The University of Lodz Faculty of Biology and Environmental Protection as a participant in a pioneering project
The project involves 12 higher education institutions from 9 European countries. The key objective of the project is to educate a workforce that can revolutionise patient care, increase healthcare efficiency and contribute to a more sustainable and equitable healthcare system by using digital health data and AI algorithms. According to Minna Isomursu, the project coordinator and Professor at the University of Oulu in Finland, the implementation of this initiative is a breakthrough moment for the European healthcare education.
Additionally, as noted by Dr Michał Seweryn, the project coordinator in Poland from the Faculty of Biology and Environmental Protection, University of Lodz:
This is particularly important in the context of dynamic changes in the healthcare system in Poland, also related to the introduction of EHDS, which is being piloted by the Regional Digital Medicine Centres established by the Medical Research Agency.
Digital Healthcare: What Tools We Have and Why We're Not Using Them to Their Full Potential
Digital healthcare already encompasses a wide and diverse range of applications, including: computer-assisted examination of X-ray scans using artificial intelligence to detect abnormalities, mobile applications that allow people to monitor their health and quality of life, remote health advice via text messages and electronic recording of patient notes by doctors using voice recognition. These tools can only be used if employees have appropriate knowledge and skills in advanced digital technologies to use them. Without these skills, even the best tools will not be used properly. There is currently a large gap in this area, and the existing potential for using digital tools cannot be fully realised. Hence the idea for the SUSA project, which is to fill the gap in the skills of healthcare workers.
The fact that digital technologies are currently developed by engineers and technologists, often with little involvement of healthcare professionals is an additional challenge. In such projects, they are not involved at the design stage of the AI solution, also because they lack the required competences. At the same time, the lack of involvement of healthcare professionals from the very beginning slows down the innovation process and negatively affects the quality of the manufactured products. Their valuable, substantive knowledge and experience are taken into account (or not) at the end of the process of developing a new digital solution. Ideally, an interdisciplinary group of specialists with complementary competences should be involved in the design and implementation of a digital solution.
In order to address this challenge, SUSA has engaged five small and medium-sized technology companies from Finland, Ireland, Greece, Portugal and Belgium that deal with health data. In addition, a Stakeholder Council will be established at the University of Lodz, consisting of representatives of healthcare facilities and public and private entities involved in the digitisation of the healthcare sector. The aim of their presence in the project is to share their observations on the identified educational gaps in advanced digital competences. They will also offer internships so that students can gain practical knowledge and experience. One hospital and one research institute are also involved in the project, which will facilitate the exchange of knowledge and experience from different areas of activity.
In addition, 12 partner universities will embed advanced digital skills content into 20 BA and 26 MA programmes, with the goal of producing nearly 7,000 graduates by the end of the four-year project. The project will also include 16 continuing education modules to develop almost 700 professionals to become proficient in digital health. In addition, the project includes BA and MA level education for doctors and nurses, and continuing education for experienced healthcare workers.
One of the main benefits of this approach is the development of a platform for effective communication between scientific units, such as the University of Lodz, and units that are part of the healthcare system, which do not usually educate biomedical engineers or data analysis, AI, bioinformatics or database engineers
– says Dr Michał Seweryn.
The SUSA Project: A Response to Today's Challenges
There is a recognised need for more targeted, coordinated and professional educational activities across the health sector.
There is no clear academic path for people working in digital health. When people come to us, we do the training on how to apply digitisation to health ourselves. However, we want to take it to the next level and get accredited training from an academic institution that many people have access to. Mastering the technology itself is not the most important thing in preparing healthcare staff for the digital age, because people can learn the technical aspects of the system relatively easily. The biggest challenge is building relationships and connections in the digital environment
– says Lynne Green, who is consultant, a clinical psychologist and a clinical director at Kooth, a British company providing digital mental health support to young people.
The challenges in this area are very similar in the Polish education and healthcare systems. Additionally, it should be noted that the level of use of advanced digital technologies in healthcare in Poland is clearly lower than, for example, in Finland. This means that Polish healthcare workers and researchers are often more consumers of technology and have little influence on its direction – including the creation of AI algorithms
– explains Dr Michał Seweryn.
Educational materials: key aspects
The SUSA consortium will develop educational materials around “20 learning objectives that are essential advanced digital skills for all healthcare professionals working with medical data, regardless of their background.” The five SUSA objectives focus on AI, including its ethics, regulations, and technology – an area that is largely missing from today’s courses.
The materials will be available not only to the original group of the 12 founding institutions but will also be available to other universities that have expressed interest in joining the project.
This action will enable more effective use of programme content developed with public funds and reach a wider group of stakeholders
– says Dr Michał Seweryn.
The project also includes a "Train the trainers" programme, which is to provide support for lecturers. It will provide ready-to-use training materials, as well as a digital learning platform where users from different countries will be able to share their knowledge and experience.
Another initiative is a virtual campus, among other things, with broad access to knowledge on the practical application of medical data. It will also be a platform for exchanging information on job offers and internship programmes.
Faculty of Biology and Environmental Protection: modern competences – from AI to IoT
Our university is participating in the consortium as one of the main content-related partners, and the Faculty of Biology and Environmental Protection of the University of Lodz is implementing the project's assumptions, among other things, through a new engineering study programme: Biology and Digital Biomedicine. The programme of the new course has been developed in close connection with the goals of SUSA and is a response to global challenges in the field of digital education in healthcare.
The Biology and Digital Biomedicine study programme is a response to the needs of modern biomedicine – it combines biology, data analysis and digital technologies. Students learn to use tools such as:
- AI,
- IoT – Internet of Things,
- machine learning,
- bioinformatics,
- digital modelling of biological processes,
- omics data analysis (genome, transcriptome, proteome, metabolome),
- diagnostic imaging and analysis of microscopic images.
The curriculum also includes content on:
- biobanking,
- public health,
- digital ethics and law,
- environmental monitoring planning.
This is an interdisciplinary, modern and practical study programme – consistent with the strategy of the Digital Decade and the European Green Deal.
Students will have an opportunity to gain practical experience in real-world research projects and clinical environments. SUSA also enables career development at the intersection of biology, health and technology.
The Faculty of Biology and Environmental Protection of the University of Lodz, as one of the leaders of educational activities within the project, is also responsible for developing and implementing solutions ensuring the durability and impact of the SUSA project. This means that the effects developed within the field of biology and digital biomedicine will have not only local but also European significance. Dr Michał Seweryn from the Faculty of Biology and Environmental Protection sits on the Consortium Council and he will coordinate the implementation of this task in the project.
SUSA is not just an educational project – it is a step towards a future in which health and technology coexist for the common good. The University of Lodz is a part of this change
– says Dr Michał Seweryn.
Sourceł: Dr Michał Seweryn, dr hab. Agnieszka Grzelak, Biobank Lodz; Clive Cookson, EU project launched to prepare health workers for a digital future, Financial Tomes, March 2025
Edit: Kamila Knol-Michałowska, Promotion Centre, Faculty of Biology and Environmental Protection, University of Lodz
Photo: AdobeStock
