Advancing research on the prevention, diagnosis, and management of post-infection long-term conditions

Expected Outcome:

This topic aims at supporting activities that are enabling or contributing to one or several expected impacts of destination “Tackling diseases and reducing disease burden”. To that end, proposals under this topic should aim to deliver results that are directed at, tailored towards and contributing to all the following expected outcomes:

• All players along the healthcare value chain have access to evidence-based treatment and management strategies for post-infection conditions and improve patient recovery and quality of life across diverse populations.
• Public health authorities and healthcare practitioners have access to effective prevention, diagnostic and treatment tools, ensuring better allocation of healthcare resources.
• Healthcare systems improve their efficiency and reduce long-term economic burdens by streamlining post-infectious disease care and addressing disparities in healthcare access.
• Public health authorities have access to evidence-based information to integrate research findings into policy for improved public health preparedness and resilience, including training of healthcare staff and enhanced long-term disease management guidelines.

Scope:

Microbial infections can lead to long-lasting consequences on patients’ quality of life, leading to long-term conditions characterised by persistent inflammation, organ damage, and impaired functional capacity, which pose a growing public health and economic challenge. These conditions are insufficiently understood, underdiagnosed, and lack effective treatments. Advancing research into their prevention, treatment and management is essential to improving patient outcomes, reducing healthcare burdens, and strengthening workforce productivity.

The topic is open to long-term conditions resulting from infections by any type of microorganism (including viruses, bacteria, parasites, and fungi), which persist after the initial infection has been resolved. Research linked to cancer is excluded as it will be covered by the Cancer Mission.

Proposals should aim to develop innovative approaches for the prevention, diagnosis, and management of post-infection conditions. Proposals should address most of the following research areas:

• Identify protective and risk factors associated with the development of post-infection conditions to inform targeted prevention strategies, by integrating relevant information such as genetics, epigenetics, immune or inflammatory responses, and/or other relevant factors.
• Increase understanding of the pathophysiology of post-infection conditions (including inflammatory aspects) to identify biomarkers and develop clinically validated diagnostic approaches for early detection, disease progression and/or treatment optimisation.
• Develop and validate preventive and/or therapeutic interventions, including targeted pharmacological treatments, repurposing of existing drugs or precision medicine approaches, through early-stage clinical trials^[1] that demonstrate clinical safety and efficacy.
• Identify effective supportive rehabilitation approaches, including physical therapy, cognitive interventions, and psychological support, to enhance patient recovery, mental health and quality of life and evaluate their effectiveness.
• Examine best practices for integrating post-infectious disease management into primary and specialised healthcare settings, improving coordination among healthcare professionals.

Specific attention should be given to sex and gender, as women often experience post-infectious diseases differently due to hormonal and other biological, as well as social factors, which can affect their diagnosis, treatment, and recovery. Moreover, age, disability, racial or ethnic origin^[2], socio-economic, lifestyle and behavioural factors should also be considered. Particular emphasis should be placed on populations in a vulnerable situation and groups with pre-existing conditions to ensure equitable and inclusive healthcare solutions.

A multidisciplinary, cross-sectoral approach is encouraged, involving all relevant stakeholders (medical and non-medical), including patients, researchers, healthcare professionals, and policymakers.

Proposals should develop a harmonised approach to collection, storage, sharing and analysis of FAIR^[3] data, leveraging existing European (research) infrastructures, including biobanks or cohorts’ data^[4] where relevant and contribute to emerging research infrastructures, established in the framework of the European Health Data Space (EHDS)^[5] and the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC)^[6].

Proposals should demonstrate complementarity with ongoing EU initiatives, including projects funded under relevant topics^[7], and outline plans for collaboration where applicable, to maximise synergies and avoid duplication of research efforts.

All projects funded under this topic are expected to participate in networking and joint activities^[8]. They are also expected to engage early on with the European Medicines Agency (EMA) to ensure adequacy of the actions from a regulatory point of view. Where relevant, a Health Technology Assessment (HTA) should be conducted to evaluate the clinical, economic, and social implications of interventions.

If applicable, applicants are encouraged to incorporate artificial intelligence (AI) tools and advanced computational modelling/Virtual Human Twin (VHT)-powered tools to predict disease risk and progression, ensuring these tools are developed and tested for diverse populations to minimise bias. Hardware and software should be interoperable in line with internationally accepted standard.

This topic requires the effective contribution of social sciences and humanities (SSH) disciplines and the involvement of SSH experts, institutions as well as the inclusion of relevant SSH expertise, in order to produce meaningful and significant effects enhancing the societal impact of the related research activities.

Participation of start-ups, micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)^[9] is also encouraged to strengthen their scientific and technological foundations and enhance their innovation potential.

Applicants should provide details of their clinical studies^[10] in the dedicated annex using the template provided in the submission system. As proposals under this topic are expected to include clinical studies, the use of the template is strongly encouraged.

[1] For pharmacological interventions: phase 1 and phase 2 clinical trials.

[2] The use of the term ‘racial or ethnic origin’ does not imply an acceptance of theories that attempt to determine the existence of separate human races.

[3] See definition of FAIR data in the introduction to this Work Programme part.

[4] ORCHESTRA data portal: https://orchestra-cohort.eu/data-portal, Pathogens portal cohorts browser: https://www.pathogensportal.org/cohorts

[5] https://health.ec.europa.eu/ehealth-digital-health-and-care/european-health-data-space-regulation-ehds_en

[6] https://research-and-innovation.ec.europa.eu/strategy/strategy-2020-2024/our-digital-future/open-science/european-open-science-cloud-eosc_en

[7] https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/portal/screen/opportunities/topic-details/horizon-hlth-2021-corona-01-02, https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/portal/screen/opportunities/topic-details/horizon-hlth-2023-disease-03-07 and https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/portal/screen/opportunities/topic-details/horizon-hlth-2025-01-disease-07

[8] The details of these joint activities will be defined during the grant agreement preparation phase. Applicants should plan the necessary budget to cover those activities without the prerequisite to define concrete common actions at this stage.

[9] https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32003H0361

[10] Please note that the definition of clinical studies (see introduction to this Work Programme part) is broad and it is recommended that you review it thoroughly before submitting your application.