HOSPICES CIVILS DE LYON

Their core work

Hospices Civils de Lyon is one of France's largest university hospital systems, serving as both a major clinical care provider and a translational research hub. Their H2020 portfolio reveals deep involvement in clinical trials, precision medicine, and infectious disease response — contributing patient cohorts, biobanks, and clinical expertise to European research consortia. They bridge hospital-based clinical practice with multi-omics research, rare disease networks, and pandemic preparedness, making them a key site where research findings meet real patient care.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In 2015–2018, HCL focused primarily on neuroscience and regenerative medicine — stroke recovery via stem cell therapy (RESSTORE), meditation and ageing research (MEDIT-AGEING), and neuroimaging. From 2019 onward, a marked shift occurred toward infectious disease, precision medicine, and genomics: projects like HAP2, ImmunoSep, oncNGS, and EU-RESPONSE reflect a hospital system responding to the growing demands of antimicrobial resistance, sepsis, pandemic preparedness, and molecular diagnostics. The pandemic period clearly accelerated their infectious disease and public health portfolio.

HCL is moving decisively toward precision medicine, genomic diagnostics, and immunotherapy-guided treatment — positioning them as a clinical validation site for next-generation therapies and diagnostics.

How they like to work

HCL overwhelmingly participates as a consortium partner (13 of 16 projects), with only one coordinator role (QUALITOP). They work in large European consortia averaging over 20 partners, contributing clinical cohorts and hospital infrastructure rather than leading project design. With 347 unique partners across 39 countries, they function as a well-connected clinical node that many different consortia seek out for patient access and clinical trial sites.

HCL has collaborated with 347 unique partners across 39 countries, indicating a broad pan-European and international network. Their connections span university hospitals, research institutes, and pharmaceutical companies across the health sector, making them one of the most widely networked French hospital systems in H2020.

What sets them apart

As a major French university hospital (CHU), HCL offers something most research institutes cannot: direct access to large, diverse patient populations and real-world clinical data within an active healthcare system. Their value to consortia lies in being a clinical validation and trial site — they bring patients, biobanks, and hospital-level implementation capacity. For anyone needing a French clinical partner with experience across neurology, infectious disease, oncology, and rare diseases, HCL is a proven and reliable choice.

Highlights from their portfolio

• QUALITOP
  HCL's only coordinator role (EUR 889K), building a digital platform for monitoring quality of life after cancer immunotherapy — signals their ambition to lead in digital health.
• EU-RESPONSE
  Largest single funding (EUR 902K), a pandemic preparedness network for platform trials — reflects HCL's scale and relevance in public health emergencies.
• oncNGS
  Positions HCL at the intersection of genomics and oncology diagnostics (NGS, liquid biopsies, EC-IVD regulation), an area with strong commercial and regulatory relevance.