Data_Sheet_2_What public health challenges and unmet medical needs would benefit from interdisciplinary collaboration in the EU? A survey and multi-stakeholder debate.docx

In the past decade, significant European calls for research proposals have supported translational collaborative research on non-communicable and infectious diseases within the biomedical life sciences by bringing together interdisciplinary and multinational consortia. This research has advanced our understanding of disease pathophysiology, marking considerable scientific progress. Yet, it is crucial to retrospectively evaluate these efforts’ societal impact. Research proposals should be thoughtfully designed to ensure that the research findings can be effectively translated into actionable policies. In addition, the choice of scientific methods plays a pivotal role in shaping the societal impact of research discoveries. Understanding the factors responsible for current unmet public health issues and medical needs is crucial for crafting innovative strategies for research policy interventions. A multistakeholder survey and a roundtable helped identify potential needs for consideration in the EU research and policy agenda. Based on survey findings, mental health disorders, metabolic syndrome, cancer, antimicrobial resistance, environmental pollution, and cardiovascular diseases were considered the public health challenges deserving prioritisation. In addition, early diagnosis, primary prevention, the impact of environmental pollution on disease onset and personalised medicine approaches were the most selected unmet medical needs. Survey findings enabled the formulation of some research-policies interventions (RPIs), which were further discussed during a multistakeholder online roundtable. The discussion underscored recent EU-level activities aligned with the survey-derived RPIs and facilitated an exchange of perspectives on public health and biomedical research topics ripe for interdisciplinary collaboration and warranting attention within the EU’s research and policy agenda. Actionable recommendations aimed at facilitating the translation of knowledge into transformative, science-based policies are also provided.

过去十年来，欧盟（European Union）发起的多项重要研究提案征集活动，通过组建跨学科、跨国研究联合体，为生物医学生命科学领域内针对非传染性疾病与传染性疾病的转化合作研究（translational collaborative research）提供了支持。此类研究深化了我们对疾病病理生理学（pathophysiology）的认知，取得了显著的科学进展。然而，对这些研究工作的社会影响开展回顾性评估仍至关重要。
研究提案的设计需经过深思熟虑，以确保研究成果能够有效转化为可落地的政策。此外，科学方法的选择对研究发现的社会影响塑造起着关键性作用。厘清当前未被满足的公共卫生问题与医疗需求的成因，对于制定研究政策干预的创新策略至关重要。
一项多利益相关方（multistakeholder）调研与一场圆桌会议，助力明确了欧盟研究与政策议程中值得纳入考量的潜在需求。基于调研结果，精神健康障碍、代谢综合征、癌症、抗菌药物耐药性、环境污染与心血管疾病被视为亟需优先应对的公共卫生挑战。此外，早期诊断、一级预防、环境污染对疾病发病的影响，以及个性化医疗（personalised medicine）方案，是被提及最多的未被满足的医疗需求。
调研结果推动了若干研究政策干预措施（research-policy interventions, RPIs）的制定，这些措施随后在一场多利益相关方线上圆桌会议中得到进一步研讨。本次会议强调了近期欧盟层面与调研衍生的RPIs相契合的相关活动，并促进了就公共卫生与生物医学研究议题的观点交流——这些议题适宜开展跨学科合作，且值得欧盟研究与政策议程予以重点关注。
本研究同时提供了可落地的建议，旨在推动知识转化为变革性、基于科学的政策。