euCanSHare · Project

Secure Cross-Border Heart Disease Data Platform for Drug and Device Companies

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Imagine you want to study heart disease, but the patient data you need is scattered across hospitals in 11 different countries, each with its own formats and privacy rules. euCanSHare built a single secure platform that connects 35 heart-health datasets from Europe and Canada — roughly one million patient records — so researchers and companies can search, compare, and analyze them in one place. Think of it like a search engine for cardiovascular research data, with built-in privacy protection using blockchain technology. The platform also cleans and standardizes the data so you can actually compare apples to apples across different studies.

By the numbers

European and Canadian cardiovascular cohorts integrated

~1,000,000

patient records in the platform

consortium partners

countries represented

total project deliverables

industry partners including SMEs

The business problem

What needed solving

Companies developing cardiovascular drugs, diagnostic devices, or health analytics models need large, diverse patient datasets — but heart disease data is locked in separate hospitals and research centers across different countries, each with different formats, privacy rules, and access procedures. Getting data from even one country can take months of negotiation; doing it across 11 countries is nearly impossible for a single company.

The solution

What was built

A centralized, secure data-sharing platform integrating 35 cardiovascular cohorts (about one million records) from Europe and Canada, with a searchable data catalogue following FAIR principles, data harmonization and quality control tools, a legal interoperability framework for cross-border sharing, and a prototype of blockchain technology for data governance.

Audience

Who needs this

Pharmaceutical companies running cardiovascular clinical trials needing multi-country patient dataHealth data analytics firms building heart disease risk prediction modelsMedical device companies validating cardiac imaging or monitoring toolsContract research organizations managing multi-site cardiovascular studiesPublic health agencies tracking cardiovascular disease trends across populations

Business applications

Who can put this to work

Pharmaceuticals

enterprise

Target: Pharma companies developing cardiovascular drugs

If you are a pharma company running clinical trials for heart disease treatments — this project developed a platform connecting 35 cohorts with about one million cardiovascular patient records across 11 countries. Instead of spending months negotiating data access with each hospital separately, you could use this catalogue to discover, harmonize, and analyze multi-country patient data for biomarker validation and drug target identification.

Health Data Analytics

mid-size

Target: Health data companies building cardiovascular risk models

If you are a health analytics company struggling to build accurate risk prediction models because your training data comes from a single country or population — this platform integrates European and Canadian cardiovascular cohorts with standardized data harmonization and quality control. The FAIR-compliant data catalogue lets you discover and access diverse population datasets to improve model accuracy across demographics.

Medical Device Manufacturing

enterprise

Target: Cardiac imaging and monitoring device manufacturers

If you are a medical device company needing real-world cardiovascular imaging and omics data to validate your diagnostic tools — this project built infrastructure connecting imaging data through euro-BioImaging and genomic data through ELIXIR and EGA. With 20 consortium partners across 11 countries, you gain access to multi-modal cardiac data for device calibration and regulatory submissions.

Frequently asked

Quick answers

What would it cost to access the euCanSHare platform and data?

The project data does not specify commercial pricing or licensing fees. As a publicly funded research infrastructure (RIA), initial access for research use cases was supported through the project. Companies interested in commercial access should contact the coordinator at Universitat de Barcelona to discuss terms.

Can this platform handle the data volumes we need for large-scale drug development?

The platform was initially populated with 35 European and Canadian cohorts corresponding to about one million patient records. It was designed for scalability, with built-in data deposition and harmonization features to support integration of new cohorts beyond the project's duration.

Who owns the intellectual property and can we license the technology?

The platform integrates existing research infrastructures (ELIXIR, EGA, BBMRI, euro-BioImaging, Maelstrom) with new interoperability layers. IP is distributed across 20 consortium partners in 11 countries. A blockchain-based prototype was developed for data governance. Licensing terms would need to be discussed with the consortium lead, Universitat de Barcelona.

Does this comply with EU data protection regulations like GDPR?

The project specifically built a legal interoperability framework through detailed ethical and legal analysis for cross-border cardiovascular data sharing. The platform was designed for responsible Open Science with blockchain-based data governance, and all data handling follows FAIR principles.

How long would integration take for our existing systems?

The platform was built by making currently fragmented IT solutions interoperable, so it is designed to connect with existing research data infrastructure. The project ran from December 2018 to May 2023 and produced 29 deliverables. Integration timelines would depend on your specific data formats and regulatory requirements.

Is this actually validated or still experimental?

The platform was demonstrated through several use cases including biomarker validation, knowledge discovery, cardiovascular risk assessment, public health research, and industry-driven studies. A blockchain technology prototype was produced as a demo deliverable. The project is closed, meaning development is complete.

What kind of support is available for onboarding?

The project organized hands-on workshops and outreach campaigns targeting academic, public health, and industrial users. With 11 university partners and 6 research organizations in the consortium, technical expertise is available. Post-project support terms would need to be confirmed with the coordinator.

Consortium

Who built it

The euCanSHare consortium brings together 20 partners across 11 countries (AT, BE, CA, CZ, DE, ES, FI, FR, IT, NL, UK), giving it genuine transatlantic reach. The mix is heavily academic — 11 universities and 6 research organizations — with only 2 industry partners (10% industry ratio), both SMEs. This is typical for a research data infrastructure project but signals that commercial translation will require external industry engagement. The coordinator, Universitat de Barcelona, leads from Spain. The inclusion of Canadian partners provides access to North American cardiovascular datasets (CAHHM initiative), which is rare for EU-funded projects and adds value for companies operating on both sides of the Atlantic.

UNIVERSITAT DE BARCELONACoordinator · ES
MCMASTER UNIVERSITYparticipant · CA
UNIVERSIDAD POMPEU FABRAparticipant · ES
LYNKEUSparticipant · IT
FAKULTNI NEMOCNICE U SV ANNY V BRNEthirdparty · CZ
THE RESEARCH INSTITUTE OF THE MCGILL UNIVERSITY HEALTH CENTREparticipant · CA
UNIVERSITATSMEDIZIN GREIFSWALD KORPERSCHAFT DES OFFENTLICHEN RECHTSparticipant · DE
BIOBANKS AND BIOMOLECULAR RESOURCES RESEARCH INFRASTRUCTURE CONSORTIUM (BBMRI-ERIC)participant · AT
SOCIETE EUROPEENNE DE CARDIOLOGIEparticipant · FR
UNIVERSITAET LEIPZIGthirdparty · DE
NOSTRUM BIODISCOVERY SLparticipant · ES
TERVEYDEN JA HYVINVOINNIN LAITOSparticipant · FI
UNIVERSITAETSKLINIKUM HAMBURG-EPPENDORFparticipant · DE
ERASMUS UNIVERSITAIR MEDISCH CENTRUM ROTTERDAMparticipant · NL
QUEEN MARY UNIVERSITY OF LONDONparticipant · UK
KATHOLIEKE UNIVERSITEIT LEUVENparticipant · BE
ROYAL INSTITUTION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING MCGILL UNIVERSITYparticipant · CA
FUNDACIO CENTRE DE REGULACIO GENOMICAparticipant · ES
POHJOIS-SAVON SAIRAANHOITOPIIRIN KUNTAYHTYMAthirdparty · FI
BARCELONA SUPERCOMPUTING CENTER CENTRO NACIONAL DE SUPERCOMPUTACIONparticipant · ES

How to reach the team

Universitat de Barcelona (Spain) — contact through the project website or CORDIS contact form

Order a report on this consortium See UNIVERSITAT DE BARCELONA profile →

Next steps

Talk to the team behind this work.

Want to access cardiovascular research data from 35 cohorts across 11 countries? SciTransfer can connect you with the euCanSHare team and help you evaluate whether this platform fits your data needs.

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