RBDCOV: A productive meeting for EATG’s Community Advisory Panel

On September 29th, the EATG team met face-to-face with the members of the Community Advisory Panel (CAP) for the RBDCOV project in Barcelona, Spain.

The day started with a focus on reviewing the progress made within the RBDCOV project since the last CAP in-person meeting held in April. We delved into the current and the prospective role of the CAP within the project, exchanging views and ideas.

The EATG team provided a concise update on the work on all Work Packages, with special emphasis on Work Package 9 (WP9) and the upcoming psychosocial study led by EATG as part of the RBDCOV project, which will be launched soon.

After this first part of the day, CAP members engaged in an interactive brainstorming session to discuss the lessons learnt from the RBDCOV clinical trials and come up with recommendations and next steps for EATG to consider in future projects, like RBDCOV.

After a lunch break, the meeting continued with the participation of key partners. Magda Conway, from PENTA, expert on youth participation in clinical trials lead, presented their community engagement models for children and adolescents and how it could be applied to the RBDCOV project. Pere Soler Palacin and Miriam González Amores representing WP3, from Vall d’Hebron Hospital, shared insights into the on-going study involving children and adolescents. Their presentation shed light on the key research being conducted as part of this Work Package.

Beatriz Mothe Pujadas, from IrsiCaixa AIDS Research Institute & Hospital Universitari Germans Trias I Pujol (WP4), and Julia Garcia Prado, from IrsiCaixa AIDS Research Institute (WP5), provided an overview of the study involving adults with immunocompromising conditions. They also shared the initial results, offering a glimpse into the project’s progress.

Mete Tan, from METPHARM R&D Healthcare Consultancy Ltd. (WP4), provided an update into the situation on the Turkish trial site and discussed the lessons learned from the recruitment process.

In conclusion, the face-to-face meeting in Barcelona was a great step forward for the CAP and the RBDCOV project. Thanks to the presentations delivered by all partners and the informative sessions facilitated by the EATG team, the CAP gained a comprehensive understanding of the project’s advancements. This collaborative effort demonstrates the commitment of all parties involved and the importance of meaningful community engagement in EU-funded projects such as RBDCOV.

We would like to thank the 7 CAP members who attended: Deniz Uyanik, Brian West, Alain Volny-Anne, Maka Gogia, Arda Karapinar, Juanfran Cabrera Solano and Apostolos Kalogiannis. The EATG staff attending were Rocco Pignata and Fiona Greenhalgh, RBDCOV Project Coordinators for WP9.

A big thanks to all the partners who joined us for the CAP F2F meeting.

Stay tuned for more news on the project!