The SYNTHIA project, a groundbreaking public-private partnership funded by the Innovative Health Initiative (IHI), is set to revolutionize the field of personalized medicine by harnessing the power of synthetic data. As the first IHI synthetic data project to tackle the critical need for privacy-preserving data solutions in healthcare, SYNTHIA aims to propel research and innovation to new heights, ensuring that patients receive the best possible care while safeguarding their personal information.
Synthetic data, which are artificially generated to mimic real patient data, present a solution to many of the challenges faced in health research today. These data allow researchers to overcome the limitations of access to high-quality, real-world datasets and address growing concerns about patient privacy. However, questions have lingered about the quality and applicability of synthetic datasets, especially in diverse and complex scenarios. SYNTHIA is addressing these challenges head-on by developing validated tools and methods for synthetic data generation (SDG) across various data types, including laboratory results, clinical notes, genomics and imaging. By focusing on six specific diseases the project will demonstrate the utility of synthetic data in advancing personalized medicine.
A key component of the SYNTHIA project is its dedicated federated platform, which will serve as a central resource for the research community. This platform will provide synthetic data generation workflows tailored to specific needs, along with robust frameworks to assess data privacy, quality, and applicability. Each dataset will be clearly labelled with its suitability for various research applications, building trust among stakeholders and promoting the responsible use of synthetic data.
The SYNTHIA consortium partners from Medtech, Pharma, Academia, Medical research and Healthcare institutions are committed to advancing the use of synthetic data in healthcare. The project’s outputs will be made accessible to researchers worldwide, fostering a collaborative environment where innovation can thrive.
SYNTHIA is a multidisciplinary collaboration of 32 consortium partners - SDG developers, FAIR data experts, clinical researchers, developers of therapies and data-based tools, legal experts, socio-economic analysts, regulatory, policy advocacy, and communication experts - that will provide a 360º vision on how to advance healthcare applications through SD use. SYNTHIA invites researchers, healthcare providers, and innovators to join in pioneering a new era of healthcare research. With synthetic data as a catalyst, SYNTHIA is ready to accelerate discoveries in medicine, making personalized healthcare more accessible and effective for all.
This project is supported by the Innovative Health Initiative Joint Undertaking (IHI JU) under grant agreement No 101172872. The JU receives support from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme, COCIR, EFPIA, Europa Bío, MedTech Europe, Vaccines Europe and DNV. The UK consortium partner, The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is supported by UKRI Grant 10132181.