There are some significant gaps to be filled and connections to be enabled across the pan-European landscape of infrastructures in Health & Food. There is a need for a pan-EU approach on food and nutrition as well as in sustainable agriculture and bio-economy, building a natural link between the two complex medical and agriculture fields. Gaps can be identified at many levels and in order to complete the landscape, it will also be important to connect infrastructure efforts within Health & Food and with other domains. Significant innovations and new developments often occur at the boundaries of research areas, and Health & Food Strategic RIs have already established effective connections between them and across other ESFRI domains. As the landscape keeps evolving, new connections will and need to be made; ESFRI Landmarks and Projects in all domains have a key role to play as a driver in promoting and facilitating effective and fruitful connections, as well as in supporting the ERA.

These new connections need to be pursued to maximise current efforts by ESFRI RIs and build on the technical and thematic knowledge gained in ESFRI Clusters, to deliver new knowledge and new services, and enhanced socio-economic impact. Different levels of integration and connections will continue to build the infrastructure landscape in the Health & Food sector, towards true interdisciplinarity and convergence (see Figure 5).

Figure 5. Interdisciplinary clusters - new connections in the ESFRI RIs landscape

Boundary areas have the potential to provide a new level of integration and organisation. It is proposed that boundary areas can lead to the formation of Interdisciplinary Clusters in order to realize the added value of RIs being connected not only to new RIs but also to other relevant initiatives. Interactions with stakeholders like the healthcare and agri-food sectors and industry will benefit from those formations. This is important in order to continue building the ERA, capitalising on the generated knowledge and translating these into the benefits for society.

GAPS AND CONNECTIONS IN FOOD

In the context of a changing environment, an increasing human population and pressure on land, a concerted effort to continue bringing together national facilities at pan-European level in the field of animal genetic resources, phenotyping and breeding, animal health is needed to contribute to address the challenge to produce safe, healthy and sustainable food. Continued RI efforts at EU-level are needed to provide livestock genetic resources, phenotyping and breeding, including large farm animals, poultry and fish; genetic resources for adaptation to climate change and protein production; genomic selection and genetic modification and sustainable intensification for higher feed efficiency, precision livestock farming and precision feeding; platform of technologies and capabilities for epidemiological modelling and surveillance, including host-pathogen interactions and vaccinology towards countering the threats of animal-borne disease. There is a need to proactively combine world-class facilities for the integration, conservation, and coordination of national and international animal genetic stock, and potential stock lines for adaptation to climate change. New efforts should include integrated facilities for bioimaging, digital imaging, genomics, proteomics and metabolomics along with field and veterinary facilities with farm-scale experimental platforms for animal studies and phenotyping, including aquaculture and animal disease facilities, e.g. building on AQUAEXCELAquaexcel http://www.aquaexcel.eu/, NADIR -The Network of Animal Disease Infectiology Research Facilities https://www.nadir-project.eu/  and VetBioNetVetBionet http://www.vetbionet.eu/ . Animal genotype-to-phenotype infrastructures and capability at pan-EU level will have a positive impact on global food production and on European competitiveness, and enhance international effort in this important field.

Food related diseases are costly; the EU national health systems are the most under pressure. The key is to fully understand the interrelation between nutrition and health, particularly the digestive process and the role of food consumption, including the gut microflora, food pathogens, immunology and many other factors, that together can help develop new strategies to deliver healthy and nutritious food and encourage favourable changes in consumption patterns. Regulatory demands relating to health and novel foods impose comprehensive safety assessment procedures and scientific evidence. European research base and expertise in nutrition and food science is unique but it remains highly fragmented and, in some areas and countries, it is below the critical massJRC Foresight study, Tomorrow’s healthy society – Research priorities for foods and diets, 2014 https://ec.europa.eu/jrc/sites/jrcsh/files/jrc-studytomorrow-healthly-society.pdf3rd and 4th SCAR foresight exercises https://ec.europa.eu/research/scar/pdf/ki-01-15-295-enn.pdfETP Food for Life Implementation Plan, 2018 http://etp.fooddrinkeurope.eu/

New infrastructure efforts are needed at EU-level in the field of food, nutrition and processing. There is a need to connect RIs across EU and globally, and across the entire food chain. Food systems cover a number of intertwined important areas, spanning social, cultural, economic, geo-political, and environmental dimensions, and involving a great diversity of stakeholders. There is a role for Research Infrastructures to be able to connect food systems and stakeholders. The ESFRI Projects AnaEE, METROFOOD-RI, EMPHASIS, and other EU initiatives like the EC-funded project Richfields contribute to achieve this aim, from sustainable food production to consumer behaviour. The ESFRI Landmark EMBRC ERIC supports fundamental and applied research activities towards sustainable solutions in the food sector, as well as in health and the environment.

Connections to food and feed production systems are key. The ESFRI Project EMPHASIS is central to this stage, currently establishing connections to relevant ESFRI Projects and Landmarks as well as other infrastructures and large scale initiatives. The International Wheat Yield Partnership (IWYP), led by public funders of UK, France, USA, Canada, Australia, India, Mexico is a global mechanism established in 2012 bringing together funding from public and private research organisations from around the world with the goal to raise the genetic  yield potential of wheat by 50% in 20 years.This important gap area is of interest to many EU countries and current efforts to connect relevant infrastructures and large scale initiatives should continueThe International Wheat Yield Partnership (IWYP) http://iwyp.org/Wheat Initiative http://www.wheatinitiative.org/.

The ESFRI Project METROFOOD-RI aims at providing high quality metrology services in food and nutrition, comprising an important cross-section of highly inter-disciplinary and inter-connected fields throughout the food value chain, including agro-food, sustainable development, food safety, quality, traceability and authenticity, environmental safety, and human health. This gap area is vast and there are in addition several IA addressing complementary aspects on food and nutrition, which are breaking ground for future infrastructure in nutrition and health, e.g. FoodManufuture EuroFIR, NuGO, Food-4Me, Eurogene, EURRECA, QuaLiFY, and EuroDISHEuroDISH http://www.eurodish.eu/Precision agriculture and the future of farming in Europe http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/STUD/2016/581892/EPRS_STU(2016)581892_EN.pdf. In addition, the combination of fundamental science, translational research and clinical trials, positioned alongside a major clinical gastroenterology service and tissue repository, will ensure a seamless interface between research, clinical practice and the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, also cross linking with RIs at the boundary areas.

Food production and its accessibility are increasing worldwide. Legal and ethical issues  are critical and have to be addressed as well as information and communication. Nanotechnologies create the possibility of foods with new flavours and textures, and also healthier food products with reduced salt, fat or sugar content or increased vitamin and nutrient content, using nanoencapsulation. Due regard needs to be given to safety and sustainability aspects in their broadest sense as well as to public perception and stakeholder engagement in alignment with the principles of Responsible Research and Innovation. These principles apply to all Health & Food areas but are flagged here for their relevance in the nanotechnology field.

The increasing digitalisation of agricultural practices is realising the production of plant and animal products with ever higher efficiency and ever lower environmental impact – Precision agriculture and the future of farming in Europe. Precision agriculture  is a modern farming management concept using digital techniques to monitor and optimise agricultural production processes. Beyond sustainable food production, precision  agriculture offers technologies for producing more food with less input, e.g. sensor-based monitoring systems provide farmers with better information and early warnings on the status of crops, and improved yield forecasts. Precision agriculture also plays a major role in animal husbandry. The ESFRI Projects EMPHASIS and AnaEE aim to collaborate in bringing innovative solutions for a sustainable intensification of agriculture. By integrating the study of plant phenomics and agricultural ecology they hope to foster the development of novel scientific concepts, sensors and integrated modelsEuropean infrastructures for sustainable agriculture. Roy et al. (2017) https://www.nature.com/articles/s41477-017-0027-3. Integrated approaches including e-infrastructures are needed to systematically predict, diagnose, prevent and treat plant and animal disease, and to device effective responses to mitigate the impact on agri-ecosystems. Legal and ethical issues are critical as well as information and communication.

Health & Food RIs and their connections with ENV SWG and ENE SWG RIs are critical to address issues associated with agriculture and land-use change, food and non-food systems, and bioenergy. The ESFRI Project AnaEE is working with the ESFRI Landmarks ICOS ERIC (Integrated Carbon Observation System, ENV), LifeWatch ERIC (e-Infrastructure for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research,  ENV), and others in the EC projects ENVRI and ENVRI+, Common Operations of Environmental RIs linking across e-infrastructure initiatives. The links to the social sciences are  also important. The global demand for food includes challenges regarding efficiency, resilience and sustainability. The field of bioenergy and biorenewables in particular links to energy and environmental facilities.

The sustainable production and conversion of biological raw materials for use as sources of renewable energy, materials and chemicals can provide alternatives for diminishing fossil resources and drive the growth of the knowledge based bio-economy. Addressing the demand for sustainable supplies of materials, fuels and food through biological means required the use of biological resources towards environmental and economic sustainability. An effort at European level is required to bring together pilot-scale facilities, demonstrators and up-scaling facilities to enable access to the production and processing of materials, chemicals (e.g. antibiotics) and energy, using biological resources, including plant, algae, marine life, fungi and micro-organisms. The ESFRI Project EU-IBISBA proposes a distributed RI on industrial biotechnology with applications in energy (liquid biofuels), chemicals (organic acids), materials (bioplastics) and ingredients for the food, feed, cosmetics and pharma sectors (enzymes, antioxidants, antibiotics). The ESFRI Project EU-IBISBA aims to deliver translational research in industrial biotech, allowing researchers to access cutting-edge technology, infrastructure and expertise to move projects up to TRL6. The ESFRI Project EU-IBISBA has the potential  to accelerate TRL2 to TRL6 processes, and in reducing time to market. It will interact with and connect to existing infrastructures such as the ESFRI Projects ISBE and MIRRI, the ESFRI Landmarks BBMRI ERIC, ELIXIR, INSTRUCT ERIC, and EU-OPENSCREEN ERIC, and other RIs in the environment, and energy sectors. The infrastructure uses synthetic biology as one of their approaches. Synthetic biology applies engineering to the biosciences, seeking to design and construct/modify new or existing biological parts and systems to deliver novel functions that do not exist in nature. The field is expected to impact many sectors of the economy, and to provide tools to better tackle areas of great social and environmental interest, including health, energy and food securityERA-Net SynBio https://www.erasynbio.eu/. Synthetic biology is both highly interdisciplinary and technically and scientifically demanding. It and also addresses a range of social, economic, ethical, and legal issues.

GAPS AND CONNECTIONS IN HEALTH

The future of health research offers high potential to patients, to citizens, and the economy. The move in the sector towards precision and stratified medicines and personalised healthcare at much lower cost to the consumer brings with it a need to test new technologies and provide multi-scale facilities as test-beds for pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical (therapeutics) manufacturing. These activities apply primarily to industries for technological development based on academic input and evidence. Investment to date has focused more on fundamental science and discovery, meaning that there is a gap between discovery and actual manufacture. This area should constitute an excellent platform of technology development and include the complete manufacturing process from a scientific, engineering, regulatory and supply chain perspective, with the ultimate aim of providing affordable access to innovative therapies in collaboration with the ESFRI Landmarks EATRIS ERIC, ECRIN ERIC, and EU‐OPENSCREEN ERIC and other relevant RIs, and Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI2). Research in this area is expected to be highly innovative and will lead to three key benefits: better diagnosis and earlier interventions, more efficient drug development, and more effective therapies. Existing infrastructures such as the ESFRI Landmarks BBMRI ERIC, EATRIS ERIC, ECRIN ERIC, ELIXIR, ERINHA and others could connect aiming at providing a full pipeline for drug development.

Advances in the sector of personalised health care require computational approaches, and integration with innovations in biomedical engineering, analytical research, and other relevant fields as well as with social, ethical  and regulatory aspects. The challenge of antimicrobial resistance and pandemics also calls for an integrated effort. Next generation sequencing technologies and mass spectrometry platforms for genomic, transcriptomic, proteomic, metabolomics and metagenomics applications, coupled with advanced imaging, set the basis for personalised and stratified drug discovery and development. Combined high-end technology platforms with specialised expertise, bringing together hospitals, research centres and the private sector in an integrated network that will offer a point of single access for the development of next generation medicines. All ESFRI Health & Food Landmarks and Projects with applications in health have the capacity to play a significant role in enabling research activities towards developing tailored health care interventions and robust models for prevention and treatment strategies, bridging the gap between genomic information and clinical practice.

New therapies are needed in order to cure and treat complex diseases. Challenges existin the development of new applications and new modes of treatment approaches in imaging, diagnostics and novel therapeutics. The ESFRI Landmarks INSTRUCT ERIC, Euro-BioImaging, INFRAFRONTIER, EATRIS ERIC and ECRIN ERIC are of relevance. Interdisciplinary interactions will be critical in order to handle upcoming issues and implications – e.g. in the ageing population and neuroscience researchThe 2015 Ageing Report http://ec.europa.eu/economy_finance/publications/european_economy/2015/pdf/ee3_en.pdf. Links of relevance are the Joint Programming Initiative “More Years, Better Lives – The Potential and Challenges of Demographic Change” seeking to map data sources on ageing at the European and national levelsThe Data Mapping Project http://www.jpi-dataproject.eu/ and the Knowledge and Innovation Community initiative EIT Health, promoting innovation in healthy living and active ageingEIT Health https://www.eithealth.eu/about. New advances in technologies, such as nanotechnologies, are having impacts on therapeutics, diagnostics, imaging and regenerative medicine, particularly in cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and cancer. Due regard needs to be given to public perception and stakeholder engagement and the principles of Responsible Research and Innovation. Tools for health planning are required. A Health information System is supported by the EC DG SANTE as a joint action to harmonise health indicators and surveillance tools across Europe, and to host health-related databases including population based and clinical registries for diseases, biobanks, health protocols as well as metadata for health determinants. 

Longitudinal population studies and cohorts are an invaluable resource for research, in health and disease conditions. These studies gather data over a long period of time and provide a rich resource with connections to several domains. In particular, this is an area to explore together with the ESFRI Social & Cultural Innovation SWG and its Research Infrastructures, which flagged “integration of biosocial data and resources – longitudinal and cohort studies”in their landscape as an important area of connection to Health & Food Research Infrastructures. There is a need to enable a Research Infrastructure environment that will facilitate research on the human health and wellbeing at all stages in development,  including ageing, nutrition and behavioural studies, and their connections to the social sciences and humanities. There are also geographic, economic and environmental drivers affecting human health and wellbeing. Climate change, extreme weather, dramatic changes in ecosystem services, environmental pollution and exposure to harmful chemicals represent a new combination of issues that require an integrated approach at pan-European level. At the heart of this approach is the exposome, taking a holistic view throughout the human lifetime on the effect of exposures to diet, lifestyle, and the environment on human health and disease. The exposome coupled with advanced genetic and medical approaches represents an opportunity to tackle this complex issueby connecting to the landscape of Health & Food RIs and other domains. Ongoing EU projects and networks on human biomonitoring (HBM4EU and EMEP) are important steps to bring together relevant partiesTowards Cleaner Air Scientific Assessment Report 2016 http://www.unece.org/index.php?id=42861

Health & Food RIs provide a framework for applications in other domains, such as anthropological studies, using biobanking, omics, and metabolomics. Cohorts include biological material of specific diagnoses and general populations either longitudinal or case by case. Multidisciplinary databases contain data of different aspects related to the addressed hypothesis. The combination of these has the potential to enable better understanding of disease and the identification of disease mechanisms.