ERC Report highlights path to trustworthy AI in healthcare
30 Mar 2026
A new report from the European Research Council (ERC) highlights how AI research reshapes healthcare and supports the EU’s rules on trustworthy AI. The report focuses on ERC-funded projects in the health sector and demonstrates how frontier research is contributing to safer, more transparent, and more effective AI systems across Europe.
The report analyses 238 ERC projects using AI in health, funded under FP7, Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe, with a total budget of €450 million. The projects have applied AI to support disease prevention and early detection, improve diagnosis, optimise treatments, and develop AI models and clinical decisions-support systems.
A deeper analysis of 59 of these ERC-funded AI health projects, supported by the Horizon Results Booster, examines their outcomes and impact using qualitative and quantitative indicators, from publications to broader societal effects. In collaboration with the European Health and Digital Executive Agency (HaDEA), synergies were also identified with projects funded under Horizon Europe.
Supporting the EU AI Act and other policy frameworks
The report highlights how ERC-funded projects can support the implementation of the EU AI Act, under which most medical AI systems are classified as “high-risk” and must therefore meet strict standards for transparency and accuracy. The projects also contribute to the European Health Data Space and the EU’s Apply AI Strategy, noting that many of them are already aligned with these goals and are implementing practical ways to meet the regulation’s requirement.
Future directions
Looking ahead, the report relays clear calls from ERC-funded researchers for stable, long-term funding to sustain frontier science and help early-stage discoveries into clinical applications. They highlight the need for secure, high-performance computing and data infrastructures, as well as access to large, high-quality health datasets. Researchers also underline the importance of strengthening European sovereignty over health data and AI.
More details available here.
