Co-designed intelligence: building AI-powered cardiovascular disease prevention tools based on sustainable and healthy diets in HORIZON-CL6-2026-02-FARM2FORK-09

18th December 2025 at 11:44 am

Cardiovascular diseases remain a leading cause of mortality in Europe, driven in part by unhealthy diets and low adoption of preventive lifestyle interventions. Digital tools offer new opportunities for personalised guidance, yet many solutions fail due to weak scientific foundations and limited user acceptance. The Horizon Europe call HORIZON-CL6-2026-02-FARM2FORK-09 seeks Innovation Actions (IAs) that integrate personalised nutrition, microbiome science and behavioural insights driven by artificial intelligence (AI) to prevent cardiovascular diseases. With a deadline on 14 April 2026 and an indicative budget of €12.00 million for a total of two projects, the call emphasises co-designed, evidence-based and scalable digital applications that support healthier populations in alignment with the European Union (EU) ‘Healthier Together’ initiative, the Commission Communication on the European Health Union, the Council conclusions on the improvement of cardiovascular health in the European Union, the Research and Innovation (R&I) Food 2030 framework and the Strategy for European Life Sciences.

1. Linking diet, microbiome and cardiovascular health through AI

The European Commission (EC) aims to deepen scientific understanding of how sustainable and healthy diets influence gut microbiome profiles and cardiovascular risk, with attention to biological diversity across age, gender and genetic backgrounds. AI is central to identifying complex interrelationships and generating personalised recommendations.

Tips for applicants:

• Integrate machine learning models that link dietary change, microbiome shifts and cardiovascular biomarkers.
• Use data from children, adults and older populations to ensure demographic relevance.
• Demonstrate how AI improves prediction quality and enables real-time personalisation.
• Include robust validation of biomarkers and metabolic pathways, supported by multidisciplinary expertise.

2. Co-designing digital nutrition tools with real users

A core expectation of this call is that tools are developed with people, not just for them, following a multi-actor approach that includes the effective involvement of patients, clinicians, authorities, SMEs, behavioural experts and nutrition professionals is essential to ensure relevance, usability and long-term adoption by end-users.

Tips for applicants:

• Use co-design and participatory methods to shape system features and user experience.
• Engage behavioural scientists and psychologists from social sciences and humanities (SSH) disciplines to study perception, motivation, barriers and uptake.
• Ensure the digital tool is accessible to diverse demographic groups through inclusive design.
• Pilot application features in real-world settings with continuous user feedback loops.

3. Translating nutrition science into practical digital solutions

The call stresses the need to convert scientific communication on diet–health relationships into operational and user-friendly digital tools. Projects should map existing solutions, identify gaps and develop or scale applications that help citizens make healthier dietary choices. These solutions will also benefit patients in the monitoring of cardiovascular diseases and individuals identified at risk of developing the disease, supporting personalised guidance and early intervention.

Tips for applicants:

• Conduct a systematic mapping of current digital cardiovascular nutrition tools, identifying limitations.
• Translate scientific evidence into clear and actionable personalised recommendations.
• Ensure interoperability with healthcare systems, national institutes and digital health infrastructures.
• Support SMEs and start-ups in developing or scaling their tools, enabling market deployment.

4. Demonstrating feasibility, cost-effectiveness and real-world performance

Successful proposals must validate feasibility, performance and economic impact beyond laboratory settings, which includes demonstrating how digital tools perform in diverse contexts, support prevention pathways and deliver clear value for individuals, health professionals and authorities.

Tips for applicants:

• Use large-scale pilots to evaluate usability, adherence and clinical relevance.
• Include economic cost–benefit analyses to demonstrate added value for public health systems.
• Provide evidence of behavioural change, healthier diet adoption and risk reduction.
• Capture long-term benefits such as reduced healthcare costs and improved quality of life.

5. Building data-rich, secure and scalable applications

To deliver meaningful personalised nutrition insights, proposals must integrate high-quality datasets, ensure data security and enable scaling across healthcare systems and markets. Data integration should involve SMEs and start-ups that specialise in digital health analytics.

Tips for applicants:

• Prioritise secure data integration across microbiome, dietary, clinical and behavioural datasets.
• Use standardised ontologies and high-quality metadata to support FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable) data principles.
• Collaborate with SMEs and start-ups to expand analytical capabilities and scalability.
• Ensure compliance with General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), transparent consent processes and secure data storage.

6. Supporting public health priorities across Europe

This topic aims to contribute to Europe’s broader health goals including healthier diets, reduced disease burden and sustainable food systems. Digital tools must support preventive care, strengthen nutritional guidance and align with policy frameworks.

Tips for applicants:

• Demonstrate how your tool supports national and EU cardiovascular prevention strategies.
• Ensure compatibility with public health guidelines and nutrition policies.
• Plan for scalability across Member States through policy engagement and dissemination.
• Explore synergies with other Horizon Health projects on cardiovascular risk and predictive biomarkers such as the HORIZON-HLTH-2026-01-DISEASE-11 and HORIZON-HLTH-2027-01-TOOL-01 call topics.

Do you need support with writing your proposal for AI-powered cardiovascular disease prevention?

At accelopment, we work with consortia advancing innovative health technologies, personalised medical solutions and digital tools with strong clinical relevance. Our experience includes projects such as EURO SHOCK, FP-Catheter, IMPROvED and PPtBio, which demonstrate our expertise in cardiovascular health, patient-centred innovation, diagnostic and monitoring solutions and advanced biomedical development. Together, these projects reflect our ability to translate scientific and digital advances into impactful, user-centred health applications. With our expertise in proposal writing, consortium coordination and impact communication, we help research teams design competitive and policy-aligned projects under Horizon Europe’s Cluster 6.

Dr. Johannes Ripperger
Research & Innovation Manager

Andreia Cruz
Research & Innovation Project Manager