Join the VPHi board: bring your ideas to the development of in silico medicine

VPHi Supporting members are selected each year through a public call. The call opens today and will last till the end of August. Supporting members are the true engine of our organization: they effectively drive the Institute’s policy, setting agendas and proposing specific actions. Supporting members are entitled to appoint a representative to seat in the Board of Directors, which is formally the main governing body of the Institute.

The purpose of VPHi is to act as a catalyst to bring together policy makers, science funding bodies, regulatory agencies, educational institutions, clinical organisations and industry in order to maximise the benefit of VPH approaches for the healthcare industry and for the public good, in terms of pursuing R&D to integrate quantitative biological knowledge from molecular to cell, tissue, organ and whole body scales, and to translate this understanding into clinical practice.

VPHi has made significant strides to build on its existing global network of academic members by initiating an alliance with industries to drive forward discussions on the policy framework for “in silico” predictive medicine, and to create greater opportunities for research partnerships between academia and industry in this field. One important element of the Avicenna Alliance is a focus on creating a structured programme offering opportunities for academic-industry exchanges, internships and “mentoring” programs, to help tailor projects optimally to the real world needs of industry and, ultimately, leading to improved patient outcomes.

The importance of this initiative has been recognised by the European Commission and the Food and Drug Administration to the extent that they will be working in close partnership with us to help drive forward our initiatives and to ensure our policy and research objectives are closely aligned with those of the European research agenda, as well as emerging policy relevant to health.

Why should you apply for a supporting membership?
As board member, your organisation will be in a position to benefit directly from the initiatives VPHi is leading to direct more money to this research area through:

• The number and size of relevant calls from which you may acquire grant funding
  
• Accessing the networks we create establishing collaborative alliances with industry and academia in Europe and beyond, thus optimising your strategic research position
  
• A concerted approach integrating basic, translational and applied research, creating a structure built on supporting fundamental scientific excellence that is also geared to respond to the needs of industry. This addresses the need to demonstrate engagement in research aimed at higher levels of technological relevance, evidence of which is increasingly demanded by funding organisations.
  
• Enhancing access to national funding that emphasises the need to demonstrate European competitiveness through active participation in European research initiatives. VPHi supporting membership not only offers a coordinated response to such initiatives, but also demonstrates engagement in shaping a new European research agenda.

The annual supporting membership fee is 5000 Euro, a marginal investment compared with substantially increasing the probability of acquiring just one additional grant from EU or national funding sources over a period of several years. With this investment your institution will be able to shape the future VPHi activities which are not only critically important to helping secure an understanding of the importance and relevance of this field to addressing the challenges of healthcare, but equally to realise your institution's aspirations in that context.

Benefits for supporting members

View here all the benefits connected to your supporting membership.

How to respond to the call

To respond to the call, you will need to send a letter of commitment (signed by the legal representative of your organization) to: manager@vph-institute.org. In the letter, you will be requested to:

1. Appoint a representative that will act as Board member

2. Approve the Statute of the VPH Institute 

Download the letter of commitment template

What is the submission deadline?

Aug 31st, 2016

What is the current supporting member composition?

Up to date our Board is composed by 9 leading institutions strongly focused on in silico medicine.