The European Union wants to support broad and multi-disciplinary responses to the current crisis.
For this purpose, the European Commission is funding PERISCOPE, which stands for “Pan-European Response to the Impacts of COVID-19 and future Pandemics and Epidemics”. 32 European Institutions from 16 countries are now cooperating in this large-scale research project, coordinated by the University of Pavia.
Professor George Griffin, physician scientist and President of the Federation of European Academies of Medicine (FEAM), one of the institutions included in the project, underlined the importance of this cooperation at a European level.
“This project is an example of the value and importance of European coordination in making Europe more resilient and prepared for future large-scale risks,” the President of the FEAM and a member of Periscope’s Scientific Committee stressed.
One of the PERISCOPE goals is to identify successful practices and approaches adopted at the national and local levels, which could be scaled up at the pan-European level to respond to the pandemic and its related socio-economic impacts.
Even if we return to normal in a while, “it is necessary to draw broad lessons from this pandemic. As the consequences of this crisis go beyond health issues, collaborative work is needed to unveil the impacts and unintended consequences of COVID-19 and policy measures”, said Dr. Rosa Castro, Senior Scientific Policy Officer at FEAM and a member of the Executive Committee of Periscope.
The project aims to enhance Europe’s preparedness for future similar events by:
(1) developing guidance for policymakers at all levels of government,
(2) developing training and education tools for authorities and healthcare workers, and
(3) drawing lessons for the multi-level governance of health.
Intensive data-gathering on the broad impact of COVID-19, and innovative statistical analysis on the collected data will enable the consortium to start producing results in a short timeframe (first preliminary results are expected as early as May 2021).
Coronavirus Global Response
PERISCOPE, a Horizon 2020 research project, was funded with almost 10 million euros under the Coronavirus Global Response initiative launched in May 2020 by the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
With a duration of three years, until 31 October 2023, the project will bring together experts in all aspects of the current outbreak: clinic and epidemiologic; socio-economic and political; statistical and technological.
They will carry out theoretical and experimental research to contribute to a deeper understanding of the short- and long-term impacts of the pandemic and the measures adopted to contain it. Such research-intensive activities will allow the consortium to propose measures to prepare Europe for future pandemics and epidemics in a relatively short timeline.
