- The Alicante‑based institute joins the project by implementing prevention and health education programs for patients with these conditions
- JACARDI brings together 21 European countries and has a budget of €53 million distributed across 143 pilot projects throughout Europe
Alicante (22.08.25). The Alicante Health and Biomedical Research Institute (ISABIAL), under the Valencian Department of Health, has joined the European project “Joint Action on Cardiovascular Diseases and Diabetes” (JACARDI), which aims to reduce the impact of two of the most prevalent diseases worldwide: diabetes and cardiovascular diseases.
This initiative involves ministries, public health and research bodies, non‑governmental organizations, and universities to help European Union Member States reduce the burden of cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and associated risk factors, both at the individual and societal levels.
This project, funded by the European Union and coordinated by the Italian National Institute of Health, brings together 21 countries and has a total budget of €53 million distributed across 143 pilot projects throughout Europe.
Specifically in Alicante, the ISABIAL Research Group on Diabetes and Associated Metabolic Diseases, led by Dr. Óscar Moreno, is working on the implementation of prevention, health education, and self‑care promotion programs for people with diabetes and those at high risk.
According to Dr. Óscar Moreno, head of the Diabetes Unit at Doctor Balmis University General Hospital, “the management of diabetes as a chronic condition with very high prevalence has advanced significantly, and the personalization of treatment by the clinical team together with patient self‑management are essential to achieve good health outcomes and improve quality of life”.
“This precision medicine and improvement of self‑care face significant challenges for both healthcare teams and people with diabetes, which we aim to address through these pilot research projects”, he added.
Local objectives
Among the local objectives of the project is the creation and analysis of a standardized database of people with diabetes and associated cardiometabolic diseases, with the aim of personalizing treatment and advancing management strategies for this complex condition in a more effective and patient‑centered way.
Secondly, the project focuses on integrating new technologies for health monitoring, including digital self‑management tools that help patients control their glucose levels and other key health indicators.
To this end, the research team from the Department of Endocrinology and Nutrition, together with diabetologists and diabetes educators, has established a collaboration agreement with the Institute of Automation and Industrial Informatics (ai2) of the Polytechnic University of Valencia (UPV), which provides extensive experience in the development of digital tools for education and empowerment of people with diabetes, based on gamification or interactive games. In addition, the project also benefits from the collaboration of the Department of Languages and Computer Systems at the University of Alicante.
Furthermore, Dr. Moreno recalled that diabetes is “one of the leading causes of serious health complications, such as cardiovascular disease, kidney failure, blindness, and amputations, making it a public health priority worldwide”.
The prevalence of diabetes has increased significantly in Europe in recent years. In 2024 it affected 65.6 million people, double the number a decade ago. Likewise, cardiovascular diseases remain the leading cause of death on the continent.
In response to this challenge, JACARDI was created. Over the coming years, the project will focus on implementing effective practices to combat and reduce the impact of these diseases, both at the individual level and across the healthcare system as a whole.