ThermoMind Ltd., the leader of the ThermoBreast EU-funded project, hosted a kick-off meeting on the 6th and 7th of February, 2023, in Haifa, Israel, to launch the project. A multidisciplinary consortium of 17 partners from 11 countries came together to discuss the project in detail and ensure everything is on track to achieve the project’s goals. The ThermoBreast team has commenced their work on early breast cancer detection technology that is going to be a game-changer in the area of breast cancer screening.
At the public session of the event, ThermoMind Ltd. team demonstrated their thermal imaging technology for breast cancer prevention and monitoring. Moderated by Dr. Jeanette Müller, the panel discussion brought together experts from all over the world to reflect on the questions related to the needs of all women and women at higher risk for breast cancer regarding access to safe and reliable breast cancer screening. The potential of AI in breast cancer screening and the possible future developments that may follow the technology developed within ThermoBreast were discussed in depth. The esteemed guests, including the mayor of Haifa, Dr Einat Kalisch Rotem, a young breast cancer survivor Shiran Gross and a Project Officer Ioannis Vouldis, gave inspiring speeches to support the launch of this promising project.

As the voice of the patient is an integral part of the design of the ThermoBreast project , enhancing the high quality of this planned study, the speech of Sheeran Gross deserves special attention – she discussed her difficult path from diagnosis to remission with advanced breast cancer. She highlighted the barriers of current screening modalities, particularly focusing on the pain associated with mammography, the lack of privacy and individualised care, and how some breast cancer survivors avoid mammography for follow-up due to the fear and pain associated with the screening. Cancer Patients Europe is an association representing patients with cancer in Europe who are part of the ThermoBreast consortium and are integrally involved in the design of the clinical trial, the impact of the technology and communicating the outcome of the project to all patient organisations and policymakers. ThermoBreast, therefore, has a patient-centric design inherent in its mission as it looks to establish a breakthrough in early breast cancer detection and monitoring.

Overall, the kick-off meeting was a successful start to the project, with all partners on the same page and ready to begin their mission.

The photos from the event can be found below.