Strategic and Capacity Agenda to Lead and Enable CVD care innovation

Cardiovascular diseases remain the leading cause of death in Europe, even though effective solutions for prevention, early detection and treatment already exist. SCALE-CVD works to accelerate the implementation and scale-up of proven innovations across healthcare systems.

Strategic and Capacity Agenda to Lead and Enable CVD care innovation across Europe (SCALE-CVD)
Over 60 million people live with cardiovascular diseases, which places a great burden on both healthcare and society at large. Although effective methods for prevention, early detection, screening and digital support in healthcare already exist, the use of these solutions varies between countries and regions. This means that many people are still not able to benefit from innovations that could improve cardiovascular health and reduce inequalities in healthcare.

SCALE-CVD addresses this challenge by helping Europe scale up what already works. Rather than developing new technologies, the project focuses on identifying successful innovations, understanding barriers to implementation, and creating the conditions needed for their wider adoption across healthcare systems. Special attention is given to women, vulnerable populations and groups that are often underserved by current prevention and care strategies.

The SCALE-CVD consortium is coordinated by RISE, and brings together partners from Sweden, Turkey, Romania, Spain, Denmark, Belgium and Finland. The project will develop a structured dialogue platform. Together, researchers, healthcare professionals, patient organizations, companies and other relevant stakeholders will review existing knowledge, identify priority areas and come to common recommendations on how prevention, early detection and screening of cardiovascular diseases can be strengthened in Europe.

A key deliverable from SCALE-CVD is the development of a Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA) and a practical implementation plan. These will provide guidance to policymakers, funders, healthcare organisations and researchers on how effective, equitable and digitally supported solutions can be introduced faster and at scale. The recommendations will be aligned with European initiatives and policy frameworks, including the European Health Data Space (EHDS), to ensure long-term relevance and impact.

SCALE-CVD will provide policymakers, healthcare providers and researchers with a stronger knowledge base for future efforts in cardiovascular health. By promoting the use of already proven innovations and identifying practical pathways to implementation, the project can contribute to better prevention, earlier detection of disease, more person-centred and equitable care and improved health outcomes for European citizens.

Partners: Uppsala University (Sweden), Koç University (Türkiye), Karolinska Institutet (Sweden), Software Imagination & Vision S.R.L. (Romania), Senior Europa Sociedad Limitda (Spain), MG Sustainable Engineering AB (Sweden), Universitatea de Medicina si Farmacie Carol Davila (Romania), Syddansk Universitet (Denmark), European Heart Network (Belgium), Stichting Amsterdam UMC (Netherland)

For more information, contact:
Coordinator: Marie Sjölinder, RISE, Phone: +46 70 776 15 96, E-mail: marie.sjolinder@ri.se
Project manager: Louise Lou, MG Sustainable Engineering AB, E-mail: louise@mgsust.com
Communications: Josepine Fernow, Centre for Research Ethics & Bioethics, Uppsala University, Phone: +46 18 471 62 22; E-mail: Josepine.fernow@uu.se