Welcome to the third edition of the REBECCA project newsletter, covering a period of May - October 2022!

The REBECCA project will soon enter the 20th month of its lifetime. In this period, the REBECCA 360° monitoring platform took flesh with the active co-creation and collaboration between our health professionals, breast cancer survivors and development teams. The system is being successfully tested by the end-users and plans to welcome the first study participants by the end of 2022.

REBECCA also produced the first research outcomes and received broader recognition from the scientific and technological community. You can find more on the project's progress and achievements so far in this issue of the REBECCA newsletter.

Garmin recognizes the value of REBECCA’s novel indicators

Dr Konstantinos Kyritsis from the Multimedia Understanding Group (MUG), Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, presented the REBECCA project at the Garmin Health Summit ‘22.

The Garmin solution of REBECCA was nominated for an award in the Healthcare category. The Garmin awards program recognizes innovative solutions that successfully integrate Garmin wearable technology into health and wellness programs. In this line, the Garmin solution of REBECCA was recognized as one among the most unique programs with the most innovative solutions. 

REBECCA project wins the Best Paper Award at AIAI 2022

On 19 June, Ms Niki Kiriakidou, Harokopio University of Athens, represented the REBECCA project at the 18th International Conference on Artificial Intelligence Applications and Innovations (AIAI 2022) with a paper titled An improved neural network model for treatment effect estimation. The paper has received the Best Paper Award, assigned by the General and Program Co-Chairs of the conference.

Master thesis research from Karolinska Institute looks at the first results of the REBECCA mobile app use

The Master thesis titled ‘Differences in the Use Characteristics of a Mobile App to Assess Dietary Behavior and Physical Activity Lifestyle Parameters in Two Different Age Groups of Breast Cancer Survivors: A Pilot Cross-Sectional Study’, authored by Ms Zahra Ataei Kachouei, a student at the Master´s Programme in Nutrition at Karolinska Institute, looks at the first available results of the REBECCA mobile app use and user evaluation for the first week of data collection.
The thesis aims to compare the app usage characteristics among users of different profiles (age).

REBECCA promotional video is ready

The interviewees showcased a new clinical research trend: Real-World Data collection from patients and explained the two ways in which REBECCA will benefit patients and clinical research.

REBECCA's clinical data model is developed

REBECCA aims to use multiple sources of information, focusing on real-world data, combined with appropriate data analysis methodologies to provide insight into the quality of life of breast cancer patients.

An important first step in this direction is the development of the REBECCA Case Report Form (CRF). The REBECCA CRF is the clinical data model of the REBECCA project, in the sense that it contains all the clinical variables, which will be measured during the studies in Sweden, Norway, and Spain, as well as all the questionnaires to be answered by the breast cancer patients. 

REBECCA Spanish partners engage with patients

Last week of September, the INCLIVA Biomedical Research Institute organized a meeting with patients’ associations in collaboration with the Breast Cancer Unit of the Hospital Clinic of Valencia. The objective of the meeting was to disseminate the latest advances in breast cancer research, present the REBECCA project, learn first-hand about their perceptions, and clarify doubts and concerns about the disease.

Researchers from INCLIVA’s Breast Cancer Biology Research Group and professionals from the Clinical Hospital shared their current research lines, all aiming for the same goal: the promotion of early diagnosis and the implementation of targeted treatments -depending on the subtype of breast cancer and personalised for each patient- to improve the survival and quality of life of those suffering from the disease.

The REBECCA platform now has a complete monitoring functionality!

The REBECCA consortium is pleased to inform you that the REBECCA platform was updated with a complete monitoring functionality and is able to begin data collection from the first REBECCA clinical trials in Stavanger University Hospital, Karolinska Institute and INCLIVA.
 
It comes as a result of partners’ extensive efforts and collaboration. Partners engaged in discussions early in the project to specify the initial requirements and software system specifications of the REBECCA platform. Based on the specified system architecture, the partners have also concluded on the initial description of the data model that includes a common representation format for the data collected by the three clinical partners of the REBECCA project (Stavanger University Hospital, Karolinska Institute and INCLIVA).
 
Currently, the REBECCA platform is accessed by the end users (medical doctors and researchers) via a Web User Interface (WUI). The latest platform version includes a preliminary version of the REBECCA WUI to facilitate the data collection process by the REBECCA users. Regarding the data collection functionalities, the first version of the patient application was implemented including data collection and data storage services. In addition to the patient application, an initial version of the web browser plugin with online and social media monitoring functionalities and data storage services were developed.

REBECCA will participate in the Life-Champs event

On 8 November 2022, Dr Ioannis Ioakeimidis (KI) will present a higher-level overview of the REBECCA project in an open session organised by the EU-funded project LifeChamps: A Collective Intelligent Platform to Support Cancer Champions. 

The event will take place at Nobel Forum Karolinska Institutet (onsite). 
You are invited to register here.