Purpose of the field. 

Estonia has made remarkable strides in digitalizing its healthcare system, creating a wealth of valuable data that holds great potential for data-driven and personalised approaches in healthcare and disease prevention – not only for patients in the clinic but also for the general population, for example by achieving healthier lifestyles. Our mission is to help actors in academia and the private health sector to tackle challenges in utilising this data while safeguarding the privacy of individuals.  

With which profile, from which sector are we looking for companies? 

Our services will be of use to a wide range of actors in the health sector – from pharmaceutical companies looking for novel markets for products or seeking to conduct trials in Estonia, to companies developing healthcare technologies and services. We are also looking to establish ourselves as technology partners for research in an international context, such as in the European Community Innovative Health Initiative. 

How does Applied Research Center contribute to company innovation? 

We offer expertise in digital health care systems and are lowering the threshold for companies to access a wide range of health-related analytical services. This facilitates product development and creates novel opportunities for services connecting individuals to different actors in the healthcare sector. 

What are the new solutions in this sector and how can Applied Research Center contribute to their development? 

Personalised healthcare solutions will require combining medical and lifestyle factors. Genetic and other molecular data are becoming increasingly important. Designing such systems require detailed data at the population scale, and advanced statistical modelling to capture the complex relationships between them. To meet these challenges, we are building a network of partnerships with key healthcare data and service providers that will unify the landscape of secondary use of health data in Estonia, and will be developing machine learning and artificial intelligence approaches to tackle analytical challenges. 

How do companies benefit from cooperation with Applied Research Center’s field? / Why should you cooperate with us? 

We equip our partners with analytical and area specific research expertise to be used in communication, strategy and decision making or in development of products and services. Our expertise and experience in study design, advanced statistical analysis and population level health and other rich datasets in Estonia and abroad, as well as navigating the regulatory landscape of health data use, will guarantee the quality of the work and will allow our clients to not only save time and resources but also harness the full power of research/science and technology to their advantage. 

What services does Applied Research Center offer in this area? / What technologies do we use?

We offer a wide range of analytical services tailored to the needs of the client, including but not limited to feasibility and power studies of randomised control trials, analyses of disease co-morbidities and drug prescription patterns, and large-scale machine learning and other advanced analytics solutions to combine genetic, lifestyle and clinical data from different registers and health data providers. We also offer information services, such as detailed health trends in Estonia, and health economics services that account for disease incidence and co-morbidities over the life-course. Last but not least, we will assist in navigating the regulatory and ethical landscape of use of personal data, including obtaining ethics approvals. 

How does Applied Research Center support the cooperation of companies with key persons/institutions in this sector?

Our comprehensive network of researchers (ranging from population health to computer science and everything in between) in Estonia and abroad allows us to match state-of-the-art technology and knowledge with the specific needs of our clients. Our close relationships with hospitals and other institutions in the health data sector, makes us ideally suited for finding opportunities for cooperation and partnerships that will benefit companies and strengthen the Estonian health industry.

What are the possible cooperation projects and initiatives? / Case studies?

The services we offer start from basic advice and analytics (e.g. overview of available data and/or analytical tools) to conducting research projects at different scales, from small projects to large consortium projects.  

We are also happy to discuss forming partnerships and putting together consortia for joint grant applications both in Estonia and internationally.