Emerging infectious diseases (EID) do not respect borders. They rank as global catastrophic risks for humanity, along with climate change and biodiversity loss. The COVID-19 pandemic showed how coordination of global research, through cooperation, and sharing of data and expertise, are crucial for efficient and effective preparedness to EIDs, and vital for a rapid response. Nevertheless, there are still major challenges limiting global cooperation among high containment laboratories (HCLs). HCLs are critical infrastructures for the development of medical countermeasures (e.g., vaccines and therapeutics) against high consequence pathogens. In order to fulfil its role, and given the global threat of EIDs, the European Research Infrastructure on Highly pathogenic Agents (ERINHA), together with its partners, proposes to establish and reinforce interactions with HCL research infrastructures (RI) worldwide, to strengthen pandemic preparedness and response capacities. INTERCEPTOR (INTERnational Cooperation of high containment research infrastructures: from Epidemic Preparedness TO Response), a consortium with key HCLs from Europe and across the world, will focus on access provision to HCLs, enhancement of the human capital of HCL, including in biorisk management, critical resources sharing, harmonisation and interoperability. The proposed actions will help ensure broader access to state-of-the-art HC facilities, while respecting the necessary biosecurity and biosafety constraints, and promote the establishment of a sustainable global network of HC RIs. By expanding access to HC RIs, strengthening the human capital base, promoting sharing of knowledge, skills and experience, and providing opportunities for common training programmes and staff exchanges, INTERCEPTOR will reinforce the next generation of HCL researchers and facility managers, and extend the opportunities for access to HCLs, required to push the boundaries of science and innovation in the field of EIDs.

One of the great challenges of the 21st century is to develop the capacity to prevent and react to outbreaks caused by highly pathogenic human and animal microorganisms, which are generally characterized by a high mortality rate, unavailability of prophylactics or effective therapeutic treatment and high human-to-human transmission. ERINHA AISBL (European Research Infrastructure on Highly Pathogenic Agents), a pan-European Research Infrastructure (RI) dedicated to the study of high-consequence pathogens of Risk Group 4 (RG4), entered into implementation phase in July 2017. It now aims to ensure its long-term sustainability to better answer societal challenges in the field of Science, Health and Security. The overall aim of the ERINHA-Advance project is to implement actions that will contribute to the long-term sustainability of the ERINHA RI, through enlargement of its membership and partnership and strengthening the overall services offer and framework by fostering the innovation potential of the RI. To reach these goals, the RI will focus on the following specific objectives: 1. Enlarge ERINHA’s membership and research capacities (WP2); 2. Improve users services (WP3); 3. Stimulate the innovation potential of ERINHA and identify the co-innovation opportunities with industry (WP4); 4. Strengthen the overall services framework through long-term data-management and data sharing rules, clarification of IPR regimes and definition and implementation of the quality assurance system of the RI and its national nodes (WP5); 5. Reinforce ERINHA’s European and International cooperation with relevant countries, initiatives and networks (WP2 and WP6). By achieving these objectives, ERINHA-Advance will largely contribute to providing access to larger number of high containment facilities to European and international scientists and foster research and innovation in the field of highly infectious diseases.

With ever-increasing complexity of novel health technologies, Health Technology Assessment (HTA) methodologies have been evolving rapidly. However, there is now a lack of harmonization on the methodological needs of HTA bodies against the varied methodologies and tools. There is a need for a solution that allows for continuous dialogue between HTA bodies and academia, a solid, unified base for implementation of fit-for-purpose methodologies and long-term upskilling on HTA expertise. SUSTAIN-HTA aims to upskill the pan-European HTA body workforce and harmonise HTA expertise via a robust education and training framework that ensures continuous uptake of novel, need-based HTA methodologies. Aligned to the methodological developments as part of the new EU HTA regulation, the project will set up a mechanism for dialogues and interaction between HTA bodies and academia to regularly assess HTA-bodies’ needs in parallel with a methods observatory that ensures up-to-date knowledge of latest HTA methods. Prioritized methods will be piloted within HTA bodies and, after endorsement, implementation will be supported by a harmonized training and education framework that will be established to upskill the HTA experts. A long-term dissemination and communication structure among all stakeholders will be established to guarantee a feedback loop between HTA needs, methods assessment and associated training needs. Via the collaboration of 5 universities, 7 HTA bodies, 2 SMEs and one non-profit organization, SUSTAIN-HTA brings together extensive experience in (coordinating) previous European funded HTA-related projects including HTx, EHDEN, COMED and GetReEal. With this, SUSTAIN-HTA has the background for establishing sustainable business models that ensures continuity of project outcomes and activities in years beyond the project. SUSTAIN-HTA will support European leadership in the HTA field reach HTA bodies across at least 15 European countries with hundreds of people upskilled.

ERINHA2 aims to complete the work carried out during the first preparatory phase (PP1) - ERINHA - in order to reach the financial, administrative and technical maturity necessary to complete the establishment of the Research Infrastructre and ensure that the operation phase can begin in 2018. ERINHA2 will therefore finalise the decision to use the status of an association and prepare the necessary legal document to register the RI depending on the country voted on to host the Central Coordinating Unit. ERINHA2 will prepare all procedures and protocols (human resources, IPR, ethics) needed to effectively operate the RI. The financial and business plans prepared in ERINHA (PP1) will updated and presented to national and international stakeholders to obtain their agreement to fund the infrastructure. An overarching group of activities - WP5, Stakeholders and commitment - will aim to accompany all partner countries in their efforts to obtain agreements and funding. This WP5 will ensure all relevant stakeholders and potential users are informed of the progress, services and benefits of ERINHA. The utlimate outcome of ERINHA2 will be the signtature of the ERINHA statutes among the founding countries to officially establish the RI and enter into the construction phase.

Despite the rapid growth in novel applications of wireless technology, comparatively little is known about their potential impacts on health. In particular, special attention should be paid to the most vulnerable (i.e. young people up to 25 years old) and most exposed (i.e. workers) populations. The aims of GOLIAT are to monitor radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (RF-EMF) exposure, particularly from 5G, provide novel insights into its potential causal health effects, and understand how exposures and risks are perceived and best communicated using citizen engagement. Applying an integrative and transdisciplinary pan-European approach, we will i) develop next-generation exposure assessment methods to estimate aggregated RF-EMF dose to the whole-body and organs in young people; ii) identify new occupational RF-EMF sources resulting from 5G deployment and estimate RF-EMF exposure levels and patterns in workers; iii) assess neuropsychological effects of RF-EMF in young people and workers using causal inference, and iv) quantify potential health impacts of exposures at the population level; v) assess effects of 5G on brain function, thermoregulation, and radical stress using in vitro, in vivo, human, and in silico experiments; vi) identify effective means of exposure reduction; vii) better understand risk perceptions to RF-EMF and 5G; viii) apply an inclusive engagement model and co-design communication methods/tools to address RF-EMF concerns and misconceptions; ix) disseminate GOLIAT’s results to stakeholders and integrate them into policy actions; x) implement a broader analysis of the societal and ethical implications of RF-EMF and 5G; xi) develop a FAIR data infrastructure; and xii) perform activities related to the EMF and health cluster. The expected results will serve to deliver robust evidence on the potential effects of (5G) RF-EMF exposure in young people andworkers, and contribute to developing guidelines for exposure prevention/reduction from new generation radio-communication networks including internet of things. GOLIAT is part of the European cluster on EMFs and health.