IRSJD Leads the Pediatric Cancer Use Case of the European UNCAN-Connect Project

The Institut de Recerca Sant Joan de Déu (IRSJD) is taking part in UNCAN-Connect, a European project funded by the Horizon Europe program that aims to transform cancer research in Europe. It does so through UNCAN.eu, a collaborative platform that will allow cancer data to be accessed and reused securely and interoperably, while respecting patients' rights and data protection requirements.

The project began on September 1, 2025, will run for five years, and has a budget of nearly €30 million. It brings together 53 organizations from 19 countries to tackle one of the biggest challenges in cancer research today: data is fragmented and hard to share across institutions and countries. The platform will be validated through use cases in six cancer areas: pediatric cancer, lymphoid cancers, pancreatic, ovarian, lung, and prostate cancer.

Sant Joan de Déu Leads the Pediatric Cancer Use Case

Sant Joan de Déu leads work package dedicated to pediatric cancer. Through this work package, the center is laying the groundwork for a new algorithm to anticipate the risk of cardiotoxicity related to cancer treatment. Identifying this risk early should make it possible to better protect the hearts of children and adolescents with cancer and, in turn, help improve their quality of life.

A tool like this is only possible if data from different centers can be connected: the more clinical information that can be securely brought together and analyzed, the stronger the algorithm will be.

The work package is led by Dr. Joan Sánchez de Toledo, Director of the Heart Area at Hospital Sant Joan de Déu and head of the iCaRe4Kids group at IRSJD, and Dr. Andrés Morales, Clinical Director of the Pediatric Cancer Center Barcelona and researcher in IRSJD's Pediatric Cancer Treatment group. Two European hospitals, in Helsinki and Coimbra, and several technology partners are also taking part.

Through this leadership, Sant Joan de Déu is helping build a more connected and collaborative European research environment, where data becomes useful knowledge for children and adolescents with cancer.

UNCAN-Connect is funded by the European Union under the Horizon Europe research and innovation program (2021-2027), in response to call HORIZON-MISS-2024-CANCER-01.