Project FOREVER
Project FOREVER will provide insight to improve quality of life
Blindness happens to a lot
– with data we aim to change that
In a collaboration between scientists from University of Copenhagen, Synoptik and Unikk.me, a biobank will be created containing data from 280,000 participants. The project is called Project FOREVER and is led by Chief Physician and Professor in Translational Eye Research, Miriam Kolko, University of Copenhagen and funded by Synoptik Fonden. The purpose is to identify who is at risk of developing a vision-threatening eye disease and who is not. The scientists have high hope that the project will provide new insight making it possible to detect vision-threatening eye diseases in due time so vision loss and blindness can be prevented.
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Blindness and vision loss is a common disease among Danes, and it will appear even more in line with increasing life expectancy. Unfortunately, we do not have enough knowledge about the early stages of vision-threatening eye diseases, since the patients are often already at an advanced stage of the disease when they seek treatment. Therefore, early recognition and treatment are crucial to change these facts:
100.000
In Denmark, 100,000 people suffer from glaucoma
15 %
A Swedish study concludes that 15 % will lose sight completely
42 %
The same study shows that 42 % will lose sight on at least one eye
More research will lead to improved eye health
"We need more research on eye diseases, and in project FOREVER we start by focusing on glaucoma. We will use data collected in the research project as well as data from the Danish health registers. With a large amount of data, we will, among other things, use artificial intelligence to create the basis for knowledge that can help us understand who is at risk of developing sight-threatening eye diseases. I believe that the project is ground-breaking due to the unique collaboration between Synoptik and researchers at the University of Copenhagen, as the collaboration allows for the collection of extensive data from all over the country and will be carried out by many experts primarily from the University of Copenhagen, but also from abroad. We hope that project FOREVER will lead to better eye health and improved quality of life for the many people where eye disease will be detected at an early stag."
- Miriam Kolko, professor of translational eye research at the Department of Drug Design and Pharmacology at
the University of Copenhagen and senior physician at Rigshospitalet.
Project FOREVER sets a completely new standard for collecting data for larger studies
Safe storage of the test participants' data is essential for the project, and Unikk.me's technology enables the test participants to have a full overview of which data they have consented to share. It helps to set a completely new standard for the collection of data for the benefit of the researchers and for the benefit of the Danish population, who benefit from the results.
"We are incredibly happy to assist Miriam and her international colleagues with research into eye diseases that will potentially have a major impact on our quality of life. At the same time, the team sets completely new standards for data use with the participant at the center. Our DigiSam solution makes this possible via a fully digitized participant dialogue in a safe environment created by the new generation of Digital Post."
-Thomas Bonefeld Jørgensen, founder of Unikk.me.
Facts
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The University of Copenhagen is responsible for the empirical study.
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Synoptik is responsible for the citizen-facing part of the project.
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Unikk.me is responsible for running the platform, which ensures transparent consent to the collection of the participants' data and in compliance with the current legistation.
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The project is supported by Synoptik-Fonden, which has granted just over DKK 14 million to the project, which is the foundation's largest grant to date.