By Leticia Pérez Saiz, PhD in Neuroscience and Head of the Health Area (Cluster 1 – Horizon Europe) at Kveloce
The health crises of recent years have taught us a clear lesson: today’s health challenges—population ageing, chronic diseases, antimicrobial resistance, the impact of climate change—cannot be solved with yesterday’s tools. We need constant innovation, robust research, and a determined commitment to funding it sustainably.
From my work as Head of Health at Kveloce, specialising in Cluster 1 of Horizon Europe, I have a privileged perspective on the European research ecosystem: the most innovative proposals, the most ambitious consortia, and also the barriers that prevent many brilliant ideas from materialising. And it is increasingly evident that we need to decisively strengthen our commitment to R&D&I in health to fortify our capacity to respond to current and future health crises.
The investment debate. A strategic question
This need to strengthen investment is not merely a perception from the field. Recently, the Instituto de Salud Carlos III has put forward a clear proposal for the design of the next European Framework Programme (FP10, which will begin in 2028): to increase the Health Cluster budget from the current 8.6% to a range of 10-15%.
This request is not merely a budgetary matter. It is a recognition that pressure on our health systems is growing exponentially. Population ageing, the rise in chronic diseases, cancer, rare diseases, mental health, antimicrobial resistance… Each of these challenges requires not only more care resources, but research that enables us to prevent, diagnose better, and treat more effectively.
But it is not just about doing more research. It is about doing research that truly reaches patients and health systems. And that is where we still have a long way to go.
Horizon Europe: the current commitment and its challenges
Whilst we await the design of FP10, Horizon Europe continues to be our main instrument for health transformation. The Health Cluster represents much more than a funding programme: it is a strategic commitment to European health resilience, to our technological sovereignty, and to ensuring that innovations reach all citizens equitably.
The current programme (2025-2027) is structured around three main axes: the green transition of the health sector, digitalisation and the development of emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence applied to health, and building more resilient and inclusive systems. These axes translate into six funding areas ranging from prevention to the development of advanced therapies.
However, day-to-day reality reveals genuine difficulties: brilliant clinical teams struggling with complex bureaucracy, researchers with transformative ideas who cannot build the right consortium, projects that develop impressive technologies but fail to be implemented in hospitals.
In this context of increasing complexity, the need emerges for actors who facilitate these connections. For the most promising research projects to materialise, they must first navigate increasingly competitive selection processes. And this is where specialised support becomes meaningful: helping to translate scientific excellence into strategically designed proposals, facilitating the construction of interdisciplinary teams that truly work, and navigating administrative complexity to maximise the chances of success. Because having a brilliant idea is not enough; one must know how to present it in a way that connects with the programme’s strategic priorities and demonstrates its potential impact. And without funding, the best ideas remain on paper.
The lesson is clear: scientific excellence is not enough if it is not accompanied by a deep understanding of the context in which that science must operate. And this leads us to a crucial aspect that frequently goes unnoticed.
The social dimension: the ingredient that makes the difference
Because developing a new therapy or an innovative diagnostic technology is only the beginning. The fundamental questions are: How will healthcare professionals accept it? What barriers will patients encounter in accessing it? How will it affect different population groups differently? What organisational changes are needed in health systems to implement it? How do we communicate its benefits effectively?
This is where the integration of social sciences and humanities—a key dimension in Kveloce’s experience and strategy—becomes fundamental. Too many technically impeccable projects fail in their implementation because they did not consider fundamental social, cultural, or economic aspects. In contrast, those that integrate from the outset perspectives on human behaviour, social acceptability, equity, and effective communication succeed in truly transforming practices and policies.
This interdisciplinary dimension—which combines biomedical sciences with social sciences, involves all relevant actors from the project design stage, and considers ethical, economic, and equity aspects—is what makes the difference between publishing papers and changing realities.
Horizon Europe’s multi-actor approach moves in this direction, and its effective implementation will be decisive for the real impact of projects.
An opportunity to rethink the ecosystem
All of this takes on special relevance when we think about the immediate future. The debate about the next Framework Programme (FP10) is an opportunity to reflect on how we build a health research ecosystem that not only generates excellent knowledge, but facilitates its translation into real impact. An ecosystem where interdisciplinarity is structural, where clinical teams can research without unnecessary obstacles, and where the distance between discovery and its implementation is increasingly short.
Building this ecosystem is a shared responsibility amongst European and national institutions, research centres, hospitals, industry, and civil society. Investing in health research is not an option, it is a strategic necessity. And doing it well means going beyond funding, towards a space where the most advanced science dialogues with social reality, where technological innovation meets a deep understanding of how people live, work, and care for their health.
Because in the end, it is about healthier, longer lives with greater quality. And that is a commitment that is always worthwhile.
