemination programme has led to a series of 15 second videos, a Science Week installation and lively social media interaction across multiple platforms.
By the end of 2020, strong progress has been made on meeting the deliverables, mainly relating to administration and management of the programme, and establishment of a solid ethical framework for the research. Despite the global pandemic, all ESRs are well established in their projects, interacting through virtual journal clubs, and HELICAL-linked publications have started to appear. An active dissemination programme has led to a series of 15 second videos, a Science Week installation and lively social media interaction across multiple platforms.
HELICAL is first and foremost a training programme: the ESRs will be equipped with skills that will put them to the forefront of an area of expertise that is critical to Europe’s continued success and prosperity, namely clinically meaningful application of informatics skills to link clinical and research data, to bring advances in data science and artificial intelligence to bear on the health of European citizens.
Examples of research progress beyond the state of the art include:
• Successful development of artificial intelligent approaches to working out how a white blood cell gets activated by proteins from the patient’s own body
• A tantalising association between sulphur dioxide pollution and occurrence of vasculitis
• The first epigenetic profiles in specific white cell subsets from patients with vasculitis
• Comprehensive optimisation of isolation of the tiny particles that break off from cells in the body
• Development of a novel artificial intelligence imaging approach to analysing kidney tissue
HELICAL will depart from the current state of the art by fostering a precision medicine approach in vasculitis by developing tools that can identify and predict disease flares, informing the clinician about opportunities to discontinue immunosuppressive medication, and identifying therapeutic strategies that target relevant components of the immune system and blood vessel wall, leaving intact the ability to fight infection and malignancy.
Examples of research progress beyond the state of the art include:
• Successful development of artificial intelligent approaches to working out how a white blood cell gets activated by proteins from the patient’s own body
• A tantalising association between sulphur dioxide pollution and occurrence of vasculitis
• The first epigenetic profiles in specific white cell subsets from patients with vasculitis
• Comprehensive optimisation of isolation of the tiny particles that break off from cells in the body
• Development of a novel artificial intelligence imaging approach to analysing kidney tissue
HELICAL will depart from the current state of the art by fostering a precision medicine approach in vasculitis by developing tools that can identify and predict disease flares, informing the clinician about opportunities to discontinue immunosuppressive medication, and identifying therapeutic strategies that target relevant components of the immune system and blood vessel wall, leaving intact the ability to fight infection and malignancy.