By Nayara Güércio (Trilateral Research)
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On 8 and 9 June 2026, the PREPARE-REHAB consortium met at URI Soča in Ljubljana, Slovenia, for the project’s 3rd Year Meeting. Hosted by URI Soča, the meeting brought together project partners, Advisory Board members, and Ethics Committee members for two days of exchange, reflection, planning, and collaboration.
The timing of this meeting was important. PREPARE-REHAB is now well into its third year, and this created a valuable opportunity to pause, look back, redirect, and look ahead. The consortium came together to, of course, discuss what still needs to be done, but also to recognise how much has already been achieved through the collective work of partners across the project.
The first day began with a welcome from Prof. Petros Patias and Dr Erik Novak, one of the local organisers at URI Soča, followed by updates from the project’s coordination and management teams. These opening reports helped set the tone for the meeting, giving partners a shared view of where the project stands and what the next phase will require.
Much of the first day focused on the scientific and technical work at the centre of PREPARE-REHAB. Partners discussed the integration of multi-source health and socio-behavioural data, including tools for converting and merging structured and unstructured healthcare data, infrastructures for assessing multiple observational data sources, and the project’s data platform for big data management and federated access.
From there, the conversation moved to computational models that can support patient stratification. Sessions explored AI-supported patient stratification, the implementation of the patient analysis engine, and the essential questions of bias and fairness. These discussions showed the complexity of building AI-supported rehabilitation tools responsibly. They also reinforced one of the project’s central ambitions: to contribute to more personalised, ethical, and effective rehabilitation pathways for patients.
The agenda also gave space to the work that connects PREPARE-REHAB with wider audiences. Partners discussed communication, dissemination, exploitation, IPR management, regulatory planning, and training activities. These discussions also highlighted something central to the project: strong research matters, but so does the way it reaches people, supports practice, and continues to create value beyond the project’s lifetime.
The second day continued with a practical focus on integration, testing, and validation. Partners reviewed progress on modules designed to support operational procedures, as well as the PREPARE Decision-Support Platform and the Data and Communication Platform. Training and end-user engagement were also central to the discussion, helping to ensure that the project’s tools remain connected to real needs, real contexts, and real users.
Attention then turned to pilot cases, tools demonstration, and validation. These sessions marked an important stage in the project’s development, because the consortium continued moving from design and development towards implementation, testing, and future application. Partners discussed pilot implementation, overall system validation, and the policy framework and recommendations that will support the project’s longer-term contribution.
The meeting also addressed the structures that keep the project moving responsibly and effectively. Project management, the periodic report, planning for the next consortium meeting, risk and data management, continuous legal and ethical monitoring, and ethics requirements were all part of the second day’s discussions. The General Meeting closed with next steps, and a clearer shared understanding of the work ahead.
Across both days, the meeting followed a clear rhythm:
- What have we achieved?
- What comes next?
- What do we need to decide together?
This structure allowed partners to celebrate the progress made so far while also making concrete plans for the months ahead.
The Ljubljana meeting was both a milestone and a moment of renewed direction. As PREPARE-REHAB enters its next stage, the focus remains on what matters most: using innovation responsibly to support personalised, ethical, and advanced rehabilitation for the people at the centre of it all.
I am very proud to be part of this story, and to help tell it as it continues to unfold!
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Posted by: Nayara Güércio (Trilateral Research)