"Understanding" Cluster

DISCERN is part of a group of five projects that received funding from the European Commission through the Horizon Europe programme (HORIZON-MISS-2021-CANCER-02-03) to work on Objective 1 of the Cancer Mission programme, which is aimed at better understanding the impact of risk factors and health determinants on the development and progression of cancer. These projects are:

• GENIAL: Understanding gene–environment interaction in alcohol-related hepatocellular carcinoma
• LUCIA: Understanding lung cancer-related risk factors and their impact
• ELMUMY: Elucidation of risk factors and health determinants associated with progression of monoclonal gammopathies to multiple myeloma
• DISCERN: Discovering the causes of three poorly understood cancers in Europe (renal, pancreatic and colorectal)
• MELCAYA: Novel health-care strategies for melanoma in children, adolescents, and young adults

The main goal of this cluster is to support the mission objective of “Understanding cancer”, create added value, establish a policy feedback loop, and increase the impact of the EU funding.

DISCERN will lead the citizen engagement of the “Understanding” cluster. The organization of exchanges with citizens at the cluster level (including patients) will be discussed to ensure engagement and take their views into account when implementing future health-care policies. Results and lessons learned in the workshops organized internally by each of the individual projects will be shared with the other members of the cluster.