New Initiative to Advance Osteoarthritis Research

8 January 2026, by MIN-Dekanat

Photo: UHH/MIN

A new European research initiative with the participation of the Department of Informatics at the University of Hamburg aims to advance the understanding, diagnosis and treatment of osteoarthritis (OA) through the use of big data, artificial intelligence, and innovative clinical research methods. The PROBE project (Patient Relevant Osteoarthritis endpoints using Big data Evaluation) has officially been launched under the Innovative Health Initiative Joint Undertaking (IHI JU).

Osteoarthritis affects more than 500 million people worldwide and remains a major cause of disability. Clinical research in OA is currently challenged by disease heterogeneity, fragmented data sources, and limited clinical trial endpoints. PROBE addresses these challenges by developing patient-relevant outcome measures, AI-based predictive models, and next-generation clinical trial designs.

Central to the project is the creation of a secure, regulation-compliant federated learning infrastructure. This approach enables large-scale AI-driven analyses while ensuring that sensitive health data remains stored locally. Through this infrastructure, PROBE will analyse data from more than 70 million individuals drawn from multiple OA cohorts and real-world registries.

Key objectives of the PROBE project include:

• Developing novel multimodal endpoints for improved evaluation of OA treatments
• Establishing a federated European OA data network compliant with regulatory standards
• Applying foundation AI models to predict disease progression and enable personalised medicine
• Supporting shared decision-making between patients and healthcare professionals
• Actively engaging patients, caregivers, clinicians, regulators, and health technology assessment bodies

 “Big Data analytics in this public-private PROBE consortium will hopefully change how treatments can be developed for OA, a highly prevalent disease with enormous societal impact, by pivoting towards personalised approaches with AI-based phenotyping and prediction modelling leveraging on innovative digital twin approaches,” said Matthias Schieker, Co-Coordinator of PROBE and Lead of the Industry Consortium.

Ultimately, PROBE seeks to enable earlier and more effective interventions for people living with osteoarthritis, while reducing the cost and duration of clinical trials through more targeted and efficient study designs.

Starting in December 2025 and running for a period of 60 months, PROBE brings together 38 partners from academia, industry, patient organisations, regulatory authorities, and healthcare institutions across Europe and beyond. The consortium is jointly coordinated by Erasmus MC University Medical Center and Novartis, reflecting a strong public–private commitment to improving evidence-based OA research and patient outcomes. At the University of Hamburg, the work on the project is led by Prof. Dr. Jan Baumbach, of the Computational Systems Biomedicine lab, and PD Dr. Linda Baumbach, who has expertise in computational physiotherapy health services research and osteoarthritis.

“We are proud to coordinate this consortium, working together to achieve a significant advancement in osteoarthritis research. This project is not merely a standalone initiative with a few partners, but a joint effort by the key players in osteoarthritis research. It represents a forward-looking vision for the future of osteoarthritis research, aiming to improve treatment and long-term OA outcomes,” said Sita Bierma-Zeinstra, Coordinator of the PROBE project and Lead of the Academic Consortium.