Department of Pneumology, MUL

The Medical University of Lodz (MUL), through its Department of Internal Medicine, Asthma and Allergy, the Department of Pneumonology and its hospital infrastructure, provides a strong clinical and translational environment for COPD research, with expertise in respiratory medicine, immunology, biomarkers, biological therapies and precision medicine. Despite advances in COPD diagnosis and treatment, care remains largely disease- and organ-centred, while patients frequently present with complex multimorbidity, heterogeneous biological phenotypes and variable treatment responses. There is therefore a need for integrated, patient-level approaches linking multimorbidity, biological heterogeneity, treatment response and longitudinal real-world outcomes. A key strength of MUL is its integration with the Polish Biological Therapy Network in COPD (PSTB-COPD). PSTB-COPD is a nationwide academic and clinical network bringing together leading Polish scientific and research institutions, including leading medical universities, specialist clinical centres and national research institutes, including State Research Institutes. The Network combines expertise in COPD, biological therapies, biomarkers, biobanking, RWE and precision medicine.

PSTB-COPD provides access to well-characterised COPD populations, longitudinal clinical data, patients receiving biological therapies, biological samples, biomarkers and multicentre Real-World Evidence, enabling prospective validation of innovative interventions in routine care. It has expertise in biological therapies, treatment response, persistence, safety, phenotyping and biomarker-defined subgroups, bridging clinical research and real-world practice.

EU-MULTI-COPD aims to develop and clinically validate personalised, multimorbidity-integrated COPD management, combining clinical and biological phenotyping, multimorbidity assessment, risk stratification, biomarker-informed treatment optimisation, biological therapies, rehabilitation, patient-centred care, digital monitoring and longitudinal Real-World Data. Rather than treating comorbidities separately, the project will investigate multimorbidity as an integrated determinant of COPD phenotype, disease trajectory, treatment response and healthcare utilisation, focusing on cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, chronic kidney disease, osteoporosis, sarcopenia and frailty, obesity, anxiety and depression, sleep disorders and lung cancer. It will identify clinically and biologically defined patient subgroups with different risks and treatment responses, supporting personalised management. The central concept is integrated management in which pulmonary disease, multimorbidity, biological phenotype, functional status, treatment response and patient-reported outcomes are considered together. Clinical, laboratory, imaging, molecular and patient-generated data will support precise treatment and monitoring. PSTB-COPD will provide a translational pathway linking clinical care, patient recruitment, phenotyping, registries, Real-World Data, biomarkers, biobanking, translational research, precision medicine and implementation. This will enable validation of biomarkers and innovative interventions in well-characterised COPD populations and real-world assessment. Digital technologies and AI may support personalised COPD management. PSTB-COPD can provide a clinical validation environment for digital and AI-based solutions using longitudinal COPD populations, clinical endpoints and real-world data, including prediction of exacerbations and hospitalisations, high-risk phenotype identification, monitoring and early detection of deterioration. We seek a strong European coordinator and complementary partners, including academic medical centres and universities, COPD research centres, European cohorts and registries, patient organisations, biomarker and molecular research groups, biobanks, digital-health and AI groups, health-economic and implementation-science teams, epidemiologists and data scientists, and biotechnology, pharmaceutical, diagnostic and MedTech companies. MUL/PSTB-COPD can contribute to clinical study design, multicentre recruitment, COPD phenotyping, longitudinal follow-up, biological therapy assessment, biomarker discovery and validation, biobanking, Real-World Evidence, healthcare-utilisation and health-economic analyses, clinical validation of digital and AI solutions, patient engagement and implementation research. PSTB-COPD can provide a Polish platform for multicentre recruitment, follow-up and prospective validation in routine COPD care. PSTB-COPD is actively seeking a strong European coordinator to develop a large multidisciplinary consortium. MUL/PSTB-COPD will contribute a nationwide clinical and translational platform connecting clinical research, Real-World Evidence, biological discovery, precision medicine, digital innovation, patient partnership and implementation, advancing personalised, multimorbidity-integrated COPD care.