- Name of call: Tackling diseases (Two stage – 2024) (HORIZON-HLTH-2024-DISEASE-03-two-stage)
- Funding scheme: Horizon Europe Framework Programme
- Budget: Total budget of approx. 25m euro. It is envisaged that 4 grants will be awarded with a contribution of 6-7 m euro each.
- Deadline for applications: 19 September 2023 17:00:00 Brussels time, 11 April 2024 17:00:00 Brussels time
Pain submissions are very relevant as the call identifies the following conditions as possible high-burden under-researched medical conditions:
- Musculoskeletal disorders (Arthritis [not back]; Injuries; Low back pain; Fibromyalgia)
- Headache disorders (Tension-type headache; Migraine)
- Other Hypermobile Ehlers Danlos Syndrome (EDS)
- Disorders of the blood and organ system Abdominal pain in haemoglobinopathies
- Gynaecological diseases Endometriosis
A number of medical conditions fail to be recognised and/or be correctly diagnosed in a significant proportion of patients. As a consequence they are inadequately treated and often can become a chronic burden for the patient. These medical conditions[2] may be insufficiently researched even though they manifest with high prevalence[3], [4]. This topic excludes rare diseases.
Proposals should address all of the following aspects:
- Proposals should address the gaps in robust, scientific evidence for improved policies and practices to tackle such medical condition(s), and aim at identifying the pathophysiological mechanism(s) (e.g. genetic, cellular and molecular) and potential risk factors (e.g. psychological and environmental) of the medical condition(s) through basic, pre-clinical and/or clinical research. These efforts should underpin the development of diagnostics, therapeutics, and/or preventive strategies for the condition.
- Proposals should demonstrate that the medical condition(s) under study is/are insufficiently understood, inaccurately diagnosed or inadequately treated in a significant proportion of patients, and as such represent a high burden for patients and society. This could be through referencing key literature.
- Sex and gender aspects, age, ethnicity, socio-economic, lifestyle and behavioural factors should be taken into consideration. In addition, the emotional and societal long-term effects of these chronic disorders for the affected individuals should be addressed.
- Where applicable, the development of biomarkers and other technologies for diagnosis, monitoring in patients, and stratification of patient groups should be considered.
- Where applicable, the development of clinically relevant, (non-)human model systems that can complement clinical investigations should be considered.
- Exploitation of existing data, biobanks, registries and cohorts is expected, together with the generation of new (e.g. genomics, epigenomics, transcriptomics, proteomics) data.
- To enable sharing of samples, quality data and advanced analytical tools, it is encouraged to make use of existing infrastructures developed at the European[5] or national level.
- Inclusion of patients or patient organisations in the research is strongly encouraged, to ensure that their views are considered.
- SME participation is strongly encouraged.
The call opens on 26 April 2023 so be sure to visit the link below for further updates.
If you are thinking of applying for this call, consider whether the European Pain Federation may be a useful partner in your consortium. Please find more on what we can do here.
