Category Archives: JPND Press Releases

PARIS–(BUSINESS WIRE)–JPND is inviting multi-national research teams to submit proposals aimed at identifying and measuring physiological effects and related biomarkers that can be linked to the development of neurodegenerative diseases.

Neurodegenerative diseases are debilitating and largely untreatable conditions that are strongly linked with age. Worldwide, there are estimated to be 47 million people suffering from Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders. This figure is expected to double every 20 years as the population ages. The development of efficient treatments for most neurodegenerative diseases is hindered by the fact that their detection intervenes at late stages by which time the integrity of the nervous tissue has been compromised. Poorly characterised early physiological disturbances known to appear before unambiguous symptoms of each neurodegenerative disease are detected. These changes may include, among others, the disruption of sleep, olfaction, hearing, vision, metabolic factors as well as social engagement. All these signs have the potential to be used as early indicators of later diseases, and in most cases, are measurable in natural daily life environments. Hence, the identification of the circuits and molecular pathways being affected might reveal promising targets for early interventions and therapies for neurodegenerative diseases.

In this context, JPND announced a new joint transnational call inviting multi-national research teams to submit proposals for ambitious, innovative and multi-disciplinary collaborative projects that aim at the detection, measurement and understanding of early disease indicators related to neurodegenerative diseases, with potential for the development of new diagnostics or interventions.

Professor Philippe Amouyel, Chair of the JPND Management Board says, “One of the major limitations of neurodegenerative diseases is their sneaky sub-clinical course that can last for years before the first symptoms appear. Very often, clinicians have noticed a posteriori that these symptoms had been preceded many years before by disturbances of major physiological functions. Thus bringing together research forces in Europe and beyond through JPND will allow us to better understand the pathophysiological mechanisms of the appearance of neurodegenerative diseases. In addition, this will help to identify early indicators of their occurrence before the neuronal potential is too altered, facilitating the implementation of treatments.”

Proposals submitted under this call, which is open to applicants in 22 countries, must focus on one or several of the following neurodegenerative diseases: Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias, Parkinson’s disease and PD-related disorders, prion diseases, motor-neuron diseases, Huntington’s disease, spinocerebellar ataxia and spinal muscular atrophy. JPND is committed to Patient and Public Involvement, and proposals are expected to engage patients, carers and the public.

Proposals must also focus on one or several of the following research areas:

  • Demonstrating the relationship between early neurodegenerative processes and physiological disturbances,
  • Applying cutting-edge methods or technologies to improve the detection of early symptoms,
  • Human or animal studies to decipher the neurodegeneration-derived processes causing early disease-specific signatures,
  • Using digital technologies to link recognisable symptoms to physiological changes associated to neurodegeneration,
  • Relating prognostic signs of disease with real-life measurement of physiological disturbances using home-monitoring and/or wearable devices, including wireless sensors for patient monitoring.

Pre-proposals must be submitted no later than 15:00h C.E.T. on March 2, 2021.

For more information about the call, please click here.

The EU Joint Programme on Neurodegenerative Disease Research (JPND) is inviting proposals from multi-national research teams to increase understanding of the factors that contribute to the quality and delivery of health and social care for neurodegenerative diseases.

Current research suggests strong potential for improving quality of life for those living with neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease, with novel health and social care concepts and innovations focusing on the preservation of dignity, independence and social inclusion. Nevertheless, the availability and quality of such services vary considerably across Europe and beyond.

In this context, JPND today announced a new call inviting multi-national research teams to submit proposals for ambitious, innovative and multi-disciplinary collaborative projects that address health and social care at both the macro level of systems and infrastructures and the individual level of patients, carers and families.

Professor Philippe Amouyel, Chair of JPND

“Over the past decades, most of the funding has been allocated to basic and translational research with the aim of discovering new treatments,” said Professor Philippe Amouyel, Chair of JPND. “However, immediate impactful developments also come from health and social care research and innovation, including new insights that point to the potential for improved patient empowerment, civic participation, and quality of life. That’s why twenty JPND countries have earmarked €21 million to support multi-national research consortia investigating the strengths and weaknesses of different models of care and potential pathways to implementing improved, evidence-based approaches. Our hope is that this work will lead to the adoption of novel health promotion strategies that will reduce the impact of disease for patients as well as for their families and carers.”

Proposals submitted under this call, which is open to applicants in 20 countries, must relate to any or several of the following neurodegenerative diseases: Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias, Parkinson’s disease and related disorders, prion diseases, motor neuron diseases, Huntington’s disease, spinocerebellar ataxia and spinal muscular atrophy. JPND is committed to Patient and Public Involvement, and proposals are expected to engage patients, carers and the public. Research projects may include, but are not limited to, one or several of the following areas:

  • Care pathways and programmes using the potential of patient involvement
  • Factors influencing progression and prognosis of disease
  • Outcome measures for patients and their informal carers
  • Palliative care for patients
  • Cost-effectiveness and affordability of interventions including ethical concerns

Pre-proposals must be submitted no later than 23:59h C.E.T. on March 6, 2018.

For more information about the call, please click here.

The EU Joint Programme on Neurodegenerative Disease Research (JPND) was established to better coordinate research efforts across countries and disciplines to more rapidly find causes, develop cures and identify better ways to care for people with neurodegenerative disease. Today more than 40 million people worldwide are estimated to be living with Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders – the most common class of neurodegenerative disease – and this figure is expected to rise in the coming decades. The JPND Research and Innovation Strategy identified research priorities and provided a framework for future investment and is available for download here.

 

The EU Joint Programme – Neurodegenerative Disease Research (JPND) has announced a joint trans-national call for research projects for pathway analysis across neurodegenerative diseases.

Neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease are a global health, economic and social emergency.  More than 40 million people worldwide are estimated to be living with Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders – the most common class of neurodegenerative disease – and this figure is expected to significantly increase in the coming decades. Yet, with the exception of a few cases, no curative treatment exists, and the basic underlying mechanisms of many neurodegenerative diseases remain poorly understood.

With this in mind, JPND has identified an urgent need for targeted investment to better understand the fundamental links between different diseases. There is already clinical, genetic and biochemical evidence that similar molecular pathways are relevant in different neurodegenerative and other chronic diseases. This call, which follows a similar call successfully launched by JPND in 2013, will see €23 million made available to applicants from 20 countries. It invites proposals for ambitious, innovative, multinational and multidisciplinary collaborative research projects to perform network analyses across diseases in order to further elucidate the common underlying mechanisms involved. This combined analysis could lead to a re-definition of clinical phenotypes and new approaches in the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases.

According to Professor Philippe Amouyel, Chair of JPND:
“JPND recognises that a critical step in the path to effective treatments or preventive strategies for neurodegenerative diseases is a deeper understanding of the underlying mechanisms of these diseases. What recent research has made clear is that these conceptual advancements will require greater thinking across traditional clinical boundaries. With this call, some €23 million will be made available to applicants to develop highly specialised cross-border projects that could lead to a better understanding of the biological underpinnings of neurodegenerative disease. Our hope is that these developments will in turn lead to new, outside-the-box diagnostic and therapeutic approaches.”

The neurodegenerative diseases included in the call are Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias, Parkinson’s disease (PD) and PD‐related disorders, prion diseases, motor neuron diseases (such as ALS), Huntington’s disease, spinocerebellar ataxia (SCA) and spinal muscular atrophy (SMA).

Pre-proposals must be submitted no later than 23:59h C.E.T. on March 6, 2017.

For more information about the call, please click here.

With the aim of assessing participant satisfaction with the 2015 JPco-fuND call, in March and April 2016 JPND surveyed the project coordinators of all submitted proposals. Responses to the survey were compiled, analysed and condensed into a series of conclusions that will be used to inform and improve future calls.

To read more and download the full report on the survey, click here.

The EU Joint Programme – Neurodegenerative Disease Research (JPND) will shortly launch a call for “Multinational Research Projects for Pathway Analysis across Neurodegenerative Diseases”.

There is clinical, genetic and biochemical evidence that similar molecular pathways are relevant in different neurodegenerative and other chronic diseases. Therefore, JPND will launch a call for multidisciplinary proposals to perform network analyses across such diseases and to elucidate the underlying mechanisms involved. Research proposals may:

  • combine experimental approaches from fundamental, pre-clinical and/or clinical research
  • perform network analyses in different neurodegenerative and/or other chronic diseases to elucidate the underlying common and differing mechanisms in the investigated diseases
  • add value to existing research by analysing diseases across traditional clinical boundaries, technologies and disciplines, thereby gaining deeper understanding of the patho-physiological mechanisms of neurodegenerative diseases

The following neurodegenerative diseases are included in the call:

  • Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias
  • Parkinson’s disease and PD‐related disorders
  • Prion diseases
  • Motor neuron diseases
  • Huntington’s disease
  • Spinocerebellar ataxia (SCA)
  • Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA)

Cross-disease analysis may solely comprise different neurodegenerative diseases or include other chronic diseases (e.g. chronic mental or physical disorders). Up to six research groups from at least three different countries may collaborate within a consortium.

This will be a two-step call, expected to be launched in early January 2017, with a likely pre-proposal submission deadline in March 2017. Further details will be provided with the official launch of the call.

Please Note:

  • All information regarding future JPND call topics is subject to change
  • Final call information will be published on the JPND website (jpnd.eu)

Ten international JPND working groups recommended for funding

The EU Joint Programme – Neurodegenerative Disease Research (JPND) has released the results of a “rapid-action” call to support working groups of leading scientists to bring forward novel approaches that will enhance the use of brain imaging for neurodegenerative disease research.

Ten working groups have been recommended for funding to address the methodological challenges facing different imaging modalities, among them MRI, PET, ultrasound, MEG and EEG, as well as multimodal approaches. The working groups cover a range of neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, Frontotemporal dementia and Huntington’s disease.

“Brain imaging has made enormous progress in recent years and is currently one of the most promising avenues in neurodegenerative disease research,” said Professor Thomas Gasser, Chair of the JPND Scientific Advisory Board. “If we can solve the challenges in the field, brain imaging could rapidly lead to faster and better diagnoses as well as a deeper understanding of the fundamental aspects and mechanisms of neurodegeneration.”

Although imaging techniques have brought about a dramatic improvement in the understanding of neurodegenerative diseases, there remain a number of significant challenges in the field. These include the execution of multi-centre clinical trials of an unprecedented scale, data transfer across imaging centres and the use of imaging for diagnostics and for measuring clinical outcomes.

To address these questions, on January 8, 2016, JPND launched a call for community-led working groups on harmonisation and alignment in brain imaging methods. The proposals recommended for funding are for top scientists to come together and propose, through ‘best practice’ guidelines and/or methodological frameworks, how to overcome key barriers to the use of imaging in neurodegenerative disease research.

The call attracted proposals with partners from across Europe and beyond, including Asia, Australia, North America and South America. A notable number of groups based in the United States were involved in responses to the call. Funding decisions were based upon scientific evaluation and recommendations to sponsor countries by a JPND peer review panel.

“This call perfectly embodies JPND’s mission and objectives,” said Professor Philippe Amouyel, Chair of the JPND Management Board. “The purpose of JPND is to strengthen coordination and collaboration in neurodegenerative disease research across different countries. We want to ensure that research efforts are not duplicated, to build consensus and to accelerate a path toward a cure that works. This call convenes groups of leading experts to hammer out the hard questions, including the challenges of interoperability and shared and open data, to allow researchers to more rapidly and more fully exploit imaging techniques going forward.”

Each working group is expected to run for a maximum of 9 months. The outputs of the working groups are to be produced by the end of the funding period, and will be published on the JPND website and used for further JPND actions. In addition, a common workshop will be organised to bring together and present the recommendations of each working group, encouraging the further exchange of ideas and wider dissemination to different stakeholder groups.

For more information on the working groups recommended for funding, click here.

The EU Joint Programme – Neurodegenerative Disease Research (JPND) has announced a rapid-action call inviting leading scientists in the field to bring forward novel approaches that will enhance the use of brain imaging for neurodegenerative disease research.

Imaging techniques such as MR, PET and EEG mapping have brought about a dramatic improvement in the understanding of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease. In recent years, access to cutting-edge imaging technologies and platforms has expanded, and advances have been made in the harmonisation of acquisition procedures across scanners and vendors. However, fully capitalising on the use of brain imaging technologies for neurodegeneration research will require the development of new methodologies and the ability to achieve image acquisition and analysis at scale and at the global level.

The aim of the call is to establish a limited number of transnational working groups to address the key challenges facing the use of new and innovative brain imaging techniques in neurodegenerative disease research. The working groups will be community-led and will establish ‘best practice’ guidelines and/or methodological frameworks to overcome these barriers. Each working group can bid up to €50,000 for the support of its activities, which are expected to run for a maximum of 9 months.

According to Professor Philippe Amouyel, Chair of the JPND Management Board:

“JPND recognises that state-of-the-art brain imaging techniques are a vital resource for neurodegenerative disease research. However, achieving scalability for these technologies poses new challenges. For this reason, we’ve launched a rapid-action call inviting international research teams to address the most urgent issues in harmonisation and alignment in neuroimaging. The establishment of effective new guidelines and methodological frameworks will represent a critical step toward the full exploitation of brain imaging in neurodegenerative disease research.”

The following neurodegenerative diseases are included in the call:

  • Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias
  • Parkinson’s disease and PD‐related disorders
  • Prion diseases
  • Motor neuron diseases
  • Huntington’s disease
  • Spinocerebellar ataxia (SCA)
  • Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA)

Proposals must be submitted by 23:59H C.E.T. on March 10, 2016.

For more information about the call, please click here.

 

The EU Joint Programme – Neurodegenerative Disease Research (JPND) has announced a EUR 30 million call for neurodegenerative disease research topped-up with EUR 10 million from the Horizon 2020 framework programme for research and innovation of the European Union.

Neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s are a truly global challenge.  Most of these diseases remain incurable and are strongly linked with aging populations. Dementias alone affect more than 7 million people in Europe and their care is estimated to cost  EUR 130 billion a year. The challenge facing the world of diagnosing, treating and caring for people affected by neurodegenerative diseases is extremely daunting and no single country alone has the expertise or resources necessary to tackle all of the big questions in this area.

JPND was established in 2009 to enable participating EU Member States to work together on the challenge of age-related neurodegenerative diseases, in particular Alzheimer’s. In the past five years, tremendous progress has been made by JPND in terms of increasing coordination, collaboration and alignment between national research programmes and projects related to neurodegenerative diseases.  This has resulted in an unprecedented mobilization of human resources, actions, funding and awareness to tackle this problem which no country can address alone.

JPND have announced a major new cohesive action with the European Commission, entitled ‘JPcofuND’. The initiative expects to launch a joint transnational call for proposals in January 2015 aimed at supporting international research collaborations in three JPND priority areas:  Longitudinal Cohorts, Animal and Cell Models, Risk and Protective Factors. This initiative will see more than EUR 30 million coming from the JPND member countries being made available, with an additional EUR 10 million European Commission “topping up” fund.

According to Professor Philippe Amouyel, Chair of the JPND Management Board

“this unique co-funded initiative further establishes concrete synergies with Horizon 2020 to address this global threat.Thisis a significant scale-up of implementation of the JPND research strategy, and a major step forward towards the realisation of a “European Research Area” dedicated to neurodegenerative disease research – an issue central to the joint programming concept.

European Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation Carlos Moedas said:

“The EU Joint Programming approach tackles some of the major challenges we face as a society. Thanks to this new co-funded initiative of JPND and the European Commission, top European researchers will be working together to help the millions of people who suffer from Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases. By making research more efficient and avoiding the duplication of work, this initiative will increase the prospects of real progress in the prevention and treatment of these diseases, as well as in patient care.”

A pre-call announcement, with the indicative titles of each topic, was made recently on the JPND website.  Further detail will be provided on this page on the call launch date in January 2015.

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under Grant Agreement No. 643417 – JPcofuND

Media enquiries should be directed to:

Derick Mitchell

dmitchell@jpnd.eu

+353 1 442 9015

The first G8 Summit on dementia is being held in London on December 11th, 2013

The G8 Dementia Summit will bring together, for the first time, health ministers from around the world with the aim of stimulating investment in dementia research, improving the prevention and treatment of dementia, and improving quality of life for people with dementia. 

‘The G8 Summit in London presents a unique opportunity for international leaders to tackle dementia on a global scale and represents a large step forward in raising awareness and promoting the need for increased research in this area’, according to Professor Philippe Amouyel, Chair of the JPND Management Board. 

The number of people living with dementia worldwide in 2013 is now estimated at 44 million – a figure set to triple within a generation.  With no single country having the resources to combat dementia alone, the G8 summit is therefore a very positive step towards international commitments to increase research investments and improve coordination of dementia research.

‘As the largest global research initiative aimed at tackling the challenge of neurodegenerative diseases, in particular Alzheimer’s, JPND is looking forward to working with the new plans and initiatives emerging from the summit’, said Professor Amouyel.  ‘JPND has developed a widely recognized research strategy and accumulated a large experience in large collaborative programs in dementia that can help to accelerate the development of future G8 proposals, as suggested by arecent editorial in The Lancet Neurology’.

JPND brings together researchers, national funding bodies and the existing research evidence in 27 countries to investigate the key research questions and barriers to progress in the area of neurodegenerative diseases.

G8 Countries:
Canada, France, Germany, Italy Japan, Russia, United Kingdom, United States of America (with representation from the European Union)

JPND-participating Countries:
Albania, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom

The summit declaration and comminique were released on Dec. 11th 2013.  You can  download both at the file links below:

JPND has launched two calls for proposals aimed at encouraging research teams across Europe to investigate the cross-disease pathways in neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, and to identify new, innovative preventive strategies for these debilitating conditions.

‘Neurodegenerative Diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s are a global health, economic and social emergency with numbers affected expected to double by 2030 and more than triple by 2050’ according to Professor Philippe Amouyel, Chair of the JPND Management Board.  

‘With this in mind, JPND-participating countries have identified two further areas of greatest need for targeted investment in order to improve understanding of the underlying links between different diseases, and to encourage new ideas on preventive strategies’.

Professor Amouyel added ‘This investment is part of a series of JPND funding initiatives, aimed at addressing priority areas identified in our European Research Strategy.  This year’s calls will see over 23 million euro made available to applicants from 18 different countries’.

According to Professor Thomas Gasser, University of Tübingen and Chair of the JPND Scientific Advisory Board,  ‘Neurodegenerative diseases currently cannot be cured, prevented, or even substantially slowed. In order to tackle these diseases together, we need greater thinking across traditional clinical boundaries and new, innovative ideas aimed at preventing disease development and progression in healthy, at-risk and early-stage populations. These calls aim to harness the necessary expertise across Europe and globally to address these needs in the fight against these diseases’. 

The following neurodegenerative diseases are included for both calls:

  • Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias
  • Parkinson’s disease and PD-related disorders
  • Prion disease
  • Motor neurone diseases 
  • Huntington’s disease
  • Spinocerebellar ataxia (SCA)
  • Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA)

Call 1: Cross-Disease Analysis of Pathways
There is clinical, genetic and biochemical evidence that similar molecular pathways are relevant in different neurodegenerative and other chronic diseases. Therefore, clinical phenotypes alone seem insufficient to provide an understanding of the underlying mechanisms involved, and to be the sole basis for prognosis and diagnosis of neurodegenerative diseases.   This call is for multidisciplinary proposals (e.g. combining fundamental, pre-clinical and/or clinical research with computational approaches) to perform network analyses in different neurodegenerative and other chronic diseases to elucidate the underlying mechanisms involved.  The combined analysis of diseases across traditional clinical boundaries may lead to a re-definition of clinical phenotypes and new approaches in the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases.

JPND Countries Participating in this call: 
Belgium, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovak Republic, Spain, Sweden, Turkey

Call 2:  Pilot Studies on Preventive Strategies
Recent results from epidemiological studies in aging suggest that preventive strategies may modify both the risk of developing neurodegenerative diseases and of symptom progression. However, it is not yet known whether these findings can be translated into efficacious preventive strategies that specifically target healthy persons, at risk populations or early stage patients with neurodegenerative diseases. Therefore, more research is needed to develop proof-of-concept for the design of prevention trials aimed to investigate the effect of complex interventions. JPND is launching this call for proposals in order to encourage interdisciplinary “pilot” studies for the design of preventive strategies related to neurodegenerative diseases.

JPND Countries Participating in this call:
Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Turkey

Note:
Both calls are two-step, with a first stage (pre-proposal submission) deadline of February 18th (Cross-Disease Analysis) and February 20th (Preventive Strategies), 2014, respectively.   

For these calls, JPND is piloting an online partnering tool to assist potential applicants to the currently open calls, in their search for partners and formation of consortia.  It is believed that this tool will especially benefit early-career researchers and research groups not normally included in established consortia.

More information on the calls is available at:https://www.neurodegenerationresearch.eu/initiatives/annual-calls-for-proposals/open-calls/

Media enquiries should be directed to:
Derick Mitchell[email protected]+353 1 2345103