University of Verona leads REVIVE-CAP: a brand-new Horizon Europe project to prevent cardiovascular complications after pneumonia

Last month, the ID-CARE team received the news that the REVIVE-CAP proposal had received top marks and would be awarded funding via the Horizon Europe Programme.

Led by the ID-CARE team at the University of Verona, together with the Integrated University Hospital of Verona (AOUI), REVIVE-CAP aims to understand, predict, and prevent cardiovascular complications that can arise during and after pneumonia. The project, selected from 104 proposals with a score of 15 out of 15, will last 48 months and involve 18 partners from nine countries: Italy, the United Kingdom, Spain, the United States, Switzerland, France, Germany, Poland, and Romania. It will bring together expertise in infectious diseases, cardiology, epidemiology, artificial intelligence, clinical research, data management, health economics, and implementation, along with scientific societies and patient representatives.

The project will be coordinated by Evelina Tacconelli, Director of ID-CARE and Professor of Infectious Diseases of the Department of Diagnostics and Public Health at the University of Verona. The ID-CARE team will also work closely with Flavio Ribichini, Professor of Cardiovascular Diseases of the Department of Medicine.

With REVIVE-CAP, the University of Verona and AOUI are strengthening their role in European clinical research aimed at producing results directly transferable to treatment. The ultimate goal is to identify at-risk patients earlier, prevent cardiovascular complications, and promote a more complete recovery after pneumonia, bringing scientific innovation from the laboratory to clinical practice.

Pneumonia is one of the leading causes of hospitalisation and mortality in Europe. Growing evidence also shows that the risk for patients does not necessarily end with recovery from the infection: after an episode of pneumonia, the likelihood of cardiovascular events can increase, even after the acute phase has passed. Today, however, there is a lack of sufficiently validated tools to early identify the most exposed patients and specific strategies to prevent these complications, which can impact mortality, functional recovery, and quality of life.

REVIVE-CAP addresses this gap, through a translational research approach that begins with the infection and ends with clinical practice. The project will study the incidence and progression of cardiovascular complications after pneumonia in different European populations and develop a digital platform based on artificial intelligence, with the aim of early identification of patients at greatest risk.

The observational and predictive component will be complemented by clinical studies dedicated to prevention and recovery: a randomised phase 2 trial of a cardioprotective pharmacological intervention in high-risk patients and an integrated home-based cardiopulmonary rehabilitation program, to be initiated after an episode of pneumonia to promote recovery and a return to the patient's previous quality of life. The results will then be translated into tools usable in clinical practice, supported by health economic assessments and recommendations to promote their adoption in various European healthcare systems.

"REVIVE-CAP originates from infectious disease research, but looks beyond recovery from infection. Our goal is to identify those at risk and intervene early, transforming scientific knowledge into concrete prevention and treatment tools," - Evelina Tacconelli, scientific coordinator of the project.

A key aspect of REVIVE-CAP will be the integration of university research and clinical practice. Patients and the data generated in healthcare practice will provide insights into the mechanisms linking infection to cardiovascular risk and will allow for the effectiveness of the tools developed by the project to be verified under real-world conditions.

Read the full news article here.

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