INITIALISE Annual Meeting 2026 in Split
The INITIALISE consortium convened its Annual Meeting and General Assembly on 26–27 March 2026 in Split, Croatia, co-organised with consortium partner Genos, based in Croatia. The meeting brought together partners from across the project to review progress, share scientific developments, and align on priorities for the coming phase. It marked an important milestone as the consortium reflects on three years of collaborative work while advancing toward upcoming deliverables and long-term objectives.
Over two days, discussions focused on how environmental, microbial, and metabolic factors shape children’s health trajectories. Participants reviewed progress in multi-omics analytical platforms, including advances in glycomic analyses and approaches for integrating microbiome data, highlighting the project’s continued emphasis on data-driven, systems-level understanding.
The agenda brought together a wide range of research perspectives, with sessions addressing immune-mediated diseases, metabolic outcomes, and neurocognitive development. Updates from multiple cohort studies including FinnBrain, LL-NEXT, and NeoCel. This studies illustrated ongoing efforts to investigate early-life influences on health, spanning immune system dynamics, metabolic pathways, and brain development.
Across the programme, a strong emphasis was placed on collaboration and the integration of findings across studies. These discussions reflected the consortium’s commitment to building a comprehensive picture of early-life health and disease risk through coordinated research efforts.
Overall, the meeting reinforced the consortium’s shared progress and ongoing collaboration, laying the groundwork for the next phase of research and continued advancement toward improved prediction and prevention strategies.