Newsletter #1 - Spring 2025
This is the first issue of the PROTECT-CHILD project newsletter. PROTECT-CHILD is an EU-funded research project that aims to improve pediatric transplant outcomes with genomic data integration leveraging cutting-edge technology, data integration, and secure healthcare solutions to improve outcomes for children needing life-saving transplants across Europe.
PROTECT-CHILD has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under grant agreement Nº 101137423. The project is led by Universidad Politécnica de Madric (UPM) with a total of 18 consortium partners, bringing together clinical partners, as well as technical and legal experts. See the overview of consortium partners and roles here.
Introducing PROTECT-CHILD
The vision of PROTECT-CHILD is to become a leading reference in secure and ethical health data integration for pediatric transplants in Europe. By combining clinical, genomic, and real-world data, the project aims to drive personalized medicine, foster international collaboration, and create a sustainable data-sharing ecosystem that improves health outcomes and enhances the quality of life for children requiring transplants.
By leveraging the wealth of clinical and genomic data available through the European Reference Network (ERN) TransplantChild, PROTECT-CHILD seeks to enhance therapeutic precision, minimize treatment-associated risks, and improve long-term health outcomes for pediatric transplant patients.
At its core, the project integrates existing clinical datasets with newly generated genomic and epigenetic data from a cohort of 200 transplanted children across four leading European hospitals. Using state-of-the-art data analysis techniques, including artificial intelligence, distributed data integration, and federated analysis, PROTECT-CHILD aims to generate actionable insights into pharmacogenetics, immune responses, and epigenetic signatures unique to child transplants. This approach is expected to contribute to targeted therapies, reduced toxicities, and the prevention of secondary complications,
ultimately ensuring a better quality of life for pediatric transplant patients.
PROTECT-CHILD leverages cutting-edge technology and a robust research infrastructure to securely integrate clinical and genomic data for pediatric transplants while maintaining strict compliance with European data regulations. Its architecture will align with the European Health Data Space (EHDS) and build on the Genomic Data Infrastructure (GDI) and ELIXIR for large-scale data sharing and advanced analytics.
Together, we build a future of personalized medicine while ensuring data privacy and ethical compliance.
The PROTECT-CHILD project is divided into four main strands:
Results, Meetings, and Progress
The PROTECT-CHILD project held a Kick-Off Meeting in June 2024 and the First Plenary Meeting in January 2025 with a technical session to discuss the federated learning approach, massive data management, and zero trust implementation, as well as a clinical session to discuss the clinical study protocol, research questions, data required, data modelling, data sources and metadata.
You can find ongoing blog posts dedicated to showcasing progress from each active Work Package (WP) here.
You can find a list of all expected deliverables and access the public deliverables here.
Some of the first completed deliverables include:
- Data Management Plan
- Quality Plan
- Dissemination & Communication Plan
- Report on the inaugural meeting of the Independent Ethical Advisory Board (IEAB)
The next PROTECT-CHILD Plenary Meeting will take place on 23-24 June 2025, which we will share more about in the next newsletter.
