© khunkornStudio/stock.adobe.com
The EU-funded NextGen(opens in new window) project is transforming cardiology by merging genomic sequences with clinical data into a secure ‘digital fabric’. This breakthrough enables AI models to deliver truly personalised therapies for heart disease patients across Europe.
Cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of death globally, yet current treatments still rely on a one-size-fits-all approach. Launched in 2024, NextGen is working to change this. By integrating multiple data types from different sources into advanced AI systems, it seeks to transform the way in which heart conditions are prevented, diagnosed and treated.
The path to interoperability
The core challenge NextGen addresses is data fragmentation. Critical patient information currently exists in silos: genomic sequences in one database, cardiac imaging in another and clinical history in yet another. What is more, there are strict privacy laws and incompatible data formats to contend with, which further hinder the creation of comprehensive patient profiles. The NextGen consortium is developing a set of tools to remove these barriers, creating an interoperable environment where diverse data types can coexist securely, and enabling clinicians to make more informed, patient-specific decisions.
At the heart of this initiative is the creation of a digital fabric. By combining genomic data with cardiac imaging and clinical records in a single interoperable system, the project provides the secure, high-quality foundation needed to train robust cardiovascular AI models. Steffen Petersen, a professor at NextGen project partner Queen Mary University of London, explains in a press release(opens in new window) posted on the European Society of Cardiology website: “Clinicians rely on a wide range of clinical information to diagnose disease, predict risk, guide treatment and monitor outcomes. However, health data science has not yet fully captured the power of multimodal data such as symptoms, signs, electrocardiograms, blood tests, and imaging. Bringing these data together is crucial for advancing data-enabled innovation in healthcare, and NEXTGEN represents a major step forward.”
NextGen tools will ensure that health data remains meaningful and usable across different hospital systems and countries without losing its original clinical context. A strong emphasis is also placed on data privacy and governance, meaning that researchers will be able to share and use relevant cardiovascular datasets without transferring or exposing sensitive patient information. This secure interoperability is particularly important as European healthcare systems become increasingly interconnected.
Patient-centric and ethical by design
Consortium members are focused on establishing standards for data reusability and privacy, ensuring that patient trust remains paramount as digital health capabilities expand. It is therefore embedding the appropriate ethical constraints directly into the system, creating built-in safeguards that ensure data is used responsibly and which give patients greater control over their information.
The project has several real-world pilot programmes underway, involving five collaborating clinical sites working together within a dedicated network. The pilots will demonstrate the effectiveness of the NextGen (NEXT GENERATION TOOLS FOR GENOME-CENTRIC MULTIMODAL DATA INTEGRATION IN PERSONALISED CARDIOVASCULAR MEDICINE) tools, and their potential as a solution for the effective delivery of personalised medicine across Europe.
For more information, please see:
NextGen project website(opens in new window)
Explore other similar articles