About HUGO

HUGO stands for Hôpitaux Universitaires du Grand Ouest, the integrated academic health network of University Hospitals in Western France. Through the French legal framework of a health cooperation group (groupement de coopération sanitaire, GCS), six university hospitals and associated healthcare institutions collaborate to advance patient care, medical education, research and innovation. Serving approximately 10 million people, HUGO provides a framework for sharing expertise, coordinating highly specialized services, developing large-scale research programmes and strengthening the international reach of healthcare and biomedical innovation in Western France.

A unique ecosystem driving health innovation

In France, large teaching hospitals – known as University Hospitals (Centres Hospitaliers Universitaires, or CHU) – have a threefold mission:

  • delivering patient care, including highly specialized and tertiary services,
  • medical education and training,
  • conducting biomedical research and fostering innovation.

A distinctive feature of the French University Hospital model is the close integration of academic and clinical activities. Teaching and research facilities are closely linked with hospital infrastructures within the same institution, creating an environment that fosters collaboration among healthcare professionals, researchers and educators.

HUGO builds on this model by extending collaboration beyond individual institutions. Its philosophy is to strengthen the three core missions of university hospitals—care, education and research—through large-scale, structuring initiatives that benefit from shared investment, pooled expertise and economies of scale. By working collectively, HUGO’s members can develop ambitious infrastructures, research programmes, training initiatives and innovation projects that would be more difficult to achieve independently.

Founding and Associate Member Institutions of HUGO

  • Angers University Hospital

    Angers University Hospital (CHU d’Angers) is a major academic health center in Pays de la Loire region, delivering specialized care while advancing medical education, research and innovation. Angers has a population of 300,000 inhabitants.

  • Brest University Hospital

    Located at the westernmost tip of mainland France, Brest University Hospital (CHU de Brest) is a major academic medical center serving Brittany and the wider Atlantic region through excellence in patient care, education, research and innovation. Brest encompasses about 150,000 inhabitants.

  • Nantes University Hospital

    Nantes University Hospital (CHU de Nantes) is one of France’s leading academic medical centers and is entering a new era with the construction of a state-of-the-art hospital campus designed to integrate care, education and research on a single site. Located in Pays de la Loire, Nantes is the 6th largest city in France with a metropolitan area of 700,000 inhabitants.

  • Orléans University Hospital

    Orléans University Hospital (CHU d’Orléans), which officially became a university hospital in 2023, is a major academic health center in the Centre-Val de Loire region, combining specialized patient care with expanding activities in medical education, research and innovation. Orléans is the prefecture of the Centre-Val de Loire region, one hour South of Paris, with a population of 250,000 inhabitants.

  • Rennes University Hospital

    Rennes University Hospital (CHU de Rennes) is a leading academic medical center in Brittany, combining highly specialized patient care with excellence in medical education, biomedical research and healthcare innovation. Rennes is the prefecture and the largest city of the Brittany region with a population of 550,000 inhabitants.

  • Tours University Hospital

    Tours University Hospital (CHU de Tours) is a major academic health center in the Centre-Val de Loire region, combining high-quality patient care with a strong commitment to medical education, research and innovation. Tours is the largest city of Centre-Val de Loire with a population of 350,000 inhabitants.

  • Institut de Cancérologie de l'Ouest (ICO)

    The Institut de Cancérologie de l’Ouest (ICO) is a bi-site comprehensive cancer center located in Nantes and Angers, combining specialized cancer care with research, prevention and education.

  • Le Mans Hospital

    Le Mans Hospital (Centre Hospitalier du Mans) is a key public healthcare institution, delivering comprehensive patient care and contributing to regional medical collaboration in care, training and research. Le Mans is a part of the Pays de la Loire region and encompasses a population of 180,000 inhabitants.

  • Vendée Departmental Hospital

    Vendée Departmental Hospital (CHD Vendée) is a major public hospital in Western France coordinating a hospital group that brings together all public healthcare facilities across the Vendée department, on the Atlantic coast. Its prefecture is La Roche-sur-Yon, one hour South of Nantes.

Internal Coordination Structures within HUGO

Support for clinical research and innovation

The Interregional Group for Clinical Research and Innovation in the Grand Ouest region (GIRCI GO) is the main operational partner of the HUGO network for supporting clinical research and innovation across Western France.
Its core mission is to structure, coordinate and promote research activities within healthcare institutions through the pooling of resources and expertise. This support is reflected in the management of interregional competitive calls for projects, such as PHRCI and RESPIR, as well as the awarding of grants dedicated to early-career medical and paramedical researchers.
Each year, GIRCI GO organises a dedicated conference for research professionals across the Grand Ouest region, fostering exchange and collaboration. In addition, it funds 11 thematic expert networks and supports the development of investigator networks aimed at strengthening cooperation among specialists across all fields of activity.
GIRCI GO also plays a key role in training clinical research professionals by providing access to an e-learning platform, LireGo.
Its activities benefit all public and non-profit private healthcare institutions with recognised research activity within the Grand Ouest interregional area.

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Ouest Data Hub : integrated network of health data warehouses

The pioneering work of the Interregional Network of Clinical Data Centres (RiCDC) since 2016 has enabled the university hospitals (CHUs) of Western France to develop harmonised and operational hospital health data warehouses.
This foundation allowed the HUGO network to take a further step in 2019 with the creation of an interregional health data platform, the Ouest Data Hub, designed to collect de-identified data from these warehouses and make it available to authorised researchers.
This platform provides a valuable data resource that can be combined with other major national health data sources, enabling large-scale data research within hospital, academic and industry partnerships. The Ouest Data Hub is therefore fully integrated into a federated approach to the national health data system, alongside the French Health Data Hub and the European Health Data Space (EHDS).

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DIAGHO : Innovative platform for genomic data interpretation

The France Genomic Medicine Plan 2025 aims to position France as a leader in the development of genomic medicine. This field involves analysing an individual’s entire genome to better understand, diagnose and treat certain diseases. It is particularly useful for identifying genetic mutations associated with rare diseases, cancers or genetic predispositions. This information enables the development of more targeted and personalised treatments.
The analysis is based on sequencing a patient’s DNA, sometimes alongside that of relatives, and comparing it to a reference genome. This comparison makes it possible to identify millions of genetic variants. These variants are then enriched with contextual information, such as the genes involved, their frequency in the population, and whether they are disease-causing.
In this context, the DIAGHO project, led by the HUGO network, provides a platform for interpreting genomic sequencing data. It enables biologists to reduce the large number of genetic variants to a clinically usable set for diagnostic purposes, particularly in the field of rare diseases.
The project is part of broader strategic initiatives in genomics, developed in coordination with the GenOMedS University Hospital Federation (FHU GenOMedS – Genomics, Omics, Medicine and Society) and the GEM-EXCELL network (Excellence Network in Genetics and Genomics of Western France University Hospitals).

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Fostering innovative teaching in health sciences

Founded in 2022, the Research and Innovation Group in Health Professions Education is supported by the network of university hospitals (CHUs) in Western France and the Faculties of Health Sciences (Nantes, Rennes, Angers, Brest and Tours).
It brings together academic, university hospital and hospital-based stakeholders with the aim of structuring and promoting excellence in educational research for the benefit of both students and teachers.
Two main areas of focus have been defined:
-one on “Well-being and competencies”;
- the other on “Uncertainty and OSCEs” (OSCEs for Objective Structured Clinical Examinations are a recently introduced assessment format designed to evaluate the acquisition of clinical competencies in healthcare students).
Three interregional and multicentre studies are currently underway within these two areas, including one in collaboration with Canada.
An annual meeting is organised to foster collective momentum and build an interregional network of health professions education researchers.
A steering committee on “Research, Innovation and Implementation” oversees and guides the programme’s development.

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Promoting simulation-based healthcare education

Healthcare simulation, recognised as an interdisciplinary and interprofessional approach, is now established both as an educational method and as a field of research and innovation in support of healthcare quality.
The central aim of the SimHUGO network is to promote innovations and research in healthcare simulation conducted across Western France, while transforming simulation centers into true innovation laboratories—environments for experimentation, research and collaboration.
Among its initiatives, the SimHUGO network has supported the acquisition of a high-fidelity mobile ophthalmic surgery simulator, which has been circulating across interregional cities since 2024. This strategic project addresses a public health need by providing training for residents as close as possible to their place of learning. It also enables the development of multicentre research projects across participating institutions.
To further promote and develop research in healthcare simulation, the network has supported the launch of two competitive “Simulation Research” funding calls, financed by GIRCI GO (in 2021 and 2026).

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