CARAMEL kicks off, the European project with six Basque entities to promote personalized prevention in Cardiovascular Health in middle-aged women based on AI

25 partners and entities from different European countries, including six Basque entities, joined on December 3,4 and 5 at the launch of CARAMEL in San Sebastian. The Horizon Europe-funded project is created with a view to develop and validate an innovative stratification approach for personalized cardiovascular disease (CVD) prevention in middle-aged women around the menopausal transition (40-60 years) thanks to cutting-edge digital technologies.

Women's cardiovascular health is an urgent unmet clinical need, as reported by the European Society of Cardiology (ESC). CVD is the leading cause of death in women in the European Union, with 17% of women dying from CVD before the age of 65 (European Society of Cardiology-ESC, 2020), also presenting with many non-fatal CVD events at a young age with sequelae throughout life. CVD is underdiagnosed, undertreated and poorly understood, with prevention being especially important in the period around menopause, where women's cardiovascular risk increases.

In this context, the CARAMEL project was born, which under the coordination of Vicomtech, offers an innovative model of personalized prevention aimed at women aged 40 to 60 years. The project is based on a stratification model that considers additional female-specific risk factors within the CVD risk models. In addition, it aims to better personalize cardiovascular risk assessment using information available from medical records, diagnostic imaging, etc. as well as new technologies based on molecular or imaging markers.

Based on personalized risk assessment, an innovative approach to personalized prevention is proposed, based on knowledge and self-assessment, and self-management of risks using innovative digital technologies, empowering women to optimize their cardiovascular health.

For its development, CARAMEL proposes to use multiple sources of existing data from clinical repositories or previous research studies. In addition, it will develop a clinical study with 3000 women across Europe, 600 of them in Gipuzkoa, to develop risk models and better understand women's needs regarding prevention at this stage of life, followed by a study with 600 women to evaluate new preventive strategies.

CARAMEL is under the umbrella of the European Union with funding of 12 million euros from the Horizon Europe program. With a total duration of 60 months, the project involves the participation of 25 European partners, six of which are centers in the Basque Country: ULMA Medical Technologies, CICbioGUNE, Keralty SAS together with Biokeralty, A3Z Advanced, Biogipuzkoa and the project coordinator, Vicomtech.