Project

Solving complex integration challenges and transforming ideas into practical solutions requires focused, hands-on teamwork. VHP4Safety used Hackathons to accelerate innovation and foster rapid progress across disciplines.

Hackathons were organized in VHP4Safety several times a year. Hackathons were organized as short, intensive events where consortium partners worked side-by-side to address specific technical, scientific, or regulatory questions. In multidisciplinary teams, participants developed prototypes, integrated new data and tools, and tackled the VHP4Safety regulatory case studies. Preparation included prioritizing urgent topics that could only be addressed interdisciplinary, using the diversity of expertise within the VHP4Safety consortium.

Hackathons delivered working prototypes, integrated platform components, and direct feedback from users. Unfinished tasks were tracked for future sprints, keeping momentum high. These events not only speeded up development of the Virtual Human Platform, but also strengthened collaboration and ensured that the platform continuously evolved to meet user needs.

To develop a future-proof platform for safety assessment for chemicals and pharmaceuticals without the need for animal testing, VHP4Safety organized Designathons as a way of interdisciplinary co-creation. Bringing together expertise from academia, industry, regulatory bodies, and societal organizations ensures that the Virtual Human Platform (VHP) is robust, relevant, and widely supported.

During the course of the project, VHP4Safety organized biannual Designathons. These were interactive, consortium-wide workshops where all partners collaborated intensively. During these sessions, participants co-designed the platform’s structure and workflows, aligned on shared goals, and discussed the needs and perspectives of different stakeholders. Special task forces were established to connect the projects research lines, work packages and disciplines, while creative exercises helped shape a common vision for the VHP.

Designathons resulted in actionable workflow designs, a unified vision, and prioritized development steps for the platform. They promoted building the VHP4Safety community, thereby fostering open dialogue. Designathons helped to ensure that the Virtual Human Platform is a true product of its stakeholders. ready to meet the real-world needs of next-generation safety assessment.

The interdisciplinary research in VHP4Safety demands flexibility and continuous adaptation. Traditional project management often lacks the agility needed to respond to fast-changing scientific insights and evolving stakeholder needs. To address these challenges, VHP4Safety adopted the Scrum approach, ensuring the project remains dynamic and user-focused.

TInspired by the Scrum framework and agile working method, VHP4Safety worked in short, iterative cycles known as sprints. The team held weekly scrum meetings to coordinate efforts, set priorities, and quickly resolve obstacles. Every three weeks, sprint reviews enabled the team to evaluate progress and gather feedback, making it possible to adjust plans when necessary. Clearly defined roles, such as Product Owner and Scrum Master, provided the VHP4Safety agile working method with structure and clarity. The collaborative hackathons and designathons that were organised in VHP4Safety were integrated into the Scrum workflow, promoting co-creation, interdisciplinary alignment, and responsiveness to new developments.

The Scrum approach has significantly improved transparency, teamwork, and stakeholder engagement within VHP4Safety. It allowed for rapid integration of technological innovations and ensured that user feedback could be incorporated throughout the project. Team members experienced greater ownership and satisfaction, while the platform evolved iteratively to meet real needs of its end-users.

Constructive technology assessment is a way of researching into the design, desirability, costs and impacts of technologies. People interested, affected and influenced by a technology are put at the centre of definition, development and implementation and their active involvement is required from the start.

The virtual human platform has been developed with the contribution of multiple stakeholders from academia, industry and regulation. Through designathons and hackathons the perspectives of these stakeholders have been actively involved. Some of these stakeholders have also been addressed as potential users of the platform.

A matrix with 9 potential user profiles that could be served by the platform has been defined by focusing on expert users. In addition, expected transformations of the field through the implementation of the platform are proposed. Industry, regulators, and academia each have different needs from a shared platform. Meeting those needs collectively may enable a field-wide shift away from traditional animal testing toward New Approach Methodologies.

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