The SHAPE-Med@Lyon project
In 2022, the SHAPE-Med@Lyon (Structuring one Health Approach for Personalized Medicine in Lyon) project won the France 2030 ‘ExcellencES’ Future Investment Programme 4. SHAPE-Med@Lyon is a collective success involving 13 partners: the Claude Bernard Lyon 1 (UCBL) and Lumière Lyon 2 (UL2) universities, the Hospices Civils de Lyon (HCL), Centre Léon Bérard cancer hospital (CLB), Le Vinatier psychiatric hospital, VetAgro Sup (VAS), CPE Lyon, ENS de Lyon, along with the national research organisations Inserm, CNRS, INRAE, Inria and the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC).
Structuring a health project on the Lyon - St Étienne site
SHAPE-Med@Lyon was officially launched on December 1, 2022, for a period of 10 years. With €28.1 million in funding, the initiative supports the Lyon–St-Étienne site in structuring itself around key stakeholders in the healthcare sector, including academic institutions, hospitals, industrial partners, patient associations, local public authorities, and the wider public.
This forward-looking project leverages the full scientific potential of the Lyon–St-Étienne region to develop transformative research and training initiatives in health and well-being – encompassing human, animal, environmental, and social dimensions. It integrates the principles of 5P medicine (Predictive, Preventive, Personalized, Participatory, and Proof-based) with the One Health approach, positioning the individual as target and player in his or her environment.
A health institute to build transdisciplinarity
The Health Transdisicplinary Institute is responsible for implementing SHAPE-Med@Lyon. Its aim is to build a research ecosystem that addresses the diversity of health challenges of our society through a transdisciplinary vision. It brings together scientific communities from the fields of science and technology, medicine, human and social sciences, engineering, environmental and veterinary health, to focus on a number of scientific thematic axes, that will act as demonstrators of the implementation of a strategy shared by all stakeholders.
With a strong university-hospital continuum, a unique diversity of disciplines on health issues and a structured private sector, Lyon is an ideal place to take up this challenge. The Health Transdisciplinary Institute is structured around five initial thematic workshops, which will be expanded as the project unfolds.
A well-established dynamic already in underway
The enthusiastic participation of the academic community of Lyon – St-Etienne – with over 900 participants across more than 25 brainstorming workshops since May 2022 – has made it possible to create very early on a regional dynamic around the key scientific themes.
Since 2022, 40 innovative and transformative projects have been funded (both seed and structuring projects), covering a wide range of topics – from fundamental research to the development of diagnostic tools and inclusive solutions for citizens, as well as investigation into the impact of socio-environmental conditions on human and animal health.
The SHAPE-Med@Lyon programme is also keen to strengthen its territorial roots and its openness to socio-economic stakeholders. Since 2023, dialogue with the municipalities of Lyon and Villeurbanne had led to several collaborations, notably through their Local Health Contracts and our participation in the European URBACT project ‘One Health 4 Cities’ led by the City of Lyon.
This joint momentum around the One Health approach—shared by SHAPE-Med@Lyon, local public authorities, and further reinforced by the establishment of the WHO Academy in Lyon in December 2024—undeniably contributes to positioning the Lyon region with a strong One Health scientific identity.