ESC_TO_AITION Press Release Findings on CVD–Depression Comorbidity Featured by ESC

On 17 December 2025, the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) published a press release highlighting the key outcomes of the EU-funded TO_AITION project, marking its completion at the end of December 2025.

The press release emphasises that cardiovascular disease (CVD) and depression frequently co-occur and significantly worsen patient outcomes, not by chance, but due to shared biological, inflammatory, and metabolic mechanisms. Despite this strong connection, the two conditions are still often managed separately in clinical practice.

Within the press release, Dr Evangelos Andreakos, Director of the Center for Clinical Research, Experimental Surgery and Translational Research at the Biomedical Research Foundation of the Academy of Athens and Coordinator of the TO_AITION project, notes:

“For too long, the biological links between heart disease and mental health have been underestimated and underexplored. Patients with CVD and depression are among the most vulnerable, yet their multimorbidity remains poorly understood. We are changing that.”

The ESC highlights TO_AITION’s investigation of the mechanisms linking CVD and depression through large-scale human data, advanced biological analyses, and computational modelling. Key outcomes include the identification of shared pathways and biomarkers, as well as the development of the TO_AITION cloud-based risk stratification platform, demonstrated at ESC Congress 2025 in Madrid, to support diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment decisions.

As the project concludes in December 2025, the ESC press release recognises TO_AITION’s contribution to advancing integrated cardiovascular and mental health research, enabling earlier diagnosis, improved risk prediction, and more personalised patient care.

Read the full press release here: https://www.escardio.org/The-ESC/Press-Office/Press-releases/major-project-identifies-shared-mechanisms-and-biological-pathways-that-explain