In the 'Commission proposal for the 7th Research Framework Programme', 'Health' is the first priority area in the 'Cooperation' programme. With a budget of 6,050 million EUR according to the Council's agreement of July 2006, it is also one of the most highly funded research areas – second only to 'Information and Communication Technologies'. 'Health' is an extension of the former FP6 'Thematic Priority 1: Life Sciences, Genomics and Biotechnology for Health'. It aims at improving the health of European citizens and at increasing the competitiveness of European health related industries and businesses, boosting their innovative capacity. At the same time it addresses global health issues such as identification and prevention of emerging epidemics.

'Health' is divided into three main activities.

Biotechnology, generic tools and medical technologies for human health
High-throughput research
Detection, diagnosis and monitoring
Predicting suitability, safety and efficacy of therapies
Innovative therapeutic approaches and interventions
Translating research for human health
Integrating biological data and processes including large scale data gathering and systems biology
Research on the brain and brain related diseases, human development and ageing
Translational research in infectious diseases
Translational research in major diseases, including cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and obesity, rare diseases and other chronic diseases such as rheumatoid diseases
Optimising the delivery of health care to European citizens
Translating clinical research outcome into clinical practice
Quality, efficiency and solidarity of health care systems including transitional health care systems
Enhanced disease prevention and better use of medicines
Appropriate use of new health therapies and technologies

Factsheets on the different aspects can be found on
http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/cooperation/health_en.html

Similar to previous Framework Programmes, there are likely to be significant opportunities for biomedical researchers in other thematic areas and in the 'People' programme.

Further aspects in FP7 interesting for biomedical researchers:

Theme 2 - Food, Agriculture and Biotechnology
Animal health
Diet related diseases and disorders
Nutrition, health benefits of food and diets
Theme 3 - Information Communication Technology
Applications research on ICT for health, diagnostics and treatment
Theme 4 - Nanoscience, Nanotechnologies, Materials and new Production Technologies
Applications research in nano-medicine, new materials, impacts on health
Theme 6 - Environment
Climate change, pollution and risks: environment and health risks
Theme 8 - Socioeconomics and Humanities
Demographic change: ageing and migration, health and quality of life

further information on the topic:

European eHealth News Portal:

eHealth News Portal http://www.ehealthnews.eu is presenting a new project named eHealth Directory EU. The goal of the eHealth Directory EU is to be the most comprehensive directory of the eHealth (in special European) quality web sites.

Article published in eJournal summer 06.
Updated October 2006.
Updated April 2007.