The atmosphere at the Grand Hotel Stockholm lobby during the Nobel Week Dialogue was nothing short of magical. As I entered the hall, I was immediately struck by the sense of history and intellectual prowess that enveloped the room.

Under the glow of elegant chandeliers, the air buzzed with anticipation, excitement, and the electric energy of intellectual exchange. The lobby was filled with an extraordinary gathering of some of the brightest minds in the world – Nobel Prize laureates, casually sipping coffee, engaged in animated conversations that spanned the realms of science, literature, and peace. The hum of passionate discussions resonated throughout the space, filling the air with the amazing scent of discovery and innovation.

As I stood there, taking in the awe-inspiring scene, I couldn’t help but feel a deep sense of gratitude and humility. To be in the presence of such remarkable individuals, including the legendary Dr. James Watson, was an experience I will never forget. Surrounded by the spirits of past and present Nobel laureates, I was reminded of the power of curiosity, the importance of perseverance, and the boundless potential of the human spirit.

That unforgettable encounter with Jim Watson amidst the grandeur of the Grand Hotel Stockholm lobby will forever remain etched in my memory.

On this 70th anniversary of the DNA double helix discovery, I am grateful for the opportunity to have shared a moment in time with one of the greatest scientific minds of our age and to have firsthand experienced the enchanting atmosphere that unites those who have shaped our understanding of the world.

On a cold 2012 December day, I had the honor of attending the Nobel Week Dialogue in Stockholm. Never in my wildest dreams did I expect to have a personal interaction with one of the most legendary scientists of all time, Dr. James Watson. As we sat down for a one-hour discussion, I was humbled and awestruck by his passion, wisdom, and humility.

That day Jim recounted the incredible journey he and Francis Crick embarked on 60 years prior culminating with the discovery of the double helix structure of DNA.

As we are celebrating the 70th anniversary of this groundbreaking discovery, on this day, April 25th, I am filled with emotion and gratitude. Their perseverance and dedication unlocked the secrets of life, paving the way for countless innovations in medicine, agriculture, forensics, and more.

Jim explained to me the implications of his and his colleagues discovery, which has since transformed our understanding of life and its intricacies.

As I reflect on that extraordinary encounter with Jim Watson back in 2012, I am struck by the profound impact that one discovery has had on our lives. The double helix has woven its way into the fabric of our existence, shaping our understanding of the world and ourselves.

One of James Watson’s most famous quotes, reflecting his curiosity and passion for scientific discovery, is: “The important thing is to never stop questioning.” This quote encapsulates Watson’s approach to science and his relentless pursuit of knowledge.

On this 70th anniversary, we honor the legacy of James Watson, Francis Crick, Rosalind Franklin, and Maurice Wilkins, whose relentless pursuit of knowledge illuminated the secrets of life and inspired generations to come.

The DNA double helix discovery laid the foundation for one of the most ambitious and transformative scientific endeavors in history: the Human Genome Project. This international collaboration, launched in 1990, aimed to map the entire human genome by identifying and sequencing the 3 billion nucleotide base pairs that constitute our DNA. The project sought to unravel the complexity of our genetic blueprint with the ultimate goal of improving our understanding of human biology, health, and disease.

Completed in 2003, the Human Genome Project stands as a testament to the power of international cooperation and the relentless pursuit of knowledge. This monumental achievement has opened up new frontiers in genomics, personalized medicine, and our understanding of the intricate interplay between genes and the environment. The project has accelerated the discovery of disease-causing genes, paved the way for novel diagnostic tools, and informed the development of targeted therapies tailored to an individual’s unique genetic makeup.

Dr. James Watson’s impact on the field of genetics extends beyond the discovery of the DNA double helix structure and his involvement in the Human Genome Project.

In 2007, Watson became the first person to receive his fully sequenced genome as part of the Personal Genome Project, led by Dr. George Church at Harvard Medical School. The project aimed to advance personalized medicine by sequencing the complete genomes of volunteers and making the data publicly available for research purposes.

Receiving his sequenced genome was a poignant moment for Watson, marking yet another milestone in his storied scientific career. The sequencing of his genome demonstrated the remarkable progress made since the discovery of the double helix, as well as the increasing accessibility of genomic information.

Watson’s willingness to share his genetic data emphasized the potential of genomics to transform medicine and our understanding of human biology.

The sequencing of Jim Watson’s genome has also raised important ethical questions about privacy, consent, and the potential consequences of widespread genomic data sharing. These discussions have contributed to the ongoing conversation about responsible genomics research and the development of appropriate regulations to protect individuals and communities.

As we celebrate the 70th anniversary of the double helix discovery, we must acknowledge Dr. James Watson’s enduring influence on genetics and genomics, from the foundational discovery of DNA’s structure to the ongoing pursuit of personalized medicine. His lifelong commitment to advancing our understanding of the human genome continues to inspire researchers and pave the way for a future where genomic knowledge benefits us all. The double helix has forever changed our world and it is our duty to ensure that the progress.

… I am Marius Geanta, MD, President and Co-Founder of the Centre for Innovation in Medicine, and Medical Director of McCann Health Brain & Heart.

There is no greater barrier against innovation than searching and inventorying good practices from everywhere and trying to implement them as such, without nuance, in completely different social, economic and cultural environments.

Indeed, there is no greater barrier. What does exist, however, is a direct and imminent threat to innovation: babbling on the subject of innovation, stemming only from the desire to join the buzzword trend. This chatter is more toxic than disinterest in innovation.

Many walk around with a death grip on the word innovation, not willing to let it go no matter what, like a pit bull with its teeth stuck in a rubber bone. One might get the impression that we live in a world so advanced that it is able to manage pandemics, wars, energy and financial crises, even if they were, say, all compressed and superimposed in two years.

But hey, how come this world, inebriated with words, convinced that it is innovating, did so poorly in managing this unfortunate superposition of catastrophes? How come it strives to act just like before? How come it aspires to return to the old “normal”, thinking that this will save us all?

Seems too much like the scenes before the sinking of the Titanic, when people were having fun, singing and dancing, even though the ship was already taking on water, doesn’t it?

In times like these, you need genuine ideas and leaders or you collapse as a society, organization, or system sooner or later. Nothing needs to be proven on this point, had you opened a history textbook at least in middle school.

“Marius, my dear, the world lacks big ideas”, a great man told me, you can find him in many books on the history of medicine, despite the efforts of his successors to minimize him, to reduce him to the lowest common denominator.

The lowest common denominator – this operation was supposed to remain only in math books, not turn into a mass operation, applied at the level of society, school, corporation.

If you are educated in the spirit of values that have crossed the millennia, it is difficult for you to understand how the world can function without authentic leaders and without big ideas, from one day to the next, like a mad race from nowhere to nowhere.

People and their wonderful ideas are needed to move the world forward, to keep fixing the horizon line further and further, to inspire people (and above all children and young people, who need more than ever of authentic landmarks) and make them understand the higher dimension of us as a species.

Otherwise, living from festival to festival, disinterested in science, innovation and big ideas, aren’t our lives reduced so much that we are practically witnessing an involution on the scale of humanity?

Our history is actually a succession of terrible ups and downs, from which we have emerged each time with our own vision, ideas, leaders and names. That’s how Apollodorus went down in history, not Gabriel of Damascus – you get the point, and the examples abound.

There’s still a chance, as long as there are still people who have access to the news about the rovers exploring Mars and whose names are banal – Spirit, Opportunity, Curiosity and Perseverance – when they could be called Let it go, little brother (in Romanian, Las’ că merge și așa, frățioare, a saying that means that you shouldn’t put too much effort in a specific task, as long as it’ll do the job at least once).

We must have the courage to express our needs, but also to explain and describe our strengths based on a deep understanding of local realities.

No one knows better than us what needs to be done, although it is true that we have to learn from Western partners how to implement it.

We must take our place at the table of decisions, influencing prioritization of European funds and implementing the necessary reforms.

Innovation, understood in oncology primarily as personalized medicine, must reduce these inequalities.

The implementation of innovation (from prevention and screening to diagnosis and treatment) without innovating in implementation will lead not to the reduction, but to increasing inequalities.

In Romania, we have done our job in terms of cancer policy: the National Plan was launched by the President Klaus Iohannis in January, the Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca said yesterday that “the implementation of the Plan will make us move to personalized medicine”, and there is political consensus in Parliament necessary to approve the Cancer Law (which today entered the straight line of submission for debate).

No other European country has such an alignment at the highest level, endorsed by the professional environment and civil society.

We have enough arguments to consider Romania a model for real-time translating European cancer policies (including Cancer Mission) into national policies; I am confident we can promote this model of collaboration without hesitation, with confidence and pride.

This is the synthesis of my today’s (May, 31, 2022) speech at the high-level meeting organized in the Romanian Parliament by Senator Nicoleta Pauliuc, the initiator of 3 laws (so far) for the benefit of cancer survivors.

One of these recommendations referred to the use of data through citizen involvement: “The European data space for cancer must promote data donation from European citizens, cancer patients or other patients, directly to a single hub at the European Union level, in order to avoid the existing barriers of the health systems (absence of electronic records, different standards, lack of involvement in EU projects on a voluntary basis of some Member States, etc.).”

Fast forward to the 3rd of May 2022, the European Commission launched the European Health Data Space (EHDS), one of the central building blocks of a strong European Health Union, opening a new era for data use in the European Union and offering a consistent, trustworthy and efficient framework to use health data for research, innovation, policy-making and regulatory activities, while ensuring full compliance with the EU’s high data protection standards.

While the role of EHDS for research, innovation and policymaking, as it was designed in theory, will be vital, essential, one of the most important foundation principles of EHDS is that people will be in control of their own health data, in their country and cross-border: “Citizens will be in full control of their data and will be able to add information, rectify wrong data, restrict access to others and obtain information on how their data are used and for which purpose.”

If achieved, this measure will ensure that sharing health data will not be influenced by absence of electronic records (EHRs), that are a chronic problem in Eastern European countries, different standards or lack of involvement in EU projects on a voluntary basis in some Member States.

However, like any major innovative approach that aims to reduce inequalities in some areas, it has the potential to create new ones or widen the existing gap between East and West. In parallel, intensive projects and initiatives that aim at informing and educating the citizens in these Member States should be put in place as soon as possible. The impetus for action must come from the EU level, but the actions should be designed taking into account the experience of civil society at the national level, creating a balance between European vision and Eastern reality.

At the turn of the millennium, The Human Genome was completed achieving an ambitious goal that was assumed to unlock the mysteries behind many common and rare diseases. The change was even more profound. There is so much variation that it is increasingly difficult to define health. Genomic data has unique features (can be inheritable, permanent) which lead to disruptions: moving away from treating people as averages, understanding drugs response, new models of risk prediction, making n of 1 therapies, understanding the impact of environmental factors on the genome and understanding the implication of the genome in society.

Fast forward to 2022: Today, a genome can be read with high accuracy, edited, and even rewritten. Genomics is redefining every medical specialty and changing standards of care on the whole continuum of care. Science can go even further: we can analyze biological molecules from multiple angles even at the level of single cells. Over 1000 omics have been described so far allowing a high-definition understanding of different sets of molecules that make up human biology.

Now, we are witnessing rapid developments towards a new dimension of redefining disease, health and society through new lenses: multi omics. Integration of biological data, along with all the other data that define a person’s health and well-being can become the foundation of truly personalised medicine.

This new dimension is unachievable without another longitudinal science – data science. Biological data needs to be translated in a new alphabet to show value, the one of digital tools and technologies.

The value can mean better prediction of the transition between health and disease, on an individually tailored basis.
A complete biological system can be modeled by adding all these layers of information with the help of AI and emerging digital technologies.

We are not sending ships to space multiple times to see if it works. Learning from other sectors in which the digital transformations allow streamlines of end products through digital models, it won’t be long until each person can have access to his/her digital twin to help tailor the best medical intervention.

Medicine is moving from sole intuition, averages and Ivory Towers, to integration, transdisciplinary approaches, and individuals. People are already bringing their genomic information to the attention of the clinician. And this is only the beginning.

It should be our mission – as medical professionals, students, patients, caregivers, citizens, to become contemporary with these changes. We can all become patients, caregivers, and vulnerable. Maybe it is time to use the key word more often – citizen.

More than 1 year later, there are MS with more than 90% vaccination rate, while others barely reached 40%. These rates apply to the two doses vaccination scheme, which in the Omicron scenario brings little benefit at the individual and societal level.

Something is missing from this equation. This ongoing situation is the live proof of what we, at the Centre for Innovation in Medicine, were already shouting out loud for years: while providing early access to innovation is essential, it is not enough.

Attitudes, perceptions and behaviours – a new model for citizen engagement.

There have been intensive discussions around the lessons learned from the COVID-19 experience. The pandemic has ended as a social phenomenon – this fact was presented without a shadow of a doubt by many national, european, international authorities.

We are now at a critical point to apply one of the most important lessons: understanding the pivotal role of human behaviour in shaping the evolution of the public health crisis which is still a reality.

Our research at the Centre for Innovation in Medicine shows that there are many common points between the fight against COVID-19 and cancer, for which we collect data starting 2016. Putting the citizen at the centre of health policy should start with understanding behaviours, attitudes and perceptions.

If we have not learned the lessons of history, can we learn to live with SARS-CoV-2 and, worse, can we learn with the perspective of a long-term war?

Beyond the questions, more or less rhetorical, are the people. With their dramas, delusions and dreams. Many, interrupted by an invisible enemy or by one as obvious as possible.

We start the ReThink Health project having in mind the citizens and the right to high-level health and care. We have in our hearts and minds people who are suffering now, in Ukraine, as well people who have suffered (in the CEE more than in other EU MS) because of the pandemic, but as well people who, because of the dysfunctions of public health systems, have been suffering in silence for decades with chronic diseases in Kyiv, Budapest, Belgrade, Sofia or Bucharest.

People’s chance at life or a higher quality of life should not depend on the postal code.

We are active and we have developed in-depth analysis and knowledge on the East-West inequalities, as we have a long history of over a decade of understanding how health innovations can reduce inequalities.

Innovation as a cohesive factor in the EU is our headline at the Centre for Innovation in Medicine. And the premise is to build forward better.