The Commission of the European Union has funded with 4.85 million euros the Network of Excellence INFOBIOMED 'Structuring European Biomedical Informatics to Support Individualised Healthcare'. This pan-European project aims to develop tools and methods in Biomedical Informatics (BMI) and to create a stable and lasting structure for this discipline in Europe. Views are sought on the existing knowledge transfer system in Europe, and the changes needed to facilitate interactions between public research organisations and industry. Such improved interactions may also require clarification of the missions of public research organisations and industry regarding research and its exploitation for and by society.
In 2005 at least one third of the European adult population, 130 million EU citizens, browsed the web in search of information on health. However, searching for health-related information is not always easy. Researchers can be confronted with thousands of sites, many of them complex, and it can be hard to know which are reliable or up to date. To help European citizens answer their health questions, the Commission has today launched the "Health-EU Portal". The launch event took place in Malaga, Spain, within the Commission-sponsored "eHealth" conference.