HUS year 2022: Research infrastructures and international cooperation
Access to data through HUS Acamedic
HUS Acamedic is a remote user environment as referred to in the Secondary Use Act, developed jointly with TietoEvry. It is an audited and secure user environment that is scalable and functions over the internet worldwide, thereby facilitating international research. There are nine audited remote user environments in Finland; HUS Acamedic was the first one to go on stream.
HUS Acamedic usage grew steadily during 2022: there were 15 user environments at the beginning of the year and 116 at the end of the year.
HUS Acamedic is used by small and large research teams alike, including ICAN, Finnprostata and AICCELERATE. HUS Acamedic has been acclaimed by clients for its accessibility and wide range of functions.
International cooperation in R&D projects grew
We acted as coordinator in preparing four EU consortium project applications, two of which were granted funding while one was placed on reserve. We led the funding and consortium agreement negotiations for the Long Covid, ONCOVALUE and ENDOTARGET projects that were granted funding. We launched the Long Covid project that we coordinated and participated in 14 ongoing EU projects, two of which we were coordinating (AICCELERATE and BOUNCE).
Helsinki Biobank serves researchers and patients
Biobanks offer researchers reliable, high quality samples and related clinical data. Research based on these has the potential to evolve new treatments that may improve patients’ quality of life and treatment outcomes. For patients, biobanks offer the possibility to participate in research projects, with potential benefits for their personal health.
In 2022, the Helsinki Biobank had two ongoing projects for generating health benefits, Rare3k and Genome Health.
The Rare3k project is for diagnosing rare conditions in patients who have been health care clients but do not have an accurate diagnosis. In a pilot project, we have worked with physicians treating rare diseases at HUS to study two storage disorders – Wilson’s disease and TTR amyloidosis – and also congenital growth disorders and idiopathic retinopathy. For the latter two disease groups, we were able to provide an accurate molecular level diagnosis, and thereby enhanced treatment, to several biobank sample donors.
In the Genome Health project, we are examining genotype analyses returned to the biobank from the FinnGen study to identify persons who, due to mutations in specific genes, are at an elevated risk of breast cancer. In this project, we have developed a procedure for pre-screening of mutation carriers.
Team members also piloted a proactive treatment pathway where donors are informed of their elevated risk and are given enhanced monitoring or preventive treatment in accordance with clinical practice. In addition to the Helsinki Biobank, the Genome Health project involves the Department of Clinical Genetics at HUS Diagnostics Center, and experts treating breast cancer patients.
The operations of the Nursing Research Center NRC are detailed in the Annual Report on Nursing.
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