European health IT regions have set up Health-Ties, a consortium to encourage research-driven clusters of universities, research centers, companies and regional authorities.

The consortium will analyze regional research and development needs and will focus on four major disease areas: cardiovascular diseases, neurodegenerative diseases, cancer and infectious disease.

The consortium is supported by a three-year grant from the European Commission and consists of Medical Delta (the Netherlands), Life Science Zurich (Switzerland), Oxford & Thames Valley (United Kingdom), BioCat (Catalonia) and Észak-Alföld (Hungary), combining biosciences, medical technology and health entrepreneurship expertise.