DCVA Annual Plan 2022

Detecting cardiovascular disease before it strikes

To reduce the burden of cardiovascular disease by a quarter by detecting cardiovascular disease earlier, developing solutions faster and delivering them to the patient. That is the goal of the twenty-one partners of the Dutch CardioVascular Alliance. To that end, those partners want to raise at least 1 billion euros in the years to come. What will we do in 2022 to achieve that?

We are implementing a range of programmes to fulfil the DCVA's ambition. One of them is a top priority this year: Check@Home, in which we are studying a national approach for the early detection of heart, vascular and renal disease. The aim is to launch a pilot project in four major cities this year.

Priorities for 2022
DCVA Heart Failure action plan
Care for heart failure patients in the Netherlands is well organised and we play a prominent international role in research into this disease. Nevertheless, we lack the capacity needed to get further improvements off the ground properly. A project team launched a reconnaissance study in 2021. 2022 will see the follow-up to this study and the first steps in this field. That will include setting up a working group, organising funding and thinking about the options for a lobby plan.

Tackling knowledge gaps in cardiovascular disease
Care evaluation plays an important role in the work of the DCVA. We have spent the past year looking closely at knowledge gaps and partners' research agendas, and we have drawn up a list and a roadmap. In 2022, work will begin at the DCVA on the first topics selected from that list.

Impact plan & Theory of change
Developing research results into concrete applications and solutions for patients as quickly as possible is a core DCVA objective. One of the steps we have taken has therefore been to appoint an impact officer to help researchers during that process. NWO-TTW has devised an online training course about working with the impact plan. In 2022, the impact plan will be further improved and implemented by least six DCVA consortiums.

Main activities in each pillar in 2022:

Excellent science

Research policy: more collaboration and visibility

• Building on initiatives launched in 2021 with the themes of prevention and/or early detection, including the detection of hereditary cardiovascular disease and aortic aneurysms;
• Portfolio management and the streamlining of funding processes;
• DCVA as a matchmaker for interdisciplinary impact-oriented research;
• The establishment of a platform for DCVA research leaders.

Valorisatie

Valorisation: work on a strong valorisation ecosystem

• Searching for opportunities and further support from the impact officer on the basis of the Thematic Technology Transfer scheme;
• Achieving thematic technology transfer through structural cooperation with both the business developers and the management of the
local technology transfer offices/knowledge transfer offices;
• Strengthening the valorisation ecosystem;
• Developing a widely supported valorisation policy.

Implementatie

Implementation: implementation desk and binding new partners

• Establishment of a sustainable implementation-support structure;
• Promoting gender-sensitive research and implementation;
• The ongoing development of the projects in the field of atrial fibrillation, chest pain and digital cardiovascular care;
• Optimisation of CardioVascular Risk Management (CVRM).

Talent

Talent: investment in identifying and facilitating talent in the cardiovascular field

• Closer connections between the different talent activities;
• Enhancing the profile of these activities in the cardiovascular field;
• Establishment of an advisory committee for the talent policy;

Infra

Data infrastructure: facilitating sustainable infrastructure for cardiovascular research

• Sustainable re-use of existing data sources;
• Encouraging registry-based research;
• Creating a community for cardiovascular patients that will bring together supply and demand for patient care;
• Availability of human biomaterial in the Heart Bank.
• Visibility of infrastructure support for partners.

Public Affairs en Communicatie

Public Affairs and Communication: DCVA message at the right time, in the right way and in the right place, getting people to act on behalf of the goals of the DCVA

• Establishment of a sound basis for Public Affairs;
• Joint development of a PA strategy for the early detection of cardiovascular disease;
• Active lobbying to put early detection firmly on the map;
• Increasing the reach of DCVA communication resources;
• Strengthening the communicative capacity of the DCVA;
• Widening the scope of the DCVA congress on the road to transforming it into the leading cardiovascular congress of the
Netherlands.

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