Following its recognition by European Network of Living Labs in December 2025, the Lerești Living Lab is now recognised as a best practice example by the International Consortium for Personalised Medicine (ICPerMed).
ICPerMed has selected the Lerești Living Lab — developed under the 4P-CAN project — as a Best Practice Example in Personalised Medicine, recognising it as a pioneering model of community-rooted, personalised cancer prevention.
Located in northern Argeș County, Romania, Lerești is a rural commune of three villages whose geography, dispersed settlement pattern, and rural service realities make it a strong real-world setting for prevention design and implementation. The Living Lab has been coordinated by 4P-CAN partner the Center for Innovation in Medicine (INOMED) and developed under the Horizon Europe Cancer Mission.
What sets the Lerești Living Lab apart is its approach to personalisation. Rather than tailoring prevention solely through medical or biological risk data, the model also adapts to social relationships, daily routines, trust networks, mobility constraints, and the practical barriers that shape health choices in community life. This means bringing together local government, schools, sports associations, researchers, clinicians, and residents to co-design prevention activities that are meaningful, accessible, and grounded in lived experience. icpermed
Across four panel waves between 2023 and 2025, citizens helped refine tools and activities so they remained understandable, acceptable, and feasible in a rural setting. Prevention activities were embedded in familiar spaces such as school workshops, sports events, health festivals, seminars, and community exhibitions, and linked to practical resources including medical advice, blood tests, and medical examinations.
The impact of the Lerești model has already extended beyond the Living Lab itself. In January 2026, the Argeș County Council approved a partnership agreement with INOMED to initiate and implement a county-level project on cancer and cardiovascular prevention, creating a formal pathway for scale-up across the county. The Living Lab’s core elements — community partnership, citizen involvement, network-informed design, and practical linkage to prevention resources — are also transferable to other underserved settings and health priorities.
ICPerMed’s recognition of the Lerești Living Lab reflects the importance of community-based, participatory approaches to prevention, and demonstrates that personalised prevention can be both scientifically grounded and socially meaningful.
Read the full article on the ICPerMed website: Lerești Living Lab: Personalised Prevention Rooted in Community Life
