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EU Missions under Horizon Europe

Horizon Cancer Mission: Virtual Human Twins

Funds up to four €8-9M grants for teams building AI-driven digital models of a patient's cancer to predict how it develops and guide personalised treatment.

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Cancer research usually works from broad patterns across many patients. That approach struggles hardest on the cancers this topic targets: ones with few treatment options, biology that is not well understood, low five-year survival, or cancers that appear early in life. This topic funds a different tool — a computer model built from one patient's own data, detailed enough to help predict how their

Building and testing multiscale virtual human twins — AI-driven digital models of a patient's own cancer biology, from cells and tissues up to organs — to understand how a cancer starts and develops, and to personalise treatment. Priority goes to cancers with few treatment options or unclear biology: refractory cancers, rare cancers, early-onset cancers, cancers with low five-year survival, and paediatric or adolescent cancers. Models are validated against real patient data — new or existing, multi-omics, imaging, and real-world data — with age, sex and gender differences built into the modelling itself. Results are published as FAIR data and made available through the UNCAN.eu and Advanced Virtual Human Twin platforms.

CycleiHow often this grant runs — e.g. annually, on a rolling basis, or a one-off call.Annual
Next deadlineiThe next date applications are due. Rolling means you can apply any time.15 Sept 2026
Decision timeiTypical time from the deadline to the funder's decision.22 weeks
Project durationiHow long the funded work is expected to run.
Award typeiThe form of funding — grant, equity, loan, tax credit, etc.Grant
Match fundingiThe share of project costs you must cover yourself. 0% = fully funded.0%
Funding pooliThe total budget available across all awards in this round.€35M

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Last verified: 25 Aug 2026Funder reference: HORIZON-MISS-2026-02-CANCER-01Source: ec.europa.eu