Who we are
EIRENE (European InfrastRucturE for humaN Exposome) is a pan-European research infrastructure dedicated to understanding how environmental exposures influence human health. Its mission is to provide integrated services, harmonized data, and advanced technologies to support large-scale, systematic exposome research, enabling evidence-based policies, prevention strategies, and innovation in precision medicine. The EIRENE consortium currently involves over 50 institutions from 21 European countries, the USA, and Australia, with plans to expand to Canada, Japan, and other regions worldwide.
What is the Human exposome
People differ in their genetic predispositions, which account for 20–70% of the likelihood (depending on the disease) of staying healthy or developing chronic conditions. Health is shaped by the interaction between genetic factors (i.e., the human genome) and non-genetic factors, collectively called the exposome.
These non-genetic factors include the quality of natural, work, and home environments; exposure to toxic substances; nutrition and dietary habits; lifestyle choices; physical activity; the use of alcohol, drugs, or medications; smoking; socioeconomic status; and psychological stress. Understanding how these factors interact is critical for advancing precision medicine and prevention. Unlike genetics, many of these factors are modifiable, offering significant opportunities for improving population health.
Why is it important
Environmental exposures are major drivers of chronic diseases worldwide. Mapping the human exposome helps identify the key non-genetic contributors to health and disease, enabling targeted interventions, evidence-based policies, and strategies to prevent illness and promote well-being.
What we do
Building on existing European and international exposome initiatives (such as IHEN, EHEN, and PARC), EIRENE develops high-throughput infrastructures, advanced measurement and modeling technologies, and integrated services to map both external and internal environmental exposures. These include wearable sensors, micro-samplers, geospatial and satellite data, mass spectrometry platforms, and AI-driven analytical tools.
EIRENE leverages longitudinal population cohorts, biobanks, and clinical studies to link exposures with biological responses and health outcomes, generating harmonized datasets that enable predictive modeling, mechanistic understanding of disease development, and next-generation risk assessment tools. The infrastructure currently covers Europe and aims to extend globally, including low- and middle-income countries.
Capacities to be developed
EIRENE provides open-access services and standardized methodologies to support interdisciplinary collaboration and accelerate discovery. Its high-throughput platforms, harmonized data frameworks, and advanced analytical tools will enable large-scale, systematic exposome research, strengthen the societal impact of environmental health studies, inform policy, and support proactive strategies to reduce the burden of chronic diseases and improve healthcare sustainability.
A global perspective
The EIRENE RI is designed to bridge several ESFRI domains and answer a need for the research infrastructure linking environmental exposures with health identified in the latest ESFRI Roadmap. While the chemical exposures are in the centre of attention of multiple strategic documents (including most recent Green Deal) there is currently no ESFRI project or landscape addressing chemical exposures, necessary technologies for their characterization, or longitudinal population cohorts enabling the long-term assessment of their health impacts.