Understanding how infections foster and induce non-communicable diseases

The HORIZON-JU-IHI-2025-11-02-two-stage call is part of the Innovative Health Initiative (IHI) under the Horizon Europe programme, focusing on the relationships between infectious agents and non-communicable diseases, specifically neurodegenerative and cardiometabolic diseases. The aim is to develop enhanced diagnostic, preventative, and therapeutic methodologies through research into causal links, biomarkers, and mechanisms of action.

Eligible applicants include consortia of universities, research institutes, industry partners, and other entities capable of conducting relevant health research, although legal entities from the UK and Canada are not eligible for funding. The funding type is a grant focused on Research and Innovation Actions (RIA), with a total budget of approximately €7.1 million allocated for this topic.

The application process consists of two stages. In the first stage, a short proposal (maximum 20 pages) must be submitted, and only top-ranked proposals will advance to the second stage where a full proposal (maximum 50 pages) is required. The deadlines for the first stage are set for 9 October 2025 and for the second stage on 29 April 2026.

The initiative emphasizes the importance of cross-sector collaboration and requires co-funding, with at least 45% of eligible costs needing to be provided by industry contributions. The call focuses on early-stage research, aiming to leverage existing cohorts, biobanks, and AI-assisted data mining for insights into the links between infections and chronic diseases.

Expected outcomes include improved access to effective interventions, the identification of biomarkers, and strategies for early intervention. Applicants are encouraged to collaborate with regional healthcare systems to ensure the implementation of research findings. The success rate for this competitive grant is anticipated to be below 10%, reflecting the rigorous evaluation process.

Overall, this call represents a significant opportunity for collaborative research into the interactions between infectious agents and chronic diseases, enhancing the EU's position in healthcare innovation and improving public health outcomes.

The HORIZON-JU-IHI-2025-11-02-two-stage call, titled "Understanding how infections foster and induce non-communicable diseases," is part of the Innovative Health Initiative (IHI) JU Call 11 under the Horizon Europe (HORIZON) programme. This is a HORIZON JU Research and Innovation Action (HORIZON-JU-RIA) with a two-stage submission process. The call aims to explore the unexplored connections between infectious agents (IAs) and non-communicable diseases (NCDs), focusing specifically on neurodegenerative and cardiometabolic diseases, to develop better diagnostic, preventative, and therapeutic approaches. Legal entities established in the UK and Canada are not eligible for funding under this topic.

 The expected impacts of this action include: accelerating the EU’s access to cost-effective interventions for burdensome diseases, decreasing the risk of developing serious diseases later in life through specific prevention strategies, contributing to halting the progression of chronic diseases using biomarkers in early interventions, improving the quality of life for healthy individuals and patients by preventing further health decline and avoiding escalating care costs, and accelerating the adoption of innovative approaches to diagnostic, preventative, and therapeutic strategies.

 The expected outcomes of the action are: accelerated access to interventions through a better understanding of causal links and biomarkers, development of vaccine strategies to prevent chronic diseases, early intervention strategies focusing on cellular processes and metabolic pathways, improved quality of life through prophylactic vaccines and early intervention therapeutics, and the adoption of innovative approaches by systematically mining research cohorts and biobanks.

 The scope of the call focuses on neurodegenerative and cardiometabolic diseases, exploring potential causal links and biomarkers leading to mechanism of action (MoA) studies. Applicants are expected to define a strategy to assess non-carcinogenic infection-associated NCD causative links and related biomarkers, incorporating a modelling perspective alongside AI-assisted data mining and appropriate statistical methodologies. The action should develop methodologies to demonstrate non-carcinogenic IA to NCD causal relationships and consolidate data in one repository of IA/NCD causal relationships, biomarkers, and MoA.

 Applicants are expected to leverage available research cohorts, biobanks, and exposome data, including microbiota-gut-brain-axis samples. Selection of research cohorts should prioritize diverse ethnicities, socio-economic statuses, and gender balance. Pre-clinical models should be used for causal link plausibility verification. The identification of novel biomarkers is a key objective, with a focus on immune or metabolic markers, host and microbiome metabolomics, and sequencing. Defining the MoA that IAs use to drive NCD development is another key objective, requiring tissue samples and pre-clinical or in silico experimentation. No product development is expected within the project timeline.

 Applicants are expected to consider the potential regulatory impact of the results and develop a regulatory strategy and interaction plan. They should also engage regional healthcare systems and authorities to prepare for clinical implementation and outcome acceptance. A strategy to ensure the sustainability of the project's outputs beyond the funding period is required. Synergies with other relevant initiatives, including the IHI Call 11 Topic ‘Towards precision medicine: platform for transdiagnostic stratification of brain dysfunction’ and the Cluster Health topic "Relationship between infections and non-communicable diseases (HORIZON-HLTH-2023-DISEASE-03-07), should be explored.

 The call follows a two-stage submission process. At stage 1, the limit for RIA short proposals is 20 pages, while at stage 2, the limit for RIA full proposals is 50 pages. The opening date for submissions is 17 June 2025. The deadline for the first stage is 09 October 2025, and for the second stage, it is 29 April 2026.

 The budget for the HORIZON-JU-IHI-2025-11-01-two-stage topic is EUR 20,202,000, with an indicative number of 1 grant. The budget for the HORIZON-JU-IHI-2025-11-04-two-stage, HORIZON-JU-IHI-2025-11-02-two-stage, HORIZON-JU-IHI-2025-11-03-two-stage and HORIZON-JU-IHI-2025-11-05-two-stage topics is EUR 37,209,000, with an indicative number of 1 grant each and contributions of around EUR 8,825,000, EUR 7,127,000, EUR 8,906,000 and EUR 12,351,000 respectively.

 The general conditions for admissibility, eligibility, financial and operational capacity, evaluation, award, and legal and financial setup are described in the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes. Specific conditions include the JU’s right to object to transfer/exclusive licensing.

 Applicants must use the templates and annexes available in the submission system of the Funding & Tender Opportunities portal. Compulsory annexes include the "Type of Participants" annex for the first stage and the "Annex to the budget and type of participants" and "Declaration of in-kind contribution commitment" annexes for the second stage. An ethics self-assessment should be included in proposal part A, with additional information provided in an optional annex to proposal part B if needed.

 The Model Grant Agreement (MGA) is the HE General MGA v1.2. Additional documents include the Council Regulation (EU) 2021/2085, the IHI JU Work Programme (WP), the Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA), the IHI JU Guide for Applicants, and IHI JU FAQs.

 In summary, this call seeks to fund research projects that aim to uncover the causal relationships between infections and chronic diseases, particularly neurodegenerative and cardiometabolic disorders. It encourages the use of advanced technologies like AI and multi-omics data analysis to identify biomarkers and mechanisms of action, ultimately leading to improved diagnostic, preventative, and therapeutic strategies. The call emphasizes collaboration, data sharing, and adherence to ethical standards, with the goal of enhancing the EU's competitiveness in healthcare innovation.

Eligible Applicant Types: The eligible applicant types are not explicitly defined in the provided text. However, given the nature of the call as a Research and Innovation Action (RIA) under Horizon Europe, eligible applicants are likely to include universities, research institutes, SMEs, large enterprises, and other legal entities capable of conducting research and innovation activities. The call also mentions the importance of industry contribution, suggesting that industry partners are strongly encouraged.

Funding Type: The funding type is a grant, specifically a HORIZON Action Grant Budget-Based [HORIZON-AG], for Research and Innovation Actions (RIA).

Consortium Requirement: The opportunity appears to require a consortium, as it emphasizes collaborative approaches, synergies with other projects, and the need for industry contributions. The call also mentions partner search announcements, further suggesting that multiple participants are expected.

Beneficiary Scope (Geographic Eligibility): The geographic eligibility is described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes. While the text mentions that non-EU/non-Associated Countries may have specific provisions for funding, it also explicitly states that legal entities established in the UK and Canada are not eligible for funding under this specific topic. Therefore, the primary geographic focus is on EU and associated countries, with specific exceptions.

Target Sector: The target sector is health, with a focus on the interplay between infectious agents (IAs) and non-communicable diseases (NCDs), specifically neurodegenerative and cardiometabolic diseases. The program also targets the use of multi-omics, artificial intelligence, and pre-clinical model verification in developing diagnostic, preventative, and therapeutic approaches.

Mentioned Countries: The United Kingdom and Canada are explicitly mentioned as countries whose legal entities are not eligible for funding under this topic. The opportunity is part of Horizon Europe, so EU member states and associated countries are implicitly included.

Project Stage: The project stage is primarily focused on research and innovation actions aimed at identifying potential causal links and biomarkers, and defining mechanisms of action (MoA). No product development is expected within the proposed timeline, suggesting the focus is on earlier stages of research, such as research, development, and validation, rather than commercialization or scale-up.

Funding Amount: For the topic HORIZON-JU-IHI-2025-11-01-two-stage, the budget is EUR 20,202,000. For the topics HORIZON-JU-IHI-2025-11-04-two-stage, HORIZON-JU-IHI-2025-11-02-two-stage, HORIZON-JU-IHI-2025-11-03-two-stage and HORIZON-JU-IHI-2025-11-05-two-stage, the budget is EUR 37,209,000, with contributions around EUR 8,825,000, EUR 7,127,000, EUR 8,906,000 and EUR 12,351,000 respectively.

Application Type: The application type is a two-stage call, meaning applicants must first submit a short proposal, and if successful, a full proposal in the second stage.

Nature of Support: The beneficiaries will receive money in the form of a grant to support their research and innovation activities.

Application Stages: The application process involves two stages: a short proposal (20 pages) and, if selected, a full proposal (50 pages).

Success Rates: The success rates are not explicitly mentioned, but the indicative number of grants for HORIZON-JU-IHI-2025-11-01-two-stage is 1, and for the other topics is 1 per topic.

Co-funding Requirement: The text mentions the need to comply with IHI additional eligibility criteria, such as a 45% industry contribution, suggesting that co-funding or in-kind contributions from industry partners are required.

Summary: This is a Horizon Europe Innovative Health Initiative (IHI) JU call for Research and Innovation Actions (RIA) focused on understanding the connections between infectious agents and non-communicable diseases, specifically neurodegenerative and cardiometabolic diseases. The goal is to identify causal links, biomarkers, and mechanisms of action to develop better diagnostic, preventative, and therapeutic approaches. The call is structured in two stages, with a short proposal followed by a full proposal for selected applicants. Consortia are expected, with a strong emphasis on industry contributions. While primarily targeting EU and associated countries, legal entities from the UK and Canada are ineligible. The funding is provided as a grant, and projects should leverage existing research cohorts, biobanks, and AI-assisted data mining to achieve their objectives. The call aims to accelerate the EU's access to cost-effective interventions, decrease the risk of serious diseases, improve the quality of life, and strengthen the EU's position in healthcare innovation.