Launch of IHI JU PROBE Initiative to Transform Osteoarthritis Treatment

We are proud to announce today’s launch of our new research project PROBE, an IHI-funded pioneering initiative to transform osteoarthritis treatment through federated data and AI-driven clinical innovation.

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a progressive joint disease affecting over 500 million people globally, causing pain, disability, and significant economic burden. PROBE aims to revolutionise the way OA is understood, diagnosed and treated by developing multimodal patient-relevant endpoints, advanced predictive models, and next-generation clinical trial designs using federated big data and AI technologies.

Set to commence in December 2025 and run for 60 months, PROBE unites 38 partners from academia, industry, patient organisations, regulatory bodies, and healthcare professionals across Europe and beyond. The project is jointly led by Erasmus MC Medical University Center Rotterdam and Novartis, and embodies a strong public-private commitment to transforming evidence-based OA research and improving patient care and outcomes on a global scale.

PROBE will tackle the key limitations in OA clinical research and care, including disease heterogeneity, fragmented datasets, and outdated trial methodologies. By creating a secure federated learning infrastructure, PROBE will leverage data from over 70 million individuals across multiple OA cohorts and real-world registries.

Key highlights of PROBE:

  • Development of novel multimodal endpoints to support better treatment evaluation
  • Creation of a regulation-compliant federated OA database network
  • Use of foundation AI models to predict progression and support personalised
    medicine
  • Tools for shared decision-making between patients and healthcare providers
  • Strong engagement with patients, caregivers, regulators, HTA bodies, and clinicians

Research Institute – Digital Human Rights Center is delighted to contribute its expertise in data protection law, AI regulation, machine learning security and privacy, medical law as well as medical and AI ethics to enable this research while safeguarding the fundamental rights of the persons concerned.. The Research Institute project team in PROBE includes Walter Hötzendorfer, Madeleine Müller and Georg Fröwis.

Further information on the project can be found on the PROBE website.

Acknowledgement 

The PROBE project is supported by the Innovative Health Initiative Joint Undertaking (IHI JU) under Grant Agreement No. 101219324. The JU receives support from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme and COCIR, EFPIA, EuropaBio, MedTech Europe, Vaccines Europe, Pacira Pharmaceuticals Inc., Capgemini Consulting and Nordic Bioscience Clinical Development A/S.