BIO-STREAMS at the Heart of a Pan-European Research Effort
On 26 November 2025, several BIO-STREAMS partners participated in the 34th European Childhood Obesity Congress (ECOG) in Uppsala, Sweden. ECOG is a pan-European association dedicated to tackling childhood obesity and overweight. It brings together a diverse community of experts from multiple disciplines to address obesity through a multi-faceted approach, with a strong focus on research, knowledge exchange, awareness raising and policymaking across Europe.
This year’s congress highlighted OBEClust, the European Cluster of Obesity Research Projects, which opened ECOG with a dedicated session showcasing the research efforts of participating projects. The event offered an important opportunity to reaffirm BIO-STREAMS’ commitment to synergy and collaboration with other European initiatives focused on obesity management and the promotion of healthcare.
Showcasing the BIO-STREAMS Vision, Tools and Scientific Contributions
Eleftheria Velleidou, from the Institute of Communication & Computer Systems (ICCS, Greece) and coordinator of BIO-STREAMS, presented the project’s key objectives, emphasising the development of the Biobank, the Obesity Platform and the Community Network. The presentation also addressed multi-system prevention and the holistic dimension that underpins the overall approach of BIO-STREAMS.
Izidor Mlakar, Clinical Coordinator from the University of Maribor (Slovenia), showcased a poster titled “Protocols from the Multi-Pillar BIO-STREAMS Project”, outlining the project’s studies and their respective aims.
In addition, several partners, including ICCS, the National Technical University of Athens (Greece), Computer Solutions Cyprus LTD (Cyprus) and Tecreando (The Netherlands), presented the poster abstract “BIO-STREAMS Biobank: A European Digital Infrastructure for Childhood Obesity Research”.
Partners from Harokopio University of Athens, the National Kapodistrian University of Athens, Penteli’s Children General Hospital (Greece), the University of Maribor and Maribor University Medical Center (Slovenia), Karolinska Institute (Sweden), CHU de Liège (Belgium), EASO, Blocks (Bulgaria) and Vall d’Hebron Barcelona Hospital (Spain) presented the abstract titled: “Reaching consensus on predictors, indicators and lifestyle management interventions for childhood overweight/obesity and metabolically unhealthy obesity in clinical settings: a Delphi method”.
Through its innovative tools, research outputs and collaborative spirit showcased at ECOG 2025, BIO-STREAMS is emerging as a key contributor to Europe’s efforts to address and manage childhood obesity.