EHEN final meeting
From November 26th to 28th, the EHEN (European Human Exposome Network) final meeting took place in Brussels, bringing together researchers, stakeholders, and policymakers to discuss the network’s achievements and future directions. The event was divided into two-day scientific meeting followed by a one day stakeholder event, each packed with inspiring presentations and lively discussions.
Two days of scientific highlights and collaboration
The first two days of the event were dedicated to EHEN internal scientific activities, featuring insightful presentations and ample opportunities for networking. HEDIMED played a prominent role, with many representatives on-site contributing to chairing sessions and presenting key scientific highlights of the project.
Part of the HEDIMED team on-site
These sessions provided a platform to showcase the latest findings and methodologies in exposome research, fostering collaboration among EHEN partners.
Throughout the event, HEDIMED researchers shared their works’ highlights:
Aki Sinkkonen discussed Playground modernization and health-associated environmental microbiota in Romania, Eliška Jeničková described the heterogeneity of the faecal bulk and how to sample it in clinical trials and Marja Roslund highlighted upcoming results of Land cover and greenness associations with celiac disease risk
Emilia Barannik showcased the Development of high-throughput Array-in-Well Multiplex Assay Platform, Juha Pajula presented on HEDIMED Research Platform Concept and Apostolia Karabatea talked about Gnomon’s Public Toolbox.
Engaging Stakeholder Event at the European Commission site
On the third day, the focus shifted to engaging with stakeholders during an Event hosted at the European Commission’s CDMA venue. This day attracted an audience of nearly 60 people, including representatives from 28 organizations spanning the European Commission, NGOs, universities, and industry.
HEDIMED’s representatives, Aki Sinkkonen and Juha Pajula, delivered impactful presentations:
Aki talked about the public health potential of green urban exposome…
…And Juha gave his presentation in Exposomic research in the European Health Data Space era.
In addition to these talks, Juha joined a panel discussion on timely health data issues in exposome research, together with fellow EHEN panelists and a European Commission representative. The discussions revolved around diverse themes, including legal frameworks, personalized prevention possibilities, consent considerations, GDPR and cross-border research enabled by the European Health Data Space.
Panelists in the middle of discussion: Juha Pajula, Daniel Groos, Peter Hoet, Inga Prokopenko, Albena Kuyumdzhieva and Tamsin Rose
Catch Up on the Stakeholder Event
For those who missed the event, the full streaming of the EHEN Stakeholder Event is available here: Final meeting of the European Human Exposome Network (EHEN): what next? – Streaming Service of the European Commission. The recording will remain accessible in the European Commission’s archive until November 2025.
The EHEN final meeting marked a significant milestone in exposome research, celebrating past achievements while looking ahead to future opportunities for collaboration and innovation. A big thank you to everyone who contributed to making this event a success!
You may read more about the Stakeholder Event highlights here.
Pictures under “Engaging Stakeholder Event at the European Commission site” by Helena Uhl, Health and Environment Alliance
