Full project name: HetERogeneous sEmantic Data integratIon for the guT-bRain interplaY
Funding Programme and Grant Agreement number: Horizon Europe, GA No. 101137074
Duration: 48 months
Consortium: Universita Degli Studi di Padova, Sirma Ai Ead, Surf Bv, Stichting Radboud Universitair Medisch Centrum, Observa Associazione, Fundacion Empresa Universidad Gallega, Universita Degli Studi Di Torino, Aalborg Universitet, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Technische Universitaet Graz, Fundacio Centre de Regulacio Genomica, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Europese Vereniging Voor Professionals en Patienten met Als, Regents of The University of Colorado, European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Consorcio para la Explotacion del Centro Nacional de Analisis Genomico, Haute Ecole Specialisee de Suisse Occidentale
Short description:
HEREDITARY aims to significantly transform the way we approach disease detection, prepare treatment response, and explore medical knowledge by building a robust, interoperable, trustworthy and secure framework that integrates multimodal health data (including genetic data) while ensuring compliance with cross-national privacy-preserving policies. The HEREDITARY framework comprises five interconnected layers, from federated data processing and semantic data integration to visual interaction. By utilizing advanced federated analytics and learning workflows, we aim to identify new risk factors and treatment responses focusing, as exploratory use cases, on neurodegenerative and gut microbiome related disorders. HEREDITARY is harmonizing and linking heterogeneous sources of clinical, genomic, and environmental data on a large scale. This enables clinicians, researchers, and policymakers to understand these diseases better and develop more effective treatment strategies. HEREDITARY adheres to the citizen science paradigm to ensure that patients and the public have a primary role in guiding scientific and medical research while maintaining full control of their data. Our goal is to change the way we approach healthcare by unlocking insights that were previously impossible to obtain.
European Brain Council (EBC) Role: EBC contributes to this important project by leading liaison activities with relevant EU and global initiatives, such as the COMFORTage Project and NextGen Project, to increase cooperation in the health data field and maximise impact.
Discover how the EU-funded HEREDITARY project is changing the way we approach healthcare by unlocking insights that were previously impossible to obtain. Aiming to improve disease detection, treatment response preparation, and medical knowledge exploration, HEREDITARY established an integrated framework that incorporates diverse health data, including genetics, while ensuring privacy compliance.
Join us on our journey to develop more effective treatment and diagnosis strategies.
On 28 August 2025 the HEREDITARY project successfully completed its first Official Review Meeting with the Project Officer and external reviewers, delivering positive results across all Work Packages (WPs). During the session, the consortium showcased the main achievements of each WP, highlighting the progress made during the first 18 months of the Project. Reviewers commended the consortium for its strong coordination, the high quality of deliverables, the collaboration with other EU projects, and the timely progress across technical, clinical, societal and legal dimensions.
Overall, the first 18 months of HEREDITARY have laid a strong foundation for achieving its objectives. With its federated platform, semantic integration tools, advanced AI, and legal analysis, the project is already delivering results beyond the state of the art, bringing Europe closer to a trusted, cross-border health data ecosystem that enables early and more effective diagnosis and treatment strategies for ALS, Parkinson’s and gut–brain disorders.
As part of the Project, EBC is thrilled to organise a World Café that will take place during the 5th edition of the Brain Innovation Days, set to take place on October 15-16th, 2025, in Brussels (Belgium)! This session will focus on brainstorming solutions to the challenges identified in the HEREDITARY project, relating to topics such as artificial intelligence, data integration, privacy protection and patient engagement.
Website: hereditary-project.eu