Integrating climate-related exposures into the human exposome and characterising its changes in response to climate change

Researchers, governments, policymakers, social care services and healthcare practitioners have improved knowledge on the links between the climatic, social, lifestyle and environmental factors of the exposome and global health burden, supporting their efforts to adopt the exposome approach to identify and address relevant health impacts. The public has access to the latest information on the influence of global environmental exposures on health, enabling the adoption of health-promoting, climate-resilient and nature-positive behaviours. Scope: The exposome is the totality of exposures (and their interactions) experienced by an individual throughout their lifetime, including chemical, physical, biological, nutritional and psychosocial factors, from conception onwards. Many of these factors originate in the environment, including climate-related exposures such as extreme heat, heightened air pollution or drought. Climate change may amplify or interact synergistically with other better-established exposures, dynamically altering the human exposome and its health implications. Despite this, climate factors remain underrepresented in large-scale human exposome studies. Research activities under this topic should strengthen the use of the exposome approach to study global exposures and generate evidence on their health implications. Proposals should focus on integrating climate-related factors into exposome research and understanding how the exposome changes in response to direct and indirect climate exposures. Moreover, research activities should be multiscale and multidisciplinary and account for the complexity and multifactorial nature of health determinants and the most pressing unmet medical needs in relation to environmental degradation and disrupted ecosystems. Proposals should include climate-relevant social determinants of health as part of their proposed activities. More specifically, research actions under this topic should include all the following activities: Incorporate multiple climate exposures into exposomics studies and provide insights on their influence on disease burden, through interactions with other exposome factors. Predict, identify and monitor changes in the exposome (including environmental, social and occupational exposures) resulting from climate-related pressures and study their health implications to identify emerging health risks and potential benefits of climate change. Advance data generation, analysis, integration and interpretation in human exposomics, developing methodologies and integrating novel approaches (e.g. AI technologies and machine learning) for advanced data analytics, including for Real-World Data (RWD) [2] . In addition, research actions should include several of the following targeted activities: Establish and investigate the biological pathways and mechanisms by which the exposome drives health impacts, jointly considering climate-related and other exposures. Build upon (when relevant) and study existing and/or newly generated longitudinal cohorts that combine individual exposome data with the corresponding medical, omics and biological data. Identify exposome-relevant indicators and biomarkers for exposome-related health risks and potential benefits using comprehensive exposome studies that combine climate, environmental, behavioural and social exposures. Account for disparities in individual trajectories and exposure patterns where relevant. Report on health-relevant exposome findings using, where possible, standardised metrics to ensure harmonised reporting of exposome-driven disease burden across regions and sectors. Build on existing exposome toolboxes and increase their robustness and coverage by integrating climate related exposures. Study the role of socioeconomic (e.g. income, energy poverty, occupation), demographic (e.g. gender, racial or ethnic origin [3] , age) and behavioural (e.g. public trust, risk perception) factors in determining patterns of exposure, using the exposome approach to generate knowledge on intersectional vulnerability and resilience to exposome-driven (including climate-driven) health impacts. Identify disproportionately affected populations and develop interventions to reduce disparities. When handling vulnerability data and indicators, sex-, gender-, racial or ethnic origin [3] -disaggregated data should be collected and analysed, incorporating intersectional factors where feasible and relevant. International cooperation is encouraged, in particular with regions that are under-represented in human exposome research. Projects should leverage the knowledge, data and tools already generated under past initiatives such as EHEN [5] and ongoing initiatives such as IHEN [6] , ICOS ERIC [7] and EIRENE RI [8] . Proposals are encouraged to consider, where relevant, the data, expertise and services offered by European research infrastructures [9] in the environment, climate and health domain. Projects should make the tools developed as part of their research available on the IHEN Exposome Toolbox [10] and upload their data sets in the IHEN Data Catalogue [11] . In order to maximise synergies and increase the impact of the projects, all proposals selected for funding from this topic will form a cluster and be required to participate in common networking and joint activities. Guidance on the potential activities to be developed can be obtained by consulting the ongoing clusters of projects under the Environment, Climate and Health research portfolio [12] . Proposals should make sure that relevant activities, outcomes and outputs are shared with the European Climate and Health Observatory [13] through the cluster that will be formed after the approval of the proposals. This topic requires the effective contribution of social sciences and humanities (SSH) disciplines and the involvement of SSH experts, institutions as well as the inclusion of relevant SSH expertise, in order to produce meaningful and significant effects enhancing the societal impact of the related research activities. Applicants envisaging to include clinical studies [14] should provide details of their clinical studies in the dedicated annex using the template provided in the submission system. [1] See definition of FAIR data in the introduction to this Work Programme part. [2] EMA definition: “Real-World Data are routinely collected data relating to patient health status or the delivery of healthcare from a variety of sources other than traditional clinical trials (e.g. claims databases, hospital data, electronic health records, registries, mhealth data, etc.)”. [3] The use of the term ‘racial or ethnic origin’ does not imply an acceptance of theories that attempt to determine the existence of separate human races. [4] The use of the term ‘racial or ethnic origin’ does not imply an acceptance of theories that attempt to determine the existence of separate human races. [5] https://www.humanexposome.eu [6] https://humanexposome.net [7] https://www.icos-cp.eu/about/organisation-governance/icos-eric [8] https://eirene.eu [9] The catalogue of European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI) research infrastructures portfolio can be browsed on the ESFRI website: https://ri-portfolio.esfri.eu [10] https://bio.tools/t?domain=exposome [11] https://data-catalogue.molgeniscloud.org/catalogue/catalogue [12] https://research-and-innovation.ec.europa.eu/research-area/health/environment-climate-and-health_en [13] https://climate-adapt.eea.europa.eu/en/observatory [14] Please note that the definition of clinical studies (see introduction to this Work Programme part) is broad and it is recommended that you review it thoroughly before submitting your application.

Eligibility and submission conditions

"> General conditions 1. Admissibility Conditions, proposal page limit and layout Admissibility conditions are described in Annex A and Annex E of the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes. Proposal page limits and layout are described in Part B of the Application Form available in the Submission System. 2. Eligible Countries Eligible countries are described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes. A number of non-EU/non-Associated Countries that are not automatically eligible for funding have made specific provisions for making funding available for their participants in Horizon Europe projects. See the information in the Horizon Europe Programme Guide . 3. Other Eligibility Conditions In recognition of the opening of the US National Institutes of Health’s programmes to European researchers, any legal entity established in the United States of America is eligible to receive Union funding. If projects use satellite-based earth observation, positioning, navigation and/or related timing data and services, beneficiaries must make use of Copernicus and/or Galileo/EGNOS (other data and services may additionally be used). The Joint Research Centre (JRC) may participate as member of the consortium selected for funding as a beneficiary with zero funding, or as an associated partner. The JRC will not participate in the preparation and submission of the proposal - see General Annex B. Other eligibility conditions are described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes. 4. Financial and operational capacity and exclusion Financial and operational capacity and exclusion are described in Annex C of the Work Programme General Annexes. 5a. Evaluation and award: Award criteria, scoring and thresholds Award criteria, scoring and thresholds are described in Annex D of the Work Programme General Annexes. 5b. Evaluation and award: Submission and evaluation processes The thresholds for each criterion will be 4 (Excellence), 4 (Impact) and 4 (Implementation). The cumulative threshold will be 12. Submission and evaluation processes are described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes and the Online Manual . 5c. Evaluation and award: Indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement Indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement are described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes. 6. Legal and financial set-up of the grants Beneficiaries will be subject to the following additional dissemination obligations: Proposals should ensure that chemical monitoring and human biomonitoring data are shared in the Common Data Platform for Chemicals and its services such as the Information Platform for Chemical Monitoring - IPCHEM[ [https://ipchem.jrc.ec.europa.eu ]] (through involvement with the European Commission's Joint Research Centre - JRC) and the environmental sustainability database. In order to maximise synergies and increase the impact of the projects, all proposals selected for funding from this topic will form a cluster and be required to participate in common networking and joint activities (and in determining modalities for their implementation and the specific responsibilities of projects). These activities will be included in a dedicated work package, having sufficient budget allocated to it (around 2% of the total requested budget). Depending on the scope of proposals selected for funding, these activities may include: Attendance of regular joint meetings (e.g. common kick-off meeting and annual meetings). Periodic report of joint activities (delivered at each reporting period). Common dissemination and communication activities (which may include, for example: a common dissemination and communication strategy, web portal and visual identity, brochure, newsletters). Common Data Management Strategy and Common Policy Strategy (including joint policy briefs). Thematic workshops/trainings on issues of common interest. Working groups on topics of common interest (e.g. data management and exchange, communication and dissemination, science-policy link, scientific synergies). The granting authority may, up to 4 years after the end of the action, object to a transfer of ownership or to the exclusive licensing of results, as set out in the specific provision of Annex 5. Legal and financial set-up of the grants are described in Annex G of the Work Programme General Annexes. Specific conditions Specific conditions are described in the specific topic of the Work Programme. Application and evaluation forms and additional documents: Application and evaluation form templates Standard application form (HE RIA, IA) - the application form specific to this call is available in the Submission System Standard evaluation form (HE RIA, IA) - will be used with the necessary adaptations Guidance HE Programme Guide Model Grant Agreement (MGA) HE MGA Call-specific instructions Information on clinical studies (HE) Additional documents HE Main Work Programme 2026-2027 – 1. General Introduction HE Main Work Programme 2026-2027 – 4. Health HE Main Work Programme 2026-2027 – 15. General Annexes HE Programme Guide HE Framework Programme 2021/695 HE Specific Programme Decision 2021/764 EU Financial Regulation 2024/2509 Decision authorising the use of lump sum contributions under the Horizon Europe Programme Rules for Legal Entity Validation, LEAR Appointment and Financial Capacity Assessment EU Grants AGA — Annotated Model Grant Agreement Funding & Tenders Portal Online Manual Funding & Tenders Portal Terms and Conditions Funding & Tenders Portal Privacy Statement

Hivatkozott dokumentumok

Annex A Horizon Europe Programme Guide Online Manual Standard application form (HE RIA, IA) Standard evaluation form (HE RIA, IA) HE MGA Information on clinical studies (HE) HE Main Work Programme 2026-2027 – 1. General Introduction HE Main Work Programme 2026-2027 – 4. Health Decision authorising the use of lump sum contributions under the Horizon Europe Programme Rules for Legal Entity Validation, LEAR Appointment and Financial Capacity Assessment EU Grants AGA — Annotated Model Grant Agreement Funding & Tenders Portal Terms and Conditions