From today, funders and researchers can access a database containing survey information spanning three decades-worth of global neurodegenerative disease research funding.
The new, expanded online database is the result of a large-scale mapping exercise of neurodegenerative disease research investments and infrastructure across Europe, Australia and Canada – all member countries of the EU Joint Programme for Neurodegenerative Diseases (JPND). It follows a smaller-scale survey completed in 2011.
Providing a snapshot of public and not-for-profit investment in the area, the new data captured in 2016 covers research funding and resources recorded as active on 1 January 2016.
Together with the existing 2011 data, the investments span a 28-year period, from 2002 to 2030. Combined with projects from the first exercise, the database now indexes more than 3,100 projects and resources.
Analysis of the data, published in an accompanying report, reveals that annual neurodegenerative research spending has increased by 34% across JPND since 2011, from €370 million up to €494 million.
The aim of this expanded, interactive resource is to share funding information, promote new collaborations and inform strategy, ultimately supporting scientific progress in the neurodegenerative disease area.
The latest 2016 mapping exercise captures 2,672 projects, ranging from large multinational research programmes to small investments and fellowship awards. It covers seven new JPND members and data from partners in 27 different countries, including JPND transnational awards for the first time.
Visitors can use the database to explore what type of research has been funded and look at profiles of past and current investments by multiple funders or within specific countries. Research organisations may find it useful to draw on the information as a basis for coordinating funding strategies and preventing duplication.
To increase the global reach of the data, it will also be displayed in the International Alzheimer’s and Related Dementias Research Portfolio (IADRP) database. This follows a new partnership between JPND, the U.S. National Institute on Aging (NIA), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the Alzheimer’s Association (AA). Reciprocally, relevant research from the NIH will be accessible via the JPND database later this year.
About the EU Joint Programme on Neurodegenerative Disease Research (JPND)
JPND brings together 30 countries to accelerate discovery by aligning research priorities, approaches and programmes. This has resulted in the creation of the largest global collaboration in the field and represents an innovative approach to finding causes, developing cures and identifying appropriate ways to care for people living with neurodegenerative diseases. To learn more about JPND, visit www.jpnd.eu.