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OperA-project kick-off at Holmenkollen

The new EU-funded flagship project presented project partners and work packages on September 13. OperA is a 5-year project to improve colorectal cancer care by artificial intelligence. 

The OperA prosject group

Photo: Mathilde Bakke, UiO

On September 13, 2022, the OperA group met at Holmenkollen in Oslo to kick off the research project. 

– The goal of this new exciting project is to optimize prevention and treatment of colorectal cancer by developing and testing new artificial intelligence tools for colonoscopy, says principal investigator Yuichi Mori, gastroenterologist and associate professor at the Clinical Effectiveness Research Group, University of Oslo.

OperA (Optimising Colorectal Cancer Prevention Trough Personalized Treatment with Artifical Iintelligence) is the first collaborative project under Horizon Europe at the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Oslo. The project was granted 4.7 million Euro from Horizon Europe, of which 1.8 million Euro were awarded to UiO. 

The project has the following goals: 

  1. Establish the value of AI-assisted colonoscopy in colorectal cancer prevention by conducting a pan-European, population-based, randomized trial with 222,000 participants. 
  2. Develop a colonoscopy AI risk-prediction tool for personalized treatment of colorectal polyps and cancer. 
  3. Develop cost-effectiveness models of AI-assisted colonoscopy in colorectal cancer screening. 
  4. Investigate ethical and legal barriers in AI development and implementation. 
  5. Generate trustworthy and rapidly updating clinical guidelines for AI in screening colonoscopy. 
  6. Develop a patient-oriented AI tool by including end-users in the process of AI development and communication.

Introduction of the partners and work packages 

During the meeting at Holmenkollen, the 18 project partners presented the eight work packages. 

– It was a very exciting meeting today. Each of the eight work packages will organize and conduct groundbreaking developments to maximize the contribution of the OperA project, explains Dr. Mori. 

The research consortium consists of renowned experts in gastroenterology, machine learning, cancer screening, biostatistics, disease modelling, regulatory science, and ethics and law in medicine, from nine European countries, and from the US and Japan. 

Among the partners are the University of Oslo (UiO), Oslo University Hospital, Magic Evidence Ecosystem Foundation (MEEF), Aarhus University, Karolinska Institute, Marie Curie Memorial Cancer Center and Institute of Oncology, Warsaw, Humanitas University, Milan, King’s College Hospital London, University College London, University of Barcelona, Pennsylvania State University, and Showa University, Yokohama. 

OperA-project kick-off at Holmenkollen

See the full program for the kick-off here

13:00-16:45    Meeting @ Scandic Holmenkollen    

Chairs: Yuichi Mori and Michael Bretthauer

1.    (13:00-13:15) Greeting from Coordinator -Scope and goal of OperA: Yuichi Mori

2.    (13:15-14:00) Introduction of each Beneficiary and Associate Partner.

a.    University of Oslo (Yuichi Mori)
b.    Oslo University Hospital (Michael Bretthauer)
c.    MAGIC Evidence Ecosystem Foundation (Per Olav Vandvik)
d.    Aarhus University (Rune Erichsen)
e.    Karolinska Institute (Hans Olov Adami)
f.    Maria Sklodowska-Curie Memorial Cancer Center and Institute of Oncology (Michal F Kaminski)
g.    Fundacio Clinic per a la Recerca Biomedica and Hospital Clinic de Barcelona (Maria Pellise)
h.    Humanitas University (Cesare Hassan)
i.    University Hospital Eppendorf (Thomas Rosch)
j.    National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (Konstantinos Triantafyllou)
k.    King’s College Hospital (Shraddha Gulati)
l.    University College London (Omer Ahmad)
m.    Maplesoft Europe Limited (Juergen Gerhard)
n.    Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (Tyler M Berzin)
o.    Pennsylvania State University (Sara Gerke)
p.    Showa University (Shin-ei Kudo / Masashi Misawa)
q.    Nagoya University (Kensaku Mori)

3.     (14:00-14:20) Horizon Europe project (TBD): Marianne da Silva - EU project advisor

4.    (14:20-16:50) Overview of each work package (WP) and WP leaders

a)    WP1 (population-based randomized trial): 
Yuichi Mori / Michael Bretthauer

b)    WP2 (innovation project to develop a novel AI tool): 
Shraddha Gulati / Masashi Misawa

-    Coffee break (10 min)   -

c)    WP3 (cost-effectiveness study): 
Mette Kalager / Magnus Løberg / Cesare Hassan

d)    WP4 (ethics in AI): 
Omer Ahmad / Sara Gerke / Tyler Berzin

e)    WP5 (guidelines): 
Konstantinos Triantafyllou / Per Olav Vandvik / Cesare Hassan

f)    WP6 (dissemination strategy): 
Michal Kaminski / Michael Bretthauer

g)    WP7 (communication strategy): 
Maria Pellise

h)    WP8 (administration management): 
Madeleine Berli / Anita Aalby 

By Mathilde Coraline Aarvold Bakke
Published Sep. 20, 2022 3:12 PM - Last modified Sep. 20, 2022 3:34 PM