The Molecular Imaging and Therapy Group at the Vall d’Hebron Research Institute (VHIR) will participate in the UNCAN-Connect project (Decentralized Collaborative Network for Advancing Cancer Research and Innovation), funded by the European Union’s Horizon Europe Research and Innovation Framework Programme (2021–2027) under the call HORIZON-MISS-2024-CANCER-01.

Coordinated by the University of Tartu (Tartu Ülikool, Estonia), UNCAN-Connect brings together a strong multidisciplinary consortium comprising 53 organisations from 19 countries across Europe and other regions worldwide. The project aims to develop a decentralised collaborative network to advance cancer research and innovation, enabling secure, interoperable and ethical access to cancer-related health data across the European Union.

The project will establish an operational collaborative framework addressing both technical and governance aspects. This framework will facilitate seamless access to cancer data, promote open science and transform cancer research and treatment through the co-design of an open-source platform, “UNCAN.eu”. The platform will be validated through specific use cases focusing on six major cancer types: paediatric, lymphoid, pancreatic, ovarian, lung and prostate cancers.

Within the project, the Diagnostic Imaging team of Vall d’Hebron University Hospital and VHIR will participate as a provider of clinical and medical imaging data, particularly in the oncology use case (detection of metastases and nodules in lung and mammography). “We will validate and test artificial intelligence algorithms in a real clinical setting, with the aim of improving early cancer detection and contributing to digital health innovation in Europe”, says Dr Manel Escobar, Clinical Director of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine at Vall d’Hebron University Hospital and Principal Investigator of the Molecular Imaging and Therapy Group at VHIR.

The UNCAN-Connect consortium, which includes the participation of the European research infrastructure BBMRI-ERIC, will also collaborate with initiatives such as EOSC4Cancer, CanSERV and EUCANImage to ensure efficient data exchange, integration and reuse across all Member States.

Ultimately, UNCAN-Connect seeks to enhance interoperability and accelerate scientific progress by supporting open science and fostering collaboration among researchers, SMEs, patient representatives, public institutions and citizens, thus contributing to the EU Cancer Mission’s goal of improving cancer outcomes for everyone.

The project will run for 60 months, starting on 1 September 2025 and ending in August 2030, with a total budget of nearly €30 million (€29,935,701.50).

As a starting point, the UNCAN-Connect project held its kick-off meeting on 8–9 October in Tallinn (Estonia), bringing together around 150 consortium members and representatives from the European Commission. The meeting served to jointly present the project’s objectives and to strengthen the European commitment to fostering collaboration and innovation in cancer research.