About the Project
A European Research Effort to Improve Preterm Outcomes
IMPROVE PRETERM – short for IMPROVing lifElong health and development for children and adults born very PRETERM – observational studies to enhance randomized trials for comparative effectiveness research – is a four-year project (2025–2028) funded by the European Union’s Horizon Europe Research and Innovation program (Grant Agreement No. 101156325).
The project brings together leading scientists, healthcare professionals, families, and advocates from 13 countries. Together, we aim to create better evidence, better tools, and better care for children and adults born very preterm (VPT).
Why Very Preterm Birth Is a Public Health Priority
Each year, more than 50,000 babies are born very preterm in Europe – that means before 32 weeks of pregnancy. Thanks to advances in neonatal care, survival rates have increased. But survival is just the beginning.
- Many VPT children and adults face lifelong challenges such as developmental delays, cerebral palsy, respiratory illness, and mental health conditions.
- Families often lack clear guidance on how best to support their children.
- Healthcare providers and policymakers struggle with limited evidence about which treatments and follow-up programs work best.
This gap in knowledge means care can vary greatly across countries and hospitals, leading to inequities in health and quality of life.
The Core Ambitions of IMPROVE PRETERM
The project is designed to tackle these challenges head-on. Our three core ambitions are to:
- Optimize discovery and use of effective interventions at birth and in childhood.
- Mitigate adverse long-term consequences of very preterm birth by identifying what works best in real-world care.
- Use observational studies to enhance Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs), making research more practical, inclusive, and patient-centered.
How IMPROVE PRETERM Will Achieve Its Goals
To turn these ambitions into action, the project will:
- Generate new evidence on high-priority interventions, including corticosteroid treatments, early follow-up programs, and vaccine strategies.
- Develop a novel follow-up tool (the PARCA-5/7 questionnaire) to help families and doctors assess child development at ages 5 to 7.
- Expand and strengthen the RECAP Preterm platform, a unique European data infrastructure, by adding new birth registers, neonatal networks, and trial data.
- Build a lifecourse framework for Comparative Effectiveness Research (CER), including outcome standards, methodological guidelines, and health-economic evaluations.
- Put families at the center of research, through advisory boards and co-creation with parents, adults born preterm, and patient advocates.
Project Funding and Duration
- Program: Horizon Europe, the EU Framework for Research and Innovation (2021–2027).
- Funding: European Commission, Grant Agreement No. 101156325.
- Duration: January 1, 2025 – December 31, 2028 (48 months).