Fundamentals of health and disease

Convergence challenge

This theme aims to understand the basis of life and disease processes across the scales from molecule to patient and use this basic knowledge to develop revolutionary new molecular and cellular therapies and diagnostics, instrumentation and data analysis methods for health applications. We fuel the convergence knowledge pipeline, connecting basic research to new societally supported health(care) innovations in early detection, disease diagnosis, treatment monitoring, and precision medicine.

Fundamental science is indispensable in providing solutions to healthcare challenges, meeting society’s expectations for preventing, managing and curing disease. The societal impact and application of fundamental science are often hard to predict and take time to manifest. This theme aims to create new knowledge and technology and promote its application in health(care) by:

  1. Opening new avenues of transdisciplinary fundamental research that will shape the future by breaking down barriers between fields
  2. Create the networks and pipelines that will speed up translation
  3. Of relevant fundamental knowledge and technology into actionable diagnostic information, reliable therapeutic decisions, and ethically acceptable, societally supported solutions to healthcare challenges.

Community

Our community encompasses everyone involved in creating new scientific understanding and associated inventions, shepherding these results towards societal implementation in health(care), from generating the first measurements in the lab to seeing actual application in diagnosis or therapy. In the context of the three institutions this means engineers and scientists from a broad range of (sub)disciplines, including biology, (bio)physics, (bio)chemistry, (bio)electronics, bioengineering, materials science, computational sciences, and medical and life sciences; liberal arts and humanities; and social sciences. This unique combination of disciplines provides a much-needed holistic approach to health(care) challenges, approached from all angles from the beginning.

The large scope of collaboration and effective communication with stake holders in clinical practice, public policy, private enterprise and informed citizens will facilitate strong impact and sustainable application of the new knowledge created.

Research

Fundamentals of Health and Disease encompasses discovery and invention: discovery of basic knowledge of life and disease processes across all scales from molecule to patient and invention of instrumentation and tools necessary to acquire, translate and apply this knowledge. Both aspects ultimately fuel the convergence knowledge and application pipeline, connecting the basic research to new health(care) innovations in early detection, disease diagnosis, treatment monitoring, and precision medicine. Anchoring these developments in ethics, policy and society will enable acceptable and sustainable solutions to the health(care) challenges we currently face. Breaking down barriers between scientists and fields is an important aspect of convergence flagships, which should therefore uniquely benefit from combining expertise at TU Delft, Erasmus MC and Erasmus University.

 

This theme aims to understand the basis of life and disease processes and use this to develop revolutionary new molecular and cellular therapies and diagnostics, instrumentation and data analysis methods for health applications.

Theme leads

Want to know more or participate in one of the themes, please feel free to get in touch with the theme leads.