PREPHOBES call: joint projects' kick-off meeting focused on impact and connecting to policy

A successful ERA-Net HDHL-INTIMIC PREPHOBES Joint projects' kick-off meeting was held on May 3rd, 2021. The objective of this umbrella activity was to bring together the projects researchers at the start of their projects and more specifically to help and advise them on how to create more impact and better connect to the policy level. Therefore, HDHL INTIMIC was happy to welcome JPI HDHL SHAB member representatives Lauren Lissner from EASO (European Association for the Study of Obesity) and Laura Fernandez from EUFIC (European Food Information Council) as counsellors to this meeting. Almost 50 participants gathered online for kick-off meeting. Of them, 72% were consortium members of the funded projects, 15% were funders and 13% were other interested parties.

After an HDHL INTIMIC introductory presentation with information on the reporting process, special guests Lauren Lissner and Laura Fernandez presented themselves and the organisation they represent. Next, the coordinators of the four funded projects (EndObesity, GrowH!, I-PREGNO and SO-NUTS) presented their projects with a specific focus on the stakeholder involvement and dissemination strategies. They also reflected on the possible impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on their project and possible solutions. During these interactive sessions, useful ideas and tips were exchanged between the researchers and stakeholder participants. Several synergies between the different projects were revealed during the meeting. This motivated the researchers to build collaborations between the different consortia. For example, there was a lot of enthusiasm to start an early career researcher network. To wrap-up the meeting, participants were given the opportunity to reflect on the interactive sessions and to share their conclusions, ideas or questions in a session with an online brainstorm tool.

Want to know more about the funded projects? We recently published the PREPHOBES factsheet providing a short summary of each project.