Bridging the prevention gap: funding distribution and methodological shifts in prevention-focused biomedical research under EU framework programmes

Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) contribute significantly to global morbidity and mortality, accounting for 74% of all deaths worldwide. Many of these chronic diseases can be prevented or their onset mitigated through lifestyle interventions such as adopting balanced nutrition, engaging in regular physical activity and minimizing environmental risks. Complementing these efforts, robust biomarkers enable early diagnosis (secondary prevention), while tertiary prevention can reduce long-term complications and improve disease management. Moreover, the importance of prevention extends beyond NCDs to infectious diseases, where lifestyle-related factors can also play a pivotal role. However, prevention-focused healthcare and research remain generally underfunded, highlighting the need for greater investment in this critical area. Compared to non-human animal models — which have often proven to be poor proxies for human diseases — innovative human-based research methods have shown suitable for modeling several common NCDs, as well as for understanding disease pathophysiology and advancing drug discovery. These approaches are particularly relevant in prevention research, given the inherently human nature of the lifestyle and environmental factors associated with disease risk and progression.

PISTOLLATO Francesca;  FURTMANN Fabia;  GASTALDELLO Annalisa;  PASTORINO Roberta;  PETRA Eleni;  TRIPODI Ignacio;  CONSTANTINO Helder; 

2025-09-30

BMC

JRC142480

1479-5876 (online),   

https://translational-medicine.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12967-025-07019-8,    https://doi.org/10.1186/s12967-025-07019-8,    https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC142480,   

10.1186/s12967-025-07019-8 (online),