Research networks

The IMR Blue Zone citizen-science project aims to improve healthy lifestyle behaviour and knowledge among citizens and healthcare providers in the Meuse-Rhine region (NL-BE-DE). Life expectancy in the Meuse-Rhine region varies significantly between and within areas. To better understand and reduce these differences, the universities of Hasselt, Liège, Aachen, and Maastricht have launched a large-scale interregional project.
In the first part of the project, the health and lifestyle of 1,000 citizens will be monitored using wearables and online questionnaires. This includes two sub-objectives: one focusing on physical health and the other on mental health. After an initial assessment, participants will receive a wearable and motivation to increase their physical activity over a three-month period, followed by a second assessment. These results will inform the development of practical guidelines to improve lifestyle and health in the region.
In the second part, healthcare-related educational programs and the approaches and practices of healthcare professionals will be analysed for their preventive medicine content. This will be achieved through a combination of qualitative analyses and questionnaires. Based on the findings, recommendations for potential improvements will be formulated, and a web-based toolbox for preventive medicine education will be developed. Furthermore, insights from interviews with healthcare professionals will guide the design of lifelong digital learning modules aimed at supporting preventive practices in clinical settings.

The consortiumpartners of the IMR Bluezone project are: Hasselt University, Université Liège, Maastricht University and RWTH Aachen University.

The IMR Blue zone project is supported by the European Union and the Interreg Meuse-Rhine (NL-BE-DE) programme ànd by Wallonia.

More information about the project can be found here.

 'Healthy Aging' is a Euregional project within the program Interreg Euregio Maas Rijn. Partners (BIOMED is the leadpartner) within this consortium (BIOMED, MUMC+, GIGA Luik, UKA, Curador, MyHealth, Imomec, GlycoCheck, Astel Medica and DNAmito) use their expertise and knowledge to screen early immune aging and delay related chronic diseases. Within the EMR this consortium would like to develop crossborder knowledge platforms to share and spread this knowledge. Partners aim at innovating and validating the generated knowledge. Results of this project are aimed at lowering health costs. This project is supported by the European fund for Regional Development of the European Union. This fund stimulates innovation, renewable energy, a healthy environment and the job market via crossborder projects. More information about this project.

EURLIPIDS, a Virtual Platform for Lipid Research:  a Virtual Platform for Lipid Research.  Building on the Euregio’ s knowledge and expertise in the field of lipid-technologies, the projects aims at establishing an excellence platform for lipid-based research and technological solutions ("Lipid Valley"). Bringing together research institutes, clinics, industrial partners and SMEs, the platform will be built on three pillars: (1) a study component for MA and PhD students to strengthen the human capacities for lipid research in the EMR; (2) research for new analytical methods (biomarkers, biomedical materials); (3) economic valorization of the research activities through the development and market launch of new clinical products. Indeed, as underlined by the partnership, the planned research and valorization activities shall lead to patent-protected solutions which will enable the participating industrial partners, SMEs and resulting spin-offs to  gain direct advantage from their participation in the project.

Within the Euregio Meuse-Rhine Interreg project GYM (Generate Your Muscle), research is being done to determine whether stem cell therapy can help combat muscle strength loss. The GYM project is led by Maastricht University and Maastricht UMC+. Other partners within this project are Universiteit Hasselt, Université de Liège, KULeuven, Universitätsklinikum Aachen and the companies Scannexus and Kenko International. More information about this project can be found here.

Trans Tech Diagnostics (TTD): is a public-private consortium within the Interreg Flanders-Netherlands program, consisting of the partners Maastricht University (CARIM, lead partner), Hasselt University (BIOMED), VITO, TSG Innoteq, DSP Valley and Bonné+Jan.
The partners focus on the development of new personalized diagnostics for cardiovascular diseases. Personalized medicine is seen as the way to more efficient cardiovascular health care, broadly applicable and with less collateral health damage and costs for the individual and society. Over time, these efforts will not only be able to have a positive impact on healthcare, but also respond to the needs and demands of industry and healthcare providers. Click here for more information