BRAVEST: Towards a future of crisis preparedness

An introduction to our work plans

Authors: BRAVEST Consortium partners 

In this article, we delve into the project plans for each work package to understand the impact and expectations held by the BRAVEST consortium members.  

Our project is divided into 5 work packages, with BRAVEST members leading at different stages throughout: 

Work Package 1: ESOT: Coordination, Management, Evaluation 
The main focus of this WP is to manage and coordinate the project, ensuring compliance with EU rules and procedures. Its purpose is to ensure the project achieves its goals and produces high-quality deliverables. To achieve this, the activities within specific WPs (WP3-WP5) will be closely monitored, and participant feedback will be gathered through questionnaires. The project outputs will also be evaluated to determine their suitability. One important aspect of this WP is the establishment of an External Advisory Board (EAB), consisting of internationally recognised experts who are not affiliated with any partner authorities. 

Work Package 2: Communications, dissemination, exploitation 
Both EPHA and ESOT are producing BRAVEST’s communications. We are working together to share BRAVEST’s work on our website, annual newsletter, and via our X formerly Twitter and LinkedIn, where you can follow all the latest news and updates! 
We plan to grow our audience to include academics, service providers, policymakers, and patients, ensuring the project’s insights and findings are shared widely: with policymakers and the public. 

Work Package 3: Analysis of the pandemic impact of COVID-19 on participating countries 
Paris Transplant Group and ESOT are currently working together to collect data from individuals and populations in a data repository to identify organ transplantation activity in 10 participating countries. Based on this data, we will co-create an artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm to predict the main determinants of transplantation activity and to analyse the impact and resiliency of donation and transplantation services. 
Analysing resilience against a disastrous event such as COVID-19 by feature analysis with AI algorithms as well as quantitative and qualitative analyses, could report warnings towards the current healthcare system and propose enhancements in public health policymaking. 

Work Package 4 – Guidelines and prospective solutions for building up resilient organ donation and transplantation systems 
The Italian National Transplant Centre (CNT) and ESOT are co-leading work package 4. We will prepare guidelines and solutions for building resilient organ donation and transplant systems in response to crises, focusing on three main specific objectives: 

• Identifying common approaches for donor screening, recipient selection, waitlist access, and follow-up recommendations; 

• Developing solutions for improving the quality and safety of organ supply and transplantation; 

• Providing guidance for the organisation of transplant units in response to a crisis. 

 CNT will prepare guidance for the organisational aspects in response to a crisis. A dedicated working group composed by the National Authorities involved in work package 4 will be set up during October 2023. The working group will analyse the results of a survey conducted under work package 3 and will focus on the activities conducted by the EU National Authorities in response to the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. This will inform best practices on organising donation and transplantation activity at a national level and how to manage international organ exchange and transportation. 

Work Package 5: Implementation and Sustainability 
The main goal of our work package, and one of the most important aspects of all project activities, is to ensure the future use of our findings.  
Co-led by Slovenija Transplant and ESOT, we will begin our work toward the end of the BRAVEST project in month 20. We will analyse the findings of WP 4, to ensure coherence with local legal and ethical frameworks in participating countries. We will then define a strategy for the implementation and sustainability of project outputs, ensuring findings are used to enhance the resilience of donation and transplantation systems on a national and transnational level. 
To make the results of the project sustainable and applicable in different settings, we will tailor guidance based on countries’ level of organ donation system development, ensuring the relevance of guidance across Europe. 

Conclusion: 

The Covid-19 pandemic demonstrated the need for shared common guidelines to improve the resilience of donation and transplant systems globally. Transplantation is lifesaving; together, we must ensure equitable access for patients in times of normalcy and crisis!