The UNCAN-CONNECT consortium, with expert grant support from Spinverse’s digital health team, has secured a funding of EUR 32 million from Horizon Europe to implement the EU Cancer Mission’s flagship UNCAN.eu platform. This federated, multimodal data environment will drive collaboration among leading European institutions, transforming cancer research. This platform will enable secure, cross-border access to clinical, imaging and genomic data accelerating better understanding of cancer, novel discoveries and advancing patient care across EU.
Cancer remains one of Europe’s greatest healthcare challenges, with research efforts often hampered by fragmented data, inconsistent standards and complex regulatory landscapes across countries and institutions in the EU. Recognising these barriers, the UNCAN-CONNECT initiative brings together a consortium of leading European hospitals, research institutes and infrastructures, registries and technology partners to develop UNCAN.eu platform a federated, secure platform for multimodal cancer data.
The governance of the UNCAN.eu platform is built around a central UNCAN hub and a network of national nodes, enabling seamless collaboration between data providers and users across Europe. By connecting diverse data sources, UNCAN.eu aims to bridge gaps in collaboration, data access and interoperability. It aims to empower researchers and clinicians to share and analyse cancer data across borders, while in compliance with regulatory standards for data privacy, ethical use and governance. To operationalise this platform, the consortium will conduct a series of use cases across six major cancer types, leveraging unprecedented access to clinical, genomic, imaging and real-world data from diverse sources. Ultimately, UNCAN-CONNECT seeks to lay the foundation for a unified, sustainable and equitable European ecosystem that accelerates cancer understanding, fosters research & innovation and delivers better outcomes for patients.
Consortium composition and project objectives
The five-year UNCAN-CONNECT project, coordinated by Tartu Ülikool (University of Tartu) in Estonia, brings together a consortium of 53 partners from 19 European and associated countries. This diverse group includes SMEs, large enterprises, hospitals, national health authorities, patient organizations and leading research infrastructures. Together, they unite multidisciplinary expertise including oncology, genomics, data science, artificial intelligence, digital health, ethics, public health and clinical research ensuring a comprehensive approach to tackling cancer’s most pressing challenges in EU.
The UNCAN-CONNECT seeks to accelerate cancer research, empower innovation and deliver a meaningful impact, which will ultimately improve patient outcomes and support the evolution of a unified European cancer research ecosystem.
.Spinverse supported the successful proposal preparation
Spinverse’s Digital Health team played an important role in in facilitating and conceptualising the UNCAN-CONNECT project, fostering collaboration among academia, industry, healthcare providers, technology developers and research infrastructures.
Beyond proposal development, Spinverse provided support to the project consortium during the Grant Agreement Phase (GAP). Kadi-Liis Veiman, Head of Estonian Cancer Network (ESTCAN) from Tartu Ülikool, collaborated with Spinverse experts in a coordinator’s role throughout the project proposal phase. She says: “Spinverse and their Digital Health team played a central role in shaping our successful UNCAN-Connect project. Their structured approach, deep knowledge of EU Funding and hands-on guidance turned our vision into a strong and competitive proposal. Their team was outstanding in coordinating partners, sharpening our strategy, and highlighting our impact within the European health research and innovation community. With their expertise, our consortium secured a €30 million project - a major milestone for us and an important step forward for digital health in Europe. Based on our experience, Spinverse is a trusted and capable partner for complex EU project preparations.”
This is a significant milestone for Spinverse, too. Uniting leading researchers from across Europe to advance cancer research was no easy task, but the enthusiasm, commitment and expertise of all involved made it a reality. Working alongside our consortium partners, we transformed a challenging objective into a strong, timely proposal. The collaboration, shared insights and innovative thinking throughout the process reinforced our mission: to make a meaningful impact on people’s lives. For us, innovation means coming together to tackle cancer one step at a time.
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Director, Digital Health & Data, D.Sc. (Tech), MBA
jayden.khakurel@spinverse.com
+358 50 478 3637