José Luis Fernández Luna, coordinator of Molecular Genetics at the Marqués de Valdecilla University Hospital (HUMV), will lead the Genomic Medicine Program in Cantabria, one of the 3 funded in the Precision Medicine Infrastructure associated with Science and Technology (IMPaCT) of the Strategic Action in Health 2017-2020 of the ISCIII. The program is endowed with 7.24 million euros.
In total, more than 100 institutions from all the autonomous communities will participate in the execution of the three IMPaCT programs: Predictive Medicine, Data Science and Genomic Medicine.
José Luis Fernández Luna, coordinator of Molecular Genetics at the Marqués de Valdecilla University Hospital (HUMV), will lead the Genomic Medicine Program in Cantabria, one of the 3 funded in the Precision Medicine Infrastructure associated with Science and Technology (IMPaCT) of the Strategic Action in Health 2017-2020 of the ISCIII. The program is endowed with 7.24 million euros.
In total, more than 100 institutions from all the autonomous communities will participate in the execution of the three IMPaCT programs: Predictive Medicine, Data Science and Genomic Medicine.
The Consorcio Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red (CIBER) and the Barcelona Supercomputing Center-Centro Nacional de Supercomputación (BSC-CNS) are the centers selected to lead the implementation of the new Precision Medicine Infrastructure associated with Science and Technology (IMPaCT). The call associated with this initiative has 25.8 million euros in direct aid, which will be managed by the CIBER and the BSC-CNS. This call, which is part of the Strategic Action in Health 2017-2020 of the Carlos III Health Institute (ISCIII), a body dependent on the Ministry of Science and Innovation, represents a new step towards the implementation of Precision Medicine in the National System of Health, through a strategy based on science and innovation, which, in 2020 and 2021 will have 77.3 million euros for its development. The programs included in IMPaCT are aligned with three areas that will be developed in the future national strategy: Predictive Medicine, Genomic Medicine and Data Science. The CIBER will be in charge of managing the first two, for which it will have financing of 14 million and 7.24 million, respectively, while the BSC-CNS will address the third, with the financing of 4.55 million.
Professionals from different Spanish scientific and health institutions will participate in each of the three programs, led by a person who will act as coordinator and person in charge of the action plan. The Predictive Medicine program will be coordinated by Marina Pollán from the CIBER of Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBERESP); Genomic Medicine, by Ángel Carracedo from the CIBER for Rare Diseases (CIBERER), and Data Science, by Alfonso Valencia from the BSC-CNS.
The Predictive Medicine program will have the participation of 21 more institutions between hospitals and research centres throughout Spain.
Genomic Medicine will have a network of five reference centres for genomic analysis and a group of clinical experts and, in total, will have the participation of 45 groups of 38 centres (25 hospitals and 13 from research centres or universities) with the representation of all the autonomous communities.
Meanwhile, 47 institutions will participate in the Data Science Program, with coverage in all autonomous communities with Accredited Health Research Institutes, and companies, foundations, universities and research centres will collaborate. In total, more than 100 institutions from all communities will participate in the implementation of the three IMPaCT programs.
The Predictive Medicine program will have the participation of 21 more institutions between hospitals and research centres throughout Spain.
Genomic Medicine will have a network of five reference centres for genomic analysis and a group of clinical experts and, in total, will have the participation of 45 groups of 38 centres (25 hospitals and 13 from research centres or universities) with the representation of all the autonomous communities.
Meanwhile, 47 institutions will participate in the Data Science Program, with coverage in all autonomous communities with Accredited Health Research Institutes, and companies, foundations, universities and research centres will collaborate. In total, more than 100 institutions from all communities will participate in the implementation of the three IMPaCT programs.
Objectives of each Program
The first IMPaCT program, Predictive Medicine, is aimed at the design and implementation of a population cohort with clinical, epidemiological and biological data that allows representing the entire population residing in Spain. The objective is to generate a dynamic record of individual and population, clinical, epidemiological and lifestyle data, which, through its monitoring and updating over time, is the basis for better decision-making in health; It will make it possible to build predictive models of disease, identify health inequalities, monitor key indicators and evaluate the impact of health policies.
“The IMPaCT cohort will include, in its final development, 200,000 people representing the entire population residing in Spain. In addition, due to its large size and wide geographic coverage, it will make it possible to represent the ethnic variability and the geographic and environmental diversity of the entire country”, explains Marina Pollán.
For its part, the Genomic Medicine Program will develop coordination infrastructures and protocols to carry out genomic analyses and other 'omic' data throughout the national territory, taking as support next-generation sequencing technologies and existing experiences for their application to the diagnosis of human diseases. In essence, what this program seeks to do is to put experimental ‘omic’ diagnostic technologies at the service of all those people who, after making the maximum diagnostic effort with the maximum care technology, do not have a certain diagnosis. Thus, it is a basic step to put high-level science at the service of people and the National Health System.
“This initiative is of key importance for the SNS as genomic medicine represents a revolution in healthcare. It allows making diagnoses, identifying the best treatments, and designing prevention strategies”, says Ángel Carracedo.
Finally, the third program, Data Science, seeks to support the development of a common, interoperable and integrated system for the collection and analysis of clinical and molecular data, providing for this the knowledge and resources available in the Spanish Science and Technology System. This development will allow answering research questions based on the different clinical and molecular information systems available. Fundamentally, this Program seeks to provide researchers with a population perspective based on individual data.
“With the data science program, we want to start the construction of the infrastructure and systems to be able to integrate genomic and medical data so far dispersed, providing technical solutions to the numerous problems of heterogeneity, dispersion and access; it is an infrastructure that must be aligned with European initiatives and lay the foundations for the development of research projects in precision medicine”, Alfonso Valencia points out.
Precision medicine, closer
There is an important interconnection between the three programs. From a scientific perspective, the aim is to address the virtuous circle that is generated by analysing population data generated from individuals revert to individual health, which is one of the conceptual bases of Precision Medicine.
Thus, the IMPaCT resolution allows progress in the development of the Spanish Strategy for Personalized Medicine, as indicated in the Shock Plan for Science and Innovation approved by the Government on July 14. This national strategy will consist of specific plans on data science and health; genomic medicine; advanced and personalized therapies; predictive medicine; training in precision medicine, and Spain's relationship with the European sphere in personalized medicine.