EUROPEAN PUBLIC HEALTH ALLIANCE

Their core work

The European Public Health Alliance (EPHA) is a Brussels-based civil society NGO that advocates for evidence-based public health policy at the EU level. In research consortia, they function as the policy translation layer — converting scientific findings into actionable policy recommendations and channelling results toward EU institutions, member state health ministries, and civil society networks. Their H2020 participation spans health policy foresight (FRESHER) and childhood obesity intervention policy (STOP), reflecting their core role: ensuring that research evidence actually reaches and influences regulators. For consortium builders, they offer something most academic partners cannot — direct access to EU policy advocacy channels and a pre-existing network of public health organisations across Europe.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

EPHA's H2020 work started with broad, systems-level health policy foresight — FRESHER was about regulatory modelling for European health as a whole, with no specific population or condition focus. By 2018, their participation had narrowed sharply to a concrete policy problem: childhood obesity, with explicit attention to economics, physical activity, food consumption, and intervention design. This shift from macro-level foresight to targeted, evidence-based policy on a specific condition suggests EPHA is moving toward issue-specific policy campaigns rather than general regulatory advisory work. The trajectory points toward health policy work that is more action-oriented and focused on measurable population outcomes, particularly for vulnerable groups.

EPHA is moving from broad EU health regulatory foresight toward targeted, evidence-driven policy campaigns on specific conditions affecting children and adolescents — making them a strong match for research projects that need a policy advocacy partner with a focus on population health outcomes.

How they like to work

EPHA has never led an H2020 project, participating exclusively as a consortium partner — a pattern consistent with how civil society organisations typically engage in research: brought in for policy dissemination, stakeholder engagement, and regulatory access rather than research leadership. With 31 unique partners across just 2 projects, they clearly operate inside large, multi-country consortia averaging around 15 partners per project. This reflects their value proposition: they are not a research hub, but a policy bridge that large interdisciplinary consortia need to ensure their outputs reach EU institutions.

EPHA has connected with 31 unique consortium partners across 17 countries in just two projects, reflecting the wide geographic spread typical of EU-funded public health research. As a Brussels-based advocacy organisation with existing ties to health ministries, EU agencies, and civil society networks, their collaboration footprint is inherently pan-European.

What sets them apart

EPHA occupies a rare niche in EU research consortia: they are neither an academic institution nor an industry partner, but a civil society voice with direct access to EU policy channels — a resource most research teams lack. For projects that need their findings to influence actual regulation or EU-level health strategy, EPHA is one of very few partners that can credibly deliver that connection. Their dual presence across health and food policy also makes them unusually suited for projects that cross the boundary between nutrition, physical activity, and public health governance.

Highlights from their portfolio

• STOP
  The largest and most recent project (2018–2022, €189k to EPHA) addressed childhood obesity through a health economics and policy lens, demonstrating EPHA's capacity to contribute to complex, multi-domain interventions at a European scale.
• FRESHER
  EPHA's highest-funded project (€252k) focused on foresight and regulatory modelling for European health policy — a strategic, systems-level role that confirms their value to policy-oriented research consortia.