Digital Health Revolution is one of the three new strategic research openings that Tekes – the Finnish Funding Agency for Innovation - has decided to fund this year. As defined by Tekes, these strategic research openings are “visionary projects aiming to make serious breakthroughs that will lay foundation for entirely new areas of business in the future”.
The Digital Health Revolution -program is an ambitious, multidisciplinary research project. The goal of the program is to enable the utilization of data about the individual as part of personal, preventive services, which in turn will improve citizens’ opportunities for self-management of one’s wellbeing. Tekes has granted more than 4 M € for the first funding period (2014-2016) of the program. The project was launched yesterday, 14 August with a kick-off event in Oulu.
The program is coordinated by the Centre for Health and Technology, University of Oulu. Other partners of the expert consortium are Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland FIMM, University of Helsinki, University of Lapland, Aalto University, Tampere University of Technology, Technical Research Center of Finland and National Consumer Research Center.
The program aims to combine longitudinal data from different sources about individual’s state of health. Both medical profiling data (genomics, metabolomics and microbiome), self-monitored health data and other everyday data comprising the personal digital footprint is collected in a systematic way. The program is built on the idea that an individual can control and make use of his or her personal data to make life-style changes that promote better health. The personal health data will be processed for the benefit of both the individual and the society by creating digital service solutions.
FIMM is particularly involved in the planning and coordination of the pilot projects that test this concept with a focus on risks for obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. Prof. Olli Kallioniemi and Dr. Imre Västrik are the contact persons at FIMM.