About IMI education and training courses

The Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI) is a unique and large-scale public–private partnership between the European Union and the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA). IMI runs a €2 billion research programme aiming to speed up the discovery and development of safer and more effective drugs for patients, and to reinvigorate the biopharmaceutical sector in Europe. IMI receives €1 billion funding from the European Commission's Seventh Framework programme. The EFPIA member companies match this amount with at least equal in-kind contributions, consisting of research-related activities and resources.

European leadership in innovative biomedical research requires highly skilled, experienced researchers in many different disciplines. The IMI's education and training projects aim to substantially improve expertise in biomedical science, tools and technologies (such as biomarkers, imaging techniques and knowledge management platforms to name a few) that will enable the faster and more efficient development of safe and effective drugs for patients. Education and training is one of the IMI's four current 'pillars'; the other three pillars being predicting safety, predicting efficacy and knowledge management.

The four current IMI Education and Training topics are:

1. European Medicines Training Network (EMTRAIN)

   EMTRAIN, an umbrella organisation for all IMI Education & Training programmes, has established a sustainable, pan-European platform for education and training. EMTRAIN has developed on-course, an on-line catalogue and platform which integrates all activities and achievements of the IMI education and training projects covering the whole life-cycle of medicines research and development. EMTRAIN integrates the strengths and competencies of the ESFRI BMS Infrastructures and all IMI education and training programmes (Eu2P, PharmaTrain, SafeSciMET and EUPATI). EMTRAIN, jointly with the other IMI Education & Training programmes, commits to and promotes defined quality standards for courses and programmes, builds a repository of learning tools and methodologies, engages professional/scientific bodies, employers and course providers to agree on a European framework for Continuous Professional Development (CPD) in context of life-long learning, and builds a quality focussed framework for integration of European PhD programmes run in public-private partnership.

2. Pharmacovigilance and Pharmacoepidemiology (Eu2P)

   Eu2P trainings are provided and updated by a unique partnership of seven Universities, fifteen pharmaceutical companies, the French and the European medicines agencies. Eu2P is designed for graduate and postgraduate students in health and life sciences, for healthcare professionals and for non-specialists.

3. European Modular Education and Training Programme in Safety Sciences for Medicines (SafeSciMET)

   A pan-European education and training network, which solves a shortfall identified by EUFEPS in current drug safety education and training in Europe where an integrative and translational approach is lacking. The public consortium consists of top academic institutions for drug safety education and research and industrial pharmaceutical companies, all members of EFPIA.

4. Pharmaceutical Medicine Training Programme (PharmaTrain)

   Aims at fostering the overall understanding and competence for successful execution of integrated drug development and life-cycle management of medicines through frontier training methods and programme content. PharmaTrain will identify needs and build and implement new training programmes in pharmaceutical medicine/drug development sciences as well as drug regulatory sciences.

5. European Patients Academy on Therapeutic Innovation (EUPATI)

   Pharmaceutical medicines development is a highly regulated, costly, long and complex process that is largely unknown to the lay public. Benefits and risks of existing and new treatment alternatives are difficult to understand for patients and the public. In an era of growing demand and emphasis on both quality and sustainability of healthcare, it is critical to address this major gap in public perception and knowledge. IMI-funded 'European Patients Academy on Therapeutic Innovation' aims to educate patient advocates and lay public about therapeutic innovation.

Eu2P, SafeSciMET and PharmaTrain courses are different from most other courses:

• They are designed to be modular and flexible for all trainees
• They include e-learning
• Modules can be taken as individual CPDs
• Most of the courses are aimed at trainees who already have a qualification in biomedical science and can therefore be considered advanced courses