The “FRM Teams” label is awarded by the Fondation pour la Recherche Médicale (FRM) for 3 years to recognised research teams in the field of biology and health, developing innovative research programmes in biology that are likely to have an impact on health.
The METHODS team’s project aims to transform methods for the therapeutic evaluation of chronic diseases.
Around 50% of adults suffer from at least one chronic disease, and 25% of them suffer from several chronic diseases. Chronic diseases are responsible for 74% of deaths worldwide. Current methods of therapeutic evaluation do not meet the complex needs of patients and carers, because 1) they only apply to a minority of situations (only around 10% of class I recommendations are based on high-level evidence); 2) they provide results at population level, whereas personalised medicine is needed; 3) they do not take full advantage of the increase in healthcare data regularly collected for research purposes; and 4) their synthesis in systematic reviews and meta-analyses is difficult to achieve due to the low quality of primary studies, the bias of selective presentation of results, the lack of transparency and the absence of an effective updating process. At the same time, the rise of digital technologies and artificial intelligence tools for patient care presents new challenges and opportunities.
Our project aims to address these issues and transform the therapeutic evaluation of chronic diseases. Our programme will:
- Rethink the hierarchy of evidence,
- Develop new methods and approaches for digital health,
- Develop methods for personalised medicine,
- Advance evidence synthesis methods, and
- Improve research transparency.
