On June 24th, NOVA IMS hosted the kick-off meeting of the European project CHOICE – Comprehensive Health Options and Information for Cancer Education, funded by the European Commission under the EU4Health programme.

Led by NOVA IMS and coordinated by Professor Diego Costa Pinto, CHOICE brings together health researchers and experts from Portugal, Czechia, and Greece to improve health literacy and support women with BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene mutations in making informed decisions about breast cancer prevention, monitoring, or treatment strategies.

The meeting, held at NOVA IMS’s facilities, aimed to align goals, methodologies, and timelines among the project partners. Attendees included representatives from the Institute of Biostatistics and Analyses and Masaryk University (Czechia), Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (Greece), as well as Ioanna Avgerinou, project officer from HaDEA – the European Health and Digital Executive Agency – who presented the agency’s mission and key implementation guidelines for EU4Health-funded projects.

Over the next three years, CHOICE will develop a set of innovative digital tools and resources to support both patients and healthcare professionals:

• A multilingual dictionary with more than 2,000 terms related to genetic health literacy;
• An interactive virtual library;
• Digital patient simulations and decision-support tools;
• Specialised training programmes to enhance empathetic and effective communication with BRCA+ women.

In Portugal, these resources will be developed in collaboration with the Directorate-General of Health (DGS), ensuring alignment with national public health strategies.

The CHOICE project supports the goals of Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan, aiming to reduce inequalities in access to information and promote informed, empowered health choices. This meeting at NOVA IMS marks the start of an European project with the potential to transform genetic health communication and the decision-making experience of women at increased cancer risk.