The WHO estimates that vector-borne diseases (VBD) account for more than 17% of all infectious diseases. Every year, more than 2.5 billion people are at risk of contracting dengue alone, and VBDs cause almost 1 million deaths. In the last decades several species of invasive disease carrying mosquitoes have invaded the northern hemisphere of the planet through the transport of goods, increasing international travel and climate change. In 2018 a West Nile fever outbreak transmitted by mosquitoes occurred in the EU. For this disease there are no vaccines or medications. There were 1503 cases reported in 11 countries, and 181 deaths. VBD Mobile Bio-Labs could have assisted health authorities in containing this outbreak, reducing cases and preventing deaths. Unfortunately such a system does not exist. MOBVEC will be the first VBD Mobile Bio-Lab, providing: 1- Automatic information about vector populations, obtained in real-time by smart-traps, powered by machine-learning and edge computing: insect species, sex, age, and viral infection. 2- GEOSS compliant vector risk maps of adult insects and eggs/larvae, built on field + Copernicus data; 3- GEOSS compliant disease transmission models in mosquito populations, fusing data from Copernicus, clinical and diagnostic data of reference labs, and vector risk maps; 4- GEOSS compliant citizen-science platform to reinforce the surveillance of mosquitoes using citizens as observation nodes. 5- VBD mobile bio-lab with the capacities of points 1, 2, 3 and 4 + VBD Epidemiological maps and forecast models, to be rapidly operational in the heart of outbreaks to assist first-responders. This technology will the first line of defence against disease vectors worldwide, help prevent and fight devastating disease outbreaks, and will save lives while saving millions of euros in healthcare and lost working-hours. This has never been done before, and our consortium has the interdisciplinary research capacities to make it a reality.

Mosquito-borne diseases place a heavy burden on society, causing widespread suffering and driving poverty. They are increasing in prevalence, geographical distribution and severity, representing a growing threat worldwide. Hence, there is a need for better disease intelligence, capable of anticipating and identifying eco-epidemiological risks leading to explosive epidemics and emergence in previously unaffected areas. The basis of such intelligence stems from a deep understanding of the factors that drive disease circulation, emergence and spread. This requires insights into the complex interplay between humans, pathogen-carrying mosquitoes, pathogen reservoirs (e.g. birds), and a changing environment. The E4Warning consortium brings together interdisciplinary, innovative, and open science to contribute to the One Health paradigm shift that is required to tackle the spread and transmission of zoonotic deadly pathogens, and harness this shift to nowcast and forecast mosquito-borne disease risk in a constantly changing and globally connected environment. Our work aims to disrupt disease transmission pathways connecting humans, mosquitoes, and birds through innovative eco-epidemiological modelling tools and intelligent digital solutions, co-designed and implemented by public health administrations. Open innovation strategies and big data tools are the cornerstone of the next-level One Health Early Warning Systems required in the face of mounting mosquito-borne disease threats.

Exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke (SHS) has been classified as a "Group 1” carcinogen (known human carcinogen) by the International Agency for Research on Cancer and has been shown to have adverse health effects on adults and children, including heart disease and respiratory disorders. Electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes), the most common “electronic nicotine delivery system”, have irrupted in the past 5 years with sales volumes increasing considerably across the European Union. The TackSHS Project will try to elucidate the comprehensive impact that SHS and e-cigarettes emissions have on the respiratory health of the European population and how health impacts vary according to socio-economic parameters with particular emphasis on specific vulnerable groups (patients suffering from pre-existing chronic lung diseases, heavy smokers, and other disadvantaged groups). By means of an integrated series of work packages, we will investigate the determinants of SHS exposure, assessed at the individual level and in the environment (survey and air quality assessment in 12 countries), the overall burden of disease caused (lung diseases and cardiovascular diseases), including the specific respiratory health changes in patients and healthy people, the economic impact of both mortality and morbidity caused by these exposures, the methods to better characterize these exposures and novel interventions to reduce them. This comprehensive, integrated approach will enable significant step-change beyond the current state-of-the-art in understanding SHS and e- cigarette emission exposure. The participating partners have been at the forefront of cutting edge research in this discipline, with prior collaboration between them in specific projects. The TackSHS Project will put together for the first time all these first-line research teams, and the conjunction of the work packages will result in a step forward to tackle exposure to SHS and e-cigarettes emissions.

PULSE (Participatory Urban Living for Sustainable Environments) will leverage diverse data sources and big data analytics to transform public health from a reactive to a predictive system, and from a system focused on surveillance to an inclusive and collaborative system supporting health equity. Working within five global cities, PULSE will harvest open city data, and data from health systems, urban and remote sensors, personal devices and social media to enable evidence-driven and timely management of public health events and processes. The clinical focus of the project will be respiratory diseases (asthma) and metabolic diseases (Type 2 Diabetes) in adult populations. The project will develop risk stratification models based on modifiable and non-modifiable risk factors in each urban location, taking account of biological, behavioural, social and environmental risk factors. Following the recommendations of WHO Europe (2015), the project will also focus on the development of metrics, and data-driven approaches, to community resilience and well-being in cities. Deploying a Health in All Policies (HiAP) perspective, and a ‘whole-of-city’ model, the project will integrate and analyze data from the health, environment, planning and transport sectors in each city. PULSE will pioneer the development and testing of dynamic spatio-temporal health impact assessments using geolocated population-based data. PULSE will also develop simulation models of potential policy scenarios to allow decision-makers, citizens and businesses to ascertain the impact of proposed policies. The project will culminate in the establishment of Public Health Observatories in each urban location. These observatories will serve as linked hubs that utilize knowledge-driven processes and big data to shape intersectoral public policy and service provision, support citizen health, and encourage entrepreneurship in the fields of data science and mobile health.