Rotterdam, 12-13th January 2026

The PROBE consortium officially kicked off its groundbreaking initiative with a two-day meeting in Rotterdam on January 12-13, 2026. The event brought together leading academic institutions, industry partners, and stakeholders to align on the project’s vision: transforming osteoarthritis (OA) treatment through federated big data, AI-driven innovation, and patient-centered clinical strategies.

The meeting began with welcoming remarks from the project leads (Erasmus MC and Novartis), setting the stage for a dynamic exchange of ideas. An inspiring keynote on “Transforming OA Treatment Through Federated Big Data and AI-driven Clinical Innovation” underscored the project’s potential to revolutionize OA research and care.

Representatives from the Innovative Health Initiative (IHI) then provided insights into IHI’s expectations, communication strategies, and financial guidelines, ensuring alignment with the initiative’s broader goals.

The agenda featured presentations on each of PROBE’s six Work Packages (WPs), highlighting their roles in achieving the project’s objectives:

  • WP1 (Lead) – Project coordination and management.
  • WP2 (Guide) – Embedding stakeholder insights, including patient, HCP, ethics, and regulatory perspectives.
  • WP3 (Create) – Development of a secure federated database network and foundation models.
  • WP4 (Analyse) – Identification of predictive biomarkers and patient clusters.
  • WP5 (Implement) – Novel clinical trial designs, risk-assessment tools, and health technology assessments.
  • WP6 (Sustain) – Communication, dissemination, and long-term sustainability.

Partners were asked to get creative with their partner introductions and share their artistic vision of the project, competing for a prize for the most imaginitive!

Day two focused on cross-WP collaboration, with breakout sessions fostering dialogue between complementary teams. These sessions enabled partners to refine strategies, address interdependencies, and ensure seamless integration of efforts across the consortium.

The meeting concluded with a feedback session, where key takeaways and next steps were discussed, reinforcing the collective commitment to PROBE’s mission.

With a robust framework in place, the PROBE consortium left the meeting poised to advance its ambitious goals: enhancing OA clinical trial designs, developing predictive models, and creating tools for shared decision-making, all while prioritizing data privacy, ethical compliance, and patient engagement.

Stay tuned for updates as PROBE progresses!

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