HEDIMED – Human Exposomic Determinants of Immune Mediated Diseases
Immune-mediated diseases have reached epidemic levels affecting a large part of the European population and causing ballooning healthcare costs. A major part of the epidemic are type 1 diabetes, celiac disease, asthma and allergies whose rapid increase can only be explained by environmental exposures.
Aim of the project
HEDIMED aims to identify the disease mechanisms and environmental factors of type 1 diabetes, celiac disease, asthma and allergies.
HEDIMED seeks to understand the interactions of disease-specific and shared environmental determinants in disease development through one of the largest collections of data in the field, and with new technologies and modelling methods.
The Exposome
The exposome covers all the environmental exposures throughout life from conception onwards to complement the much better-understood genome. Environmental factors play a huge role in non-communicable diseases, yet the measurement of these factors has been challenging.
With the exposome the emphasis is placed on comprehensively mapping the human-environment interactions ranging from large scale socio-economic phenomena to microscopic factors such as the microflora.
Understanding the exposome allows us to look at the overall effects of multiple exposures on human health rather than associating a single environmental exposure to a single disease.
HEDIMED is in a unique position to measure the effect of many exposures on human health. Conducting new innovative research in many large prospective human cohorts offers an exceptional opportunity to leap towards a comprehensive understanding of the environmental causes of chronic immune-mediated diseases.
HEDIMED includes prospective observational follow-up cohorts and early-age trials with exposomic interventions. We will use state-of-the-art omics and other techniques to study the effects of both internal and external exposomic factors. Another important goal is to develop new intelligent sensors to detect exposomic determinants (toxins and pollutants, environmental microbiome, infections etc.) to these factors. Together the generated data allows us to build an exposome toolbox that can be utilised by policymakers, science community, regulatory authorities, patients, patient organisations and industry to model how changes in exposome affect the immune health and incidence of different immune-mediated diseases.
Partners
HEDIMED consists of 22 academic and industrial partners join their multidisciplinary and supplementary forces to identify exposomic determinants which are driving the epidemic of immune-mediated diseases.
Impact
The results will be used to facilitate the development of treatments and prevention measures for these diseases and to create a toolbox with multiple functions for the research community, patients and policymakers.
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