CENTRE HOSPITALIER REGIONAL ET UNIVERSITAIRE DE BREST

Their core work

CHRU Brest is a major university hospital in Brittany, France, serving as both a clinical care center and a medical research institution. Their H2020 involvement centers on clinical trials and patient stratification in autoimmune and cardiovascular diseases, contributing patient cohorts, clinical expertise, and real-world health data to large European research consortia. They bring the perspective of a frontline healthcare provider to translational research, bridging laboratory science and bedside practice.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

CHRU Brest's early H2020 work (2016-2017) focused on cardiovascular disease prevention and perinatal health monitoring — broad public health topics. From 2019 onward, they shifted decisively toward autoimmune diseases, particularly Sjögren's syndrome and molecular-level disease stratification using single-cell data and integrative genomics. This reflects a clear move from population-level health interventions toward precision medicine and immunology-focused clinical research.

CHRU Brest is deepening its autoimmunity and precision medicine capabilities, making them a strong candidate for future consortia in immunology, stratified clinical trials, and molecular disease profiling.

How they like to work

CHRU Brest operates almost exclusively as a third-party contributor or participant — they have never coordinated an H2020 project. This is typical for university hospitals that provide clinical cohorts, patient data, and medical expertise to researcher-led consortia rather than managing large grants themselves. With 118 unique partners across 20 countries, they are well-networked and comfortable working in large, multinational teams.

Despite only 4 projects, CHRU Brest has collaborated with 118 unique partners across 20 countries, reflecting the very large consortium sizes typical of health research RIA projects. Their network spans broadly across Europe with no narrow geographic concentration.

What sets them apart

CHRU Brest offers something many research institutes cannot: direct access to clinical patient populations in western France, particularly for autoimmune conditions and cardiovascular studies. Their dual role as a working hospital and research center means they can recruit patients, run clinical trials, and contribute real-world clinical data — a critical bottleneck in many EU health projects. For consortium builders, they are a reliable clinical partner with proven experience in multi-site European trials.

Highlights from their portfolio

• 3TR
  Ambitious 7-year project (2019-2026) investigating molecular mechanisms of treatment non-response across autoimmune diseases, using single-cell data and integrative genomics — their most scientifically advanced involvement.
• NECESSITY
  Directly targets new clinical endpoints for Sjögren's syndrome using a multi-arm multi-stage trial design, positioning CHRU Brest at the center of a rare autoimmune disease research effort.
• SPICES
  Their only project as a named participant (not third party), receiving EUR 1M+ in funding for scaling cardiovascular prevention across European and African sites.