The SEARCH project (Synthetic hEalthcare dAta goveRnanCe Hub) is poised to reshape the future of digital health in Europe by unlocking the full potential of synthetic data and artificial intelligence (AI) to drive safer, faster, and more personalised healthcare. With support from the Innovative Health Initiative (IHI JU) and a consortium of 26 leading organisations across 14 countries, SEARCH is building a new ecosystem for the generation, validation, and ethical use of synthetic medical data.

At the heart of the project is a commitment to privacy-preserving innovation. SEARCH is developing advanced methods for generating high-quality synthetic data—spanning clinical records, genomic data, medical imaging, and biosignals—that replicate real-world datasets without exposing sensitive patient information. This synthetic data will power next-generation AI tools for diagnosis, prediction, and treatment, helping healthcare systems become more efficient, equitable, and intelligent.

Led by Trinity College Dublin through the Trinity Translational Medicine Institute (TTMI), the project brings together experts in healthcare, data science, ethics, and technology. Key partners include Fundació TIC Salut i Social, which plays a crucial role in promoting digital health transformation and governance in Catalonia and beyond.

Spotlight at Health Revolutionary Congress

The SEARCH project was presented earlier today at the Health Revolutionary Congress in Barcelona, during a keynote by Dr. Josep Munuera. The session highlighted the project’s bold vision for the future of healthcare—one where synthetic data becomes a cornerstone of responsible, secure, and scalable AI-driven innovation.

The presentation emphasised the critical role synthetic data can play in addressing key challenges in the health sector: enabling meaningful data sharing while preserving privacy, supporting research more efficiently within regulatory frameworks such as GDPR, and fostering cross-sector collaboration grounded in legal and ethical clarity. SEARCH is not just a technological project—it is a foundational step toward trustworthy, data-enabled healthcare transformation across Europe.

A New Paradigm for Data-Driven Innovation

SEARCH aims to generate high-quality, FAIRified (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable) synthetic datasets that mirror real-world clinical, genomic, imaging, and biosignal data—without compromising privacy. These datasets will support next-generation AI and machine learning models, enabling faster diagnostics, smarter clinical decisions, and more tailored treatments.

“SEARCH is a game-changer in how we think about data in healthcare,” says the project leadership. “It enables innovation at scale, while protecting the trust that patients place in their care systems.”

Among the project’s key innovations:

• Advanced synthetic data generation: Using deep generative models to simulate complex, multimodal health data with clinical realism.
• Federated learning & data clean rooms: Enabling institutions to collaborate on AI development without transferring or exposing sensitive data.
• Real-world clinical applications: Focused on cardiovascular diseases, gastrointestinal conditions, and gynaecological cancers, with tools designed to enhance diagnosis, prediction, and treatment.

Ethical Governance for the Future of Digital Health

SEARCH will also deliver a comprehensive framework for synthetic data governance, addressing the legal, ethical, technical, and societal dimensions of synthetic data use in health systems. This includes regulatory-compliant validation tools, open-source methodologies, and best practice guidelines to support healthcare providers, researchers, and policymakers.

What to Expect by 2028

Running until September 2028, SEARCH will deliver:

• A federated, interoperable platform for secure synthetic data access and AI model training
• Open-source tools for synthetic data generation and validation
• Validated datasets and case studies demonstrating real-world use
• Recommendations and guidelines for the ethical and responsible use of synthetic data in healthcare

By combining technological innovation with strong governance and clinical relevance, SEARCH is paving the way toward a future where AI and synthetic data drive better, faster, and fairer healthcare for all Europeans.

Let’s join forces—and SEARCH together for a smarter, safer, and more collaborative healthcare future.