public-private partnership
Top Sector LSH and the Dutch Cooperation of Health Foundations support the project MyOwnResearch with 2.6 million euros
A collaborative project in which patients, researchers and companies help gain added value from the self-examination of patients to the best treatment of their chronic illness
People with a chronic illness are looking for solutions that will allow them to live as fit and involved as possible. They are enterprising, searching for new opportunities and doing experiments to improve their health. The value of this self-care is currently insufficiently recognised and utilised. That is now set to change through the large-scale project MyOwnResearch.
Various health foundations contribute by means of the Top Sector regulation
MyOwnResearch has been awarded funding within the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) programme BeterGezond. BeterGezond is a programme aimed at innovative projects for people with a chronic condition and it was established by the Dutch Cooperation of Health Foundations (SGF) and the Top Sector Life Sciences & Health (LSH) in 2017. The collaborative project has been financed with a PPP allowance, which has been made available to the SGF by the Top Sector LSH. In addition to contributions from industry, eight different health foundations are contributing extra funding. The total budget of the project amounts to 2.6 million euros.
Data from resourceful patients
The aim of the project is to support the efforts and ingenuity of patients who undertake action to improve their own health, with an appropriate methodical approach. This enables individual patients to confirm faster whether a chosen approach works for them or not. At the same time this also provides medical-scientific results. With this method relevant scientific knowledge is developed considerably faster than with the current research methods. Furthermore, with this approach effective therapies and products are tested and subsequently find their way into practice more quickly.
"The beautiful MyOwnResearch initiative unlocks the many talents of people with chronic disorders, who help themselves and their 'peers' to lift life above the disease," Prof. Nico van Meeteren, Director of the executive office of the Top Sector LSH.
First steps in fatigue and abdominal complaints
The MyOwnResearch approach is being applied to the common combination of fatigue and abdominal complaints among people with a chronic disease. Treatment with probiotics and other supplements might be a solution for this.There is a growing body of knowledge about the importance of good gut health for the general condition of the body and the functioning of the brain. The treatment differs per patient and is adjusted to the status of the gut health. MyOwnResearch enables a personal approach that quickly leads to an improved quality of life.
Composition of the consortium
The public-private partnership is led by Amsterdam University Medical Center (Amsterdam UMC) and the My Data Our Health Foundation (MD|OG). The other consortium partners are: Utrecht University, University of Amsterdam, Maastricht University, Winclove Probiotics BV, Springfield Nutraceuticals, Microbiome Centre, Biovis Diagnostics, Nutricia Research and Holland Health Data Cooperative. The project will start on 1 September 2018 and has a duration of three years.
