January 1, 2021 marks the start of the EU Horizon 2020 FET Proactive project, OPTOMICS (GA No. 101017802). The project aims to research methodology that can deliver a paradigm shift in type-2 diabetes healthcare, by integrating molecular phenotyping, phenotypic measurements in humans, representative of diabetes onset and progression, measured by optoacoustic technology, and cutting-edge computational approaches leveraging progress in Artificial Intelligence. The project will develop and validate a digital twin model that catalyses a step change in shortening the path to translation, enabling applications in the entire spectrum from target identification & prevention/prognosis to patient stratification for type 2 diabetes and its complications. In addition to the research and technology goals, OPTOMICS places special attention to the ethical needs and implications of the work performed and further aims at exemplary project management, human measurements, dissemination and communication activities and updating an adept exploitation plan for the digital twin developed.

The OPTOMICS project is driven by an international and interdisciplinary consortium comprised of three research institutes and three small- to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The consortium is led by the Technical University of Munich (Germany) and includes partners Helmholtz Center Munich (Germany), University of Tartu (Estonia), Rayfos Ltd. (United Kingdom), TATAA Biocenter (Sweden), and Nightingale Health Plc (Finland).