Ethically Responsible INnovations in reproductive medicine

Project Information

ERIN

Grant agreement ID: 952516

DOI

10.3030/952516

Project closed

EC signature date 9 July 2020

Start date 1 September 2020

End date 31 December 2023

Funded under

• Twinning of research institutions

Total cost

€ 899 625,00

EU contribution

€ 899 625,00

Coordinated by

TARTU ULIKOOL
Estonia

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - ERIN (Ethically Responsible INnovations in reproductive medicine)

Reporting period: 2021-12-01 to 2023-12-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

In ERIN we aim for close cooperation and sharing the existing scientific and clinical excellence among the partners to address and overcome two major challenges in reproductive medicine innovations, bringing thereby remarkable change to involved institutions, to the research field, and to society at large.

The two challenges are:
1. Although the innovation and identifying the best solutions to deal with reproductive problems are high on the agenda of every government, research and public community, the scientific discoveries entirely outpace the ethical rules, public awareness and acceptance, creating serious conflicts within the community and thus the urgent need to address these issues.
2. Health care inequities are a serious public health concern. Many treatments in reproductive medicine are not covered by public insurance, and often may disregard the ethical and emotional issues related to human reproduction. Besides economic inequalities, major differences in accessing modern reproductive medicine also stem from the cultural acceptance, public awareness, healthcare professional’s susceptibility to innovation and communication to patients, and availability of technological advances.

By tackling these challenges, the consortium aims to enhance the ethical preparedness of the consortium partners and bring more ethically responsible innovations into clinic that do not harm the interests of the various stakeholders, are evidence-based and cost-effective and therefore could be implemented in a sustainable way to ensure that these novel solutions become widely and equally accessible to as many patients as possible.
The objectives of the project are:
1. to significantly develop capacities at the University of Tartu (UT) in the field of reproductive medicine, by sharing the existing scientific excellence and competencies among the partners with the focus on UT;
2. to better manage the ethical governance system of reproductive research and innovations by defining the underlying ethical challenges and more closely involving the stakeholders and to share the already existing good governance practices, adjusting and composing a comprehensive governance system and
3. to facilitate the equity of access of innovations in the research fields of reproductive medicine.

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

During the 1st period:
An online kick-off meeting was organized in December 2020 which was attended by all project partners and the EC. In November 2020 the webinar “Female Fertility Preservation” was organized. An online winter school was organized in collaboration with another H2020 project MATER. The 3-day MATER/ERIN winter school “Reproductive Genetics and Genomics” took place on February 17th – 19th, 2021. In March 2021 a webinar was organized on NIPT and another webinar about the challenges in donor treatments. In April 2021 a webinar was organized on endometrial receptivity. In May 2021 a webinar was organized on psychosocial counselling in reproductive medicine. The seminar „Reproduction and Gender“ took place in a hybrid format in November 2021.
The consortium partners have written and submitted several joint grant proposals partnering also with high-profile companies in the field of reproductive medicine.
Research publications, press releases and general media publications are collected on the project website: https://erin.ut.ee/publications-0

During the 2nd period:
During the second reporting period 48 peer-reviewed scientific articles were published, 6 press releases and 27 other media articles were also published. The project partners gave 62 presentations in ERIN project events, national and international scientific events. The ERIN consortium organized 20 events (webinars, workshops, conferences) with a total number of 1067 participants.
The exploitable results for the project include jointly supervised PhD theses of the Early Stage Researchers covering reproductive medicine sub-fields, joint research grants, and contracts to the clinics and industry.

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)

Expected impacts:
I. UT will meet the prerequisites to become one of the leading research and innovation centres in Europe within the field of reproductive medicine;
II. The intensified synergies between the research groups of UT, KI and UM will enhance the collaborative research for novel scientific discoveries and clinical innovations that tackle several most pressing clinical problems in infertility treatment, prenatal screening programs and female fertility preservation
III. UT, KI and UM will create new research avenues and gain new perspectives from the partners, transfer knowledge, widen networks across researchers, ESRs and the industry. The impact will materialise in joint projects, grants, high-impact articles, events, collaboration with industry, and exchange of staff and students.
IV. As a result of ERIN more novel ethical, responsible and equally accessible clinical solutions are introduced to the market, having broader impact to the quality of life and wellbeing.

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