VPH at high-level meeting on Rare Diseases 2025
Our director, Prof. Liesbet Geris attended the event and contributed to the session on “Resilience and Reliability: Securing Rare Disease Diagnosis and Care in a Changing World" bringing the in silico medicine perspective to the discussion.
Rare diseases affect an estimated 27–36 million people in the EU, with over 95% still lacking effective treatments. This prestigious event, organized by MEP Andriukaitis, brought together EU policymakers (including the vice-president of the European Commission, 2 Euro Commissioners and 10 MEPs), industry leaders, patient organisations to address one of Europe’s most pressing healthcare challenges: ensuring timely diagnosis, access to therapies, and sustainable care for millions of rare disease patients. Initiatives such as this are essential to ensure that scientific advances translate into tangible benefits for patients.
On this occasion, Prof. Liesbet Geris, VPH Director, participated in a panel discussing during the session “Resilience and Reliability: Securing Rare Disease Diagnosis and Care in a Changing World.” She contributed her expertise in in silico medicine, highlighting how advanced computational models can support improved diagnosis, treatment strategies, and patient care, complementing discussions led by key stakeholders across the rare disease ecosystem.
At the end of the event, Prof. Geris signed, on behalf of the VPH society, the The Declaration on the European Innovation and Care Ecosystem for Rare and Complex Diseases. This declaration is open for signatures by all organisations and can be found here.
You can find the link to the meeting information & recordings here
