HEALTH

The COSMOS project will address the assessment needs of the cosmetics industry by delivering an integrated suite of computational tools to predict the effects of long-term exposure to cosmetic ingredients in humans, thus reducing the need for repeated dose toxicity testing in animals. To achieve this, individual modules comprising: (new) databases, thresholds of toxicological concern (TTC), in silico toxicology (grouping, read-across and QSAR), in vitro data and physiologically-based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) modelling, will be used to construct flexible workflows for assessing toxicity.

Type 2 diabetes (T2DM) is preventable by sustained changes in diet and physical exercise. Despite this, modern societies are already approaching 10% population prevalence of diabetes, and another 15% with pre-diabetes. The costs of T2DM are huge, approaching 10% of all health costs. Prevention of diabetes is a priority for national healthcare agencies and for the health insurance industry. Investment in prevention and lifestyle programmes requires a solid evidence-base for targeting and customising these interventions in a cost-effective manner.

The UNCOVER project is a direct contribution to overcome non-publication of clinical studies that have been designed and executed as randomized controlled trials (RCTs). RCTs provide the best utility as input to systematic medicinal reviews, one cornerstone of evidence-based medicine. That is provided that, and only then, RCTs are both correctly registered and published at least once.

Although scientific knowledge to respond to outbreaks has increased, deficiencies remain in the ability of health authorities to communicate the need for large-scale measures such as vaccination and antiviral therapy and increase its acceptance. For effective behavioural and communication strategies, integration is needed of social, behavioural, communication and media sciences.

Alzheimers disease (AD) is an ever-increasing public health concern among the aging population and is the most common form of dementia affecting more than 15 million individuals worldwide and around 5 million Europeans. The direct and indirect costs of AD and other dementias amount to more than 440,000 million each year (www.alz.org, 2010).

Compulsivity is characterized by a repetitive, irresistible urge to perform a specific behaviour, the experience of loss of voluntary control over this intense urge, the diminished ability to delay or inhibit thoughts or behaviours, and the tendency to perform repetitive acts in a habitual or stereotyped manner. Compulsivity is a cross-disorder trait underlying phenotypically distinct psychiatric disorders that emerge in childhood (autism spectrum disorder, ASD; obsessive-compulsive disorder, OCD) or adolescence (substance abuse).

TELL ME (Transparent communication in Epidemics: Learning Lessons from experience, delivering effective Messages, providing Evidence) is a 36 month Collaborative Project, which aims to provide evidence and to develop models for improved risk communication during infectious disease crises. TELL ME combines public health, social sciences, behavioural sciences, political sciences, law, ethics, communication and media, in order to develop original communication strategies regarding complicated messages and advice based on uncertainties, also addressing vaccine-resistant groups.

ToxBank establishes a dedicated web-based warehouse for toxicity data management and modelling, a ‘gold standards’ compound database and repository of selected test compounds, and a reference resource for cells, cell lines and tissues of relevance for in vitro systemic toxicity research carried out across the FP7 HEALTH.2010.4.2.9 Alternative Testing Strategies SEURAT program. The project develops infrastructure and service functions to create a sustainable predictive toxicology support resource going beyond the lifetime of the program.

The overall cept of this research project is to assemble a sortium of international experts working together to develop new and innovative tools to be applied to the trol of dengue in a global text. The core of the application focuses on parallel strategies aimed at:

Dobutamine and adrenaline are widely used as second line therapy for systemic hypotension in infants. Dopamine is currently the most widely used first line drug. In neonates, sustained hypotension may, and impaired organ perfusion will, cause brain injury and poor neurodevelopmental outcomes. All three catecholamines are currently used off-label and have different modes of action which may result in potentially harmful haemodynamic effects. No reliable safety or efficacy data exists for the use of these drugs in neonates or newborns.