Clinnova completes Phase 1 and becomes a cornerstone of Luxembourg’s national patient-centric research infrastructure

• Luxembourg Research Clinic – Fuerschungsklinik Lëtzebuerg

Between 2023 and 2025, Clinnova completed its first phase, laying the foundations for a sustainable, interoperable clinical research infrastructure in Luxembourg and across Europe.

During Phase 1, more than 120 experts from four partner institutions contributed to the programme, with colleagues from four out of five LIH departments actively involved. The focus of this phase was the implementation of a shared IT infrastructure and standard operating procedures enabling harmonised data collection and the execution of the scientific use cases in inflammatory bowel disease, rheumatic diseases and multiple sclerosis across European partner sites.

Building on this infrastructure, more than 240 patients have been recruited across the consortium, and over 8,000 biological samples have been collected to date. In Luxembourg, Clinnova has established a Prototype Data Integration Centre, successfully delivering a proof-of-concept for secure data integration with Hôpitaux Robert Schumann, enabling the connection of clinical and research data in a real-world hospital setting.

With the transition to Phase 2, Clinnova’s infrastructure and processes will be scaled nationally through their integration into the Luxembourg Research Clinic (Fuerschungsklinik Lëtzebuerg; LRC). Within the LRC, Clinnova will serve as a research programme within the Infection & Immunity pillar. At the same time, its data integration centre and clinical trial toolbox will contribute to the establishment of a secure, interoperable research data network connecting hospitals nationwide, all aligned with the upcoming implementation of the European Health Data Space (EHDS).
At the European level, Clinnova continues to advance its scientific use cases and implement a federated data framework across partner sites, reinforcing its role as a scalable and future-ready clinical research ecosystem.

Through its integration into the LRC, the data infrastructure and operational processes developed within Clinnova will become sustainable, nationally embedded, and European-ready, marking a key milestone for patient-centric clinical research in Luxembourg. The National Centre of Excellence in Research (NCER) is an initiative of the Luxembourg National Research Fund (FNR).