Deadline: October 08, 2026
The opportunity focuses on accelerating access to cost-effective personalised interventions for elderly-onset immune diseases by identifying ageing biomarkers, predictive and digital biomarkers, and prevention strategies. It also aims to improve quality of life through innovative diagnostic, preventative, and therapeutic approaches, strengthen AI-driven research infrastructure, integrate clinical and multi-omics data, and support healthier ageing in line with the European Health Data Space Regulation and the EU Artificial Intelligence Act.
The programme also seeks to understand the biological mechanisms underlying elderly-onset immune diseases, identify molecular drivers and immunosenescence signatures, evaluate biological ageing and vaccination history, and apply AI and machine learning to discover new biomarkers and therapeutic pathways. In addition, it supports age-related disease phenotyping, observational cohorts, deep molecular profiling, regulatory readiness, sustainable management of project data and samples, and collaboration with European research infrastructures to maximise research impact.
The ageing population is creating growing healthcare challenges as immune function naturally declines over time, increasing vulnerability to infections, chronic inflammation, autoimmune diseases, and multiple long-term health conditions. This topic aims to improve understanding of the biological mechanisms that connect ageing with immune dysfunction and disease progression.
The initiative places particular emphasis on immune-mediated diseases that commonly emerge in older adults, including inflammatory bowel disease, respiratory diseases such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, rheumatoid arthritis, giant cell arteritis, polymyalgia rheumatica, Sjögren’s disease, and systemic lupus erythematosus. Researchers are expected to investigate why these diseases develop differently in elderly patients compared to younger adults and how ageing influences disease progression and treatment response.
Applicants are expected to combine existing research cohorts with newly established observational cohorts covering different age groups and disease onset categories. Comprehensive molecular profiling, immunological analysis, microbiome studies, ageing clocks, electronic health records, and digital health technologies will be integrated to generate high-quality evidence for precision medicine approaches.
The total budget available under this topic is €53,200,000, with funding awarded through a two-stage application process. The first-stage application deadline is 8 October 2026, followed by the second-stage deadline on 21 April 2027. The call opened on 2 July 2026, with indicative funding of around €9,000,000, €9,200,000, and €35,000,000 across the expected projects.
Artificial intelligence and machine learning are expected to play a central role by integrating multi-omics datasets, clinical information, disease registries, and digital biomarkers. These approaches will help identify common and disease-specific pathways associated with immunosenescence while improving prediction of disease onset, progression, and treatment effectiveness.
The funded projects should also consider regulatory pathways for new biomarkers and intervention strategies, engage with healthcare authorities to support future clinical implementation, and establish sustainable systems for maintaining research data and biological samples beyond the lifetime of the project. Collaboration with existing European research infrastructures is encouraged to strengthen research capacity and maximise the long-term impact of project outcomes.
Eligible applicants include any legal entity regardless of its place of establishment, including organisations from non-associated third countries and international organisations, provided they satisfy the conditions of the Horizon Europe Regulation and the specific requirements of the topic. Applicants must register in the Participant Register to obtain a Participant Identification Code (PIC) before signing the grant agreement.
For more information, visit European Commission.
