Health CASCADE, a Marie Skłodowska Curie Innovative Training Network (ITN) funded by the European Union (H2020 MSCA; n° 956501), comprises a multidisciplinary consortium of leading universities, research institutes, and companies with 15 international PhD students. The project aims to develop an evidence base for co-creation aimed at improving public health. The EU Joint Doctoral Programme supports Health CASCADE in training a cohort of highly skilled researchers who will develop principles, methods, and technologies for an evidence-based and impactful co-creation methodology aimed at addressing complex public health problems.

By uniting a diverse group of citizens, academics, businesses and other organisations, this project can bring co-created solutions that are important for addressing modern public health issues for underserved populations.

The project started on 1st January 2021 and is set to last until 2024. Amsterdam UMC hosts 3 ESRs out of the total 15. Katrina Messiha (ESR1) focuses on ‘theory-based principles for co-creation in public health’ which seeks to develop theoretical frameworks for co-creation in public health and health promotion. Sara Rachdan (ESR14) works closely with Kunshan Goh (ESR15), and their focus is on the co-creation of the urban environment together with youth in Amsterdam. Together they will apply evidence-based methodology to co-create healthy environments with key stakeholders in the community and to evaluate the impact of this work.

For more information, visit the Health CASCADE website.