Launching ‘No Frontiers’ in the Fight against Cancer
MCS Data Labs, established in 2013, has early on emphasized one of the great goals of the United Nations and the World Health Organization: to win the battle against cancer. The technology firm has now bundled and streamlined its efforts by launching the ‘No Frontiers’ initiative.
‘No Frontiers’ serves as a theme and workflow organization tool to focus the company’s technological capabilities on ‘opportunity caches’, which are defined as healthcare areas, including tumor research, that represent still unlocked opportunities. Aside from the programs internal impact, ‘No Frontiers’ includes a significant outreach effort, particularly to research partners in national and European-wide funded research programs.
Already being a consortium member in ONCORELIEF, a European Commission funded reearch program on acute myeloid leukaemia and colorectal cancer (grant agreement no. 820937; mcs-datalabs.com/oncorelief/), MCS utilizes some of its hardware and software tools to the benefit of cancer research. In ONCORELIEF the company employs its customizable and proprietary sensing ecosystem to collect, analyize and process vital patient and other data, with the aim to monitor and improve the well-being of post-treatment patients.
‘No Frontiers’ goes deeper by building and expanding on Articifial Intelligence capabilities the firm has developed and nurtured over the past. In addition to the already targeted cancer types, the new initiative includes breast, lung and prostate cancer. MCS aims to identify research and development opportunities by comparing anonymized patient data with published medical guidelines.
MCS is able to satisfy data privacy regulations by enforcing Federated Learning. Data provided by practitioners are left on their electronic devices. Collaborative learning will generate local models which are used to improve the central artificial intelligence. A global model will allow MCS to (i) optimize decision making in cancer treatment and (ii) support new reasearch and innovation projects. Interoperability plays a significant role within ‘No Frontiers’.
The intensified push into cancer research comes at a time when the European Commission’s Horizon Europe program for 2020-27 is in its finalization stage for the 2020-22 time frame. During the program’s life span the Commision’s ‘Cancer Mission’ will represent a major contribution to identify and bring to market technical innovations that address the prevention, diagnosis, prediction and treatment of cancer, and ensure the long-term well-being of patients.
MCS expects frequent research calls from the ‘innovative medicines initiative’ (IMI) in which large European health care organizations are joined by research and patient organizations as well as technology firms to address specific, often narrowly defined objectives. While the company has already built a comprehensive network of research partners, it believes that the cooperation with industrial partners and patient organizations can deliver mutual benefits in the aim to positively impact patients’ lives.
The name ‘No Frontiers’ has been chosen to express the capability of MCS technology in crossing research borders. While medical treatment necessarily targets specific health conditions, current technologies may address numerous patient needs at the same time, provided the technical backbone is flexible and customizable. MCS follows this approach, adheres to high European data security and personal data standards, thereby offering solutions that go beyond what is common.
For more information and potential cooperation, please contact suheib.mousa@mcs-datalabs.com
