Revolutionizing Healthcare by Tracking and Understanding Human Cells during Disease (LifeTime)

Understanding how genomes function within cells, and how cells form tissues and dynamically remodel their activities when tissues progress towards disease is among the grand science and technology challenges of our era. The early detection and interception of chronic and progressive diseases would alleviate enormous suffering and a heavy, growing burden on our economy and ageing society. LifeTime aims to revolutionize healthcare by developing and integrating several emerging, disruptive technologies (single-cell multi-omics, advanced imaging, machine learning/artificial intelligence (AI), organoids, and CRISPR-Cas). LifeTime technologies will track and decipher the activity of our genomes (our "book of life") in individual cells as they progress through time (ageing or disease)-"LifeTime". LifeTime's unifying goal is to quantify, model, and predict cell trajectories in tissues and whole organisms. Its long-term vision is that LifeTime technologies will inform the physician about the molecular history of a patient's tissues, their future, and the consequences of perturbations or medical treatments, leading to early diagnosis and effective interception of disease. LifeTime scientists are world-leaders in the required technologies and are committed to establishing an open and dynamic network. LifeTime's focus on developing, integrating and applying several disruptive technologies will induce long-lasting structural changes in European life sciences and healthcare and establish leadership in AI applications for medicine. Together with many industrial partners, we will develop technologies to redefine diagnosis and pathology, and set new standards for mechanism-based drug discovery and disease management for the 21st century. Such advances and their ensuing medical transformation will significantly impact the health of European citizens and stimulate the economy with tremendous benefit for society as a whole.