BEAMER Project Members Make Further Advances in Copenhagen, Denmark

This past month, partners from the BEAMER project gathered in the coastal city of Copenhagen, Denmark, to align on critical developments of the BEAMER model—the digital health solution to help improve treatment adherence.  

We speak with attending consortium members Frans Folkvord (Behavioural Scientist – PredictBy) and Beatriz Merino  (Biomedical Engineer – Polytechnical University of Madrid) to discuss meeting highlights and the progress made to date.  

Read more below.  

In brief words, can you please let us know who you are and which project partner organisation you are representing?

Frans Folkvord, PredictBy:

My name is Dr. Frans Folkvord. I work as the director and co-founder of PredictBy and as an associate professor at The Tilburg School of Humanities and Digital Sciences at Tilburg University, which means I represented both consortium partners at this meeting.  

Beatriz Merino, Polytechnical University of Madrid:

My name is Beatriz Merino, and I currently working in the Life Supporting Technologies Research Group at the Polytechnical University of Madrid. I am a Ph.D. biomedical engineer and a project manager of several other European projects addressing health and chronic diseases.

Frans, why was it so crucial for consortium members to meet in Copenhagen? What did it mean in terms of helping develop the BEAMER model? 

Frans Folkvord, PredictBy:

Although the consortium members have met many times online to discuss progress and solutions for upcoming challenges in the first phase of the BEAMER project, the in-person interaction between one another is significantly different.  

We have found that the discussions are of much higher quality and ongoing. We spend a lot of time working together on the pending issues, whether in the planned sessions or during lunch and dinner. For instance, in this particular meeting, our conversations led us to start building the data lab and the initial version (v1) of the BEAMER model framework—which are promising and relevant in terms of expected outcomes and the future of the project.  

BEAMER Consortium Members in Copenhagen, Denmark (January 2023)

Beatriz, could you share insights into any specific advances made in the gathering? 

Beatriz Merino, Polytechnical University of Madrid:

During the two full days, we focused on two core areas:  

• Solidifying the conceptual model framework and exploring how to co-create the functional BEAMER core algorithm 
• Defining how to deploy the model/algorithm in information and communications technology systems and test and fine-tune BEAMER v1.  

Because of these efforts, we were able to begin incorporating more insights into the functional development of the model aimed to help support treatment adherence. At the same time, we could look at the potential key elements that require our attention in the short and mid-term to reach the production version of the model. 

This all sounds exciting. What can we look forward to in the coming year? 

Frans Folkvord, PredictBy:

We’re committed to continuing our work together intensively and constructively, on and offline. As a consortium, we want to establish the subsequent models of the data and BEAMER framework to improve our understanding of patient adherence to treatment.  

As everyone is more aware of the challenge and complexity of the issue at hand, we know the next steps we will take to succeed.  

 

For more information about the BEAMER Project and how you can get involved to support its aim to help improve adherence to treatments, visit our page here!