Toward a human-focus paradigm in health research
November 13, 2024
Exciting News! We’re thrilled to announce the launch of our brand-new BioMed21 LinkedIn Page!
Our journey began with a review publication in 2015, highlighting the limitations of current biomedical research paradigms built on animal models. Since then, our international team of scientists, policy specialists, and communication experts has been steadfast in our commitment to advancing and promoting human-centric nonanimal research.
Whilst European calls for research proposals have encouraged collaborative, interdisciplinary partnerships to investigate non-communicable and infectious diseases in the EU, the prevalence and impact of various diseases has seen little decrease. Public health challenges are further exacerbated by drug attrition rates remaining high. It has therefore never been more critical for the retrospective evaluation and analysis of past initiatives, to support innovative strategies for future research policy interventions.
Whilst European calls for research proposals have encouraged collaborative, interdisciplinary partnerships to investigate non-communicable and infectious diseases in the EU, the prevalence and impact of various diseases has seen little decrease. Public health challenges are further exacerbated by drug attrition rates remaining high. It has therefore never been more critical for the retrospective evaluation and analysis of past initiatives, to support innovative strategies for future research policy interventions.
In a newly published paper, we present the results of our multiparty survey and online roundtable discussion in November 2023, which bought together representatives of European institutions, public health organizations, biobank, pharma, and research institutes. Discussion areas included identifying potential needs for consideration in the EU research and policy agenda, exploring strategies to enhance the translational impact of EU-funded research, and defining factors contributing to the persistent lack of reduction in disease prevalence and incidence.
Read our paper here to learn about the survey findings, roundtable discussions, and the actionable recommendations for supporting scientific progress through interdisciplinary collaboration in the EU. These recommendations promise to enhance the translatability of public health and biomedical research outputs and their implementation into transformative policies.
Our actionable proposals cover the scope of public health challenges and unmet biomedical research needs, prevention and early diagnosis, public awareness, education and training for healthcare professionals, health impacts of environmental pollution, clinical trial design, data quality and data sharing, innovative human-centric research, and multidisciplinary efforts. The more we learn together, the more we reflect on our shared knowledge base and the more we collaborate, the better off we’ll be.
8 April 2024
Human-centric approaches such as microphysiological systems and in silico methods have shown great promise in developing our understanding of human biology and disease, but can the use of these novel methods be wholly embraced within a prevailing research paradigm that has been both built upon and dominated by animal models?
BRUSSELS, Belgium (24 November 2023) — Humane Society International/Europe (HSI) recently hosted an online Roundtable during which participants addressed unsolved or emerging public health issues and unmet biomedical research needs that should be prioritized in the EU research and policy agenda, and strategic solutions that should be put in place to tackle them.
1 June 2023
by Kadambari Patil, Centre for Predictive Human Model Systems
Globally, research using microphysiological systems, including organoids and organ-on-chip systems, has grown significantly in the last decade. Their ability to improve predictive accuracy[1] while lowering the ethical and scientific limitations associated with animal testing during disease modelling and drug development have propelled their growth.[2]
In India, the acceptance and development of New Approach Methodologies (NAMs) are gradually gaining momentum.[3] Although several research laboratories and start-ups in the country have commenced work on human-relevant models, most of them remain in silos, a factor that continues to limit progress.[4]
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