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Call for Expressions of Interest - Join the UNIFIED Patient Advisory Group

The European Patients Forum (EPF) announces a call for representatives to join the Patient Advisory Group (PAG) for the IHI-UNIFIED project.

UNIFIED (Unifying Framework for Patient-Centred Clinical-Study Endpoints Derived from Digital Health Technologies) is an Innovative Health Initiative (IHI) project that aims to develop a harmonised, patient-centred framework for the use of digital health technologies (DHTs) in clinical studies. The project focuses on defining and validating meaningful, patient-relevant clinical study endpoints derived from digital tools, ensuring that these endpoints truly reflect patients’ lived experiences, needs, priorities across the targeted disease areas and treatment pathways: Paediatric Radiation Oncology, Lung Cancer, Parkinson’s disease, Obesity, and Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis.

The UNIFIED project, led by Erasmus University Rotterdam and Pfizer with 40 global partners, is funded under the Innovative Health Initiative Joint Undertaking and runs from November 2025 to October 2030. The goal of the project is to create practical, evidence-based guidance that helps healthcare decisions reflect what matters most to patients. This includes clear recommendations, guidelines, and standards to:

  • Include patient preferences in healthcare decisions – understanding what patients value most when choosing or evaluating treatments, including benefits, risks, side effects, convenience, and impact on daily life.
  • Measure outcomes that matter to patients – using tools that capture how patients feel, function, or survive, and ensure these perspectives are considered in clinical studies.
  • Determine meaningful changes in treatment outcomes – identifying what patients consider a noticeable improvement or difference in their health when assessing therapies.

In UNIFIED, patients are treated as equal stakeholders, involved from the earliest stages to ensure that their perspectives, needs, and lived experiences shape the project’s work. By actively engaging patients, UNIFIED seeks to strengthen the relevance, quality, and acceptance of digital endpoints used in clinical research. Ultimately, the project aims to contribute to improved patient access to safe, effective, and innovative health solutions by ensuring that digital health technologies generate outcomes that truly matter to patients.

Find out more about the project on EPF’s website, and the official UNIFIED project website.

OVERVIEW OF THE PATIENT ADVISORY GROUP (PAG)

We are searching for a group of up to 15 people. The group will include people living in different countries, of different genders and ages, with varying levels of expertise in health. We are looking for people that have had experience with Paediatric Radiation Oncology, Lung Cancer, Parkinson’s, Obesity, or Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis, and their family members/carers and supporters to be part of this advisory group.

WHO ARE WE LOOKING FOR?

General (for all applicants):

  • Must be 18 years of age or older
  • Must be from one of the following countries: EU countries, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, USA, Canada
  • Comfortable communicating in English and able to read documents in English
  • Representatives don’t need to be proficient in the topic but need to indicate a strong interest in patient preference information (PPI), clinical outcome assessments (COA) and digital health technologies (DHTs)
  • Able to travel within Europe to the project’s General Assembly Meetings once a year; a maximum of three PAG members can be invited and reimbursed per General Assembly meeting.
  • Lived experience patients and partners, caregivers or supporter of one of the UNIFIED treatments and conditions (Paediatric Radiation Oncology, Lung Cancer, Parkinson’s, Obesity, or Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis) is advantageous.

Experience (advantageous) 

  • Previous experience of being involved in multi-stakeholder EU-funded projects is advantageous
  • Previous experience of participating in events, workshops, studies (e.g. surveys, focus groups, interviews, workshops), or similar about innovation and digital health is advantageous

Skills

  • Able to communicate clearly and always in a respectful and inclusive manner
  • Able to work comfortably in an online environment
  • Maintaining confidentiality when required
  • Able to interpret large blocks of information and contribute to discussions

Attributes

  • Be willing and confident to participate in meetings and group conversations, sharing views and making arguments
  • Be collaborative and constructive but prepared to provide and receive challenging input

Foreseen activities

The members of the group will attend several meetings:

  • The PAG’s regular online meetings (four meetings every year until the end of the project), including meeting pre-reading materials
  • The project’s Annual General Meetings: once a year face-to-face, with a maximum of three members from the PAG attending yearly on a rotating basis;
  • Other meetings with project consortium partners will be held as required, with a maximum of two ad-hoc online meetings based on project needs  
  • The induction meeting (online) at the end of March (to be confirmed)

IS THERE A COMPENSATION FOR THE WORK OF THE PATIENT ADVISORY GROUP?

Each participant will receive annual compensation for the duration of their commitment, continuing until the end of the project. Travel, accommodation, food, and beverage for in-person meetings will also be covered.  

APPLICATION FORM AND DOCUMENTS

Please complete the application form online here. The application form consists of questions about your personal details (name, country of residence, experience), short questions about your motivation for applying, a declaration of interest, and information on how EPF will process your personal information.

Please do not forget to attach your short CV (max 2 pages) to the application form. Please submit your application form online with attached supporting documents by Friday, 20 February 2026 (COB, CET).

TIMELINE AND SELECTION PROCESS

  • 30 January 2026 – Launch of the call
  • 20 February 2026 – Close of the call
  • 6 March 2026 – Evaluation of applications and confirmation of selected members
  • End of March 2026 – Onboarding meeting with the recruited PAG members

WHAT HAPPENS ONCE WE HAVE RECEIVED YOUR APPLICATION?

  1. The information will be evaluated by EPF staff working on the project; in close collaboration with the other Patient Organisations working in the project
  2. If you are selected, the next steps will be confirmed in future communications;
  3. Everyone who applies will be notified about the outcome.

If you have further questions, you are very welcome to contact us: Bianca Pop at EPF (bianca.pop@eu-patient.eu) and Borislava Ananieva (borislava.ananieva@eu-patient.eu)