Category Archives: Uncategorized @sk

Following a conference in Washington DC, an action plan for accession of the USA to JPND is being developed, beginning with scientific-level discussions to agree on the main areas of mutual interest

On November 9, 2012, at the headquarters of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in Washington, DC, a conference was held to explore the potential of enhanced transatlantic research collaboration in the area of neurodegenerative diseases.

The aim of the conference was to showcase JPND and to attract the attention of potential American partners in order to achieve their possible future affiliation. The conference also helped to identify several potential areas of mutual interest, such as platforms for open access data and standardization of laboratory procedures.

An action plan for accession of the US to JPND will be further developed by the JPND Management Board, together with the respective American partners, beginning with scientific-level discussions to agree on the main areas of mutual interest.

More information on the conference, including the presentations delivered, can be foundhere or at the link below:

JPND is inviting calls for proposals from research teams across Europe to increase understanding of the factors that put people at risk of developing neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and also to evaluate health and social care strategies for people living with these debilitating illnesses.

‘The incidence of Neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s is exploding due to aging populations, which are creating huge social, economic and healthcare impacts across the world’ according to Professor Philippe Amouyel, Chair of the JPND Management Board.   ‘With this in mind, European Member States have identified these two areas of greatest need for targeted investment in order to delay progression or prevent ND and to improve the care provided for those living with these diseases and their carers’. Professor Amouyel added ‘This investment is part of a series of annual JPND funding initiatives over the next three years, aimed at addressing priority areas identified in our European Research Strategy.  This year’s calls will see approximately 25 million euro made available to applicants from over 20 countries.

According to Professor Thomas Gasser, University of Tübingen and Chair of the JPND Scientific Advisory Board, ‘these actions are an important step towards realising the ultimate goal of JPND – finding causes, developing cures, and identifying appropriate ways to care for those with neurodegenerative 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: Assessing risk factors for ND
The first call for proposals aims to attract international teams of researchers who will explore the different processes at work in normal aging versus neurodegenerative aging and determine what role genetic and environmental factors can play.  Factors such as family history, gender, stress levels, nutrition and others, can affect an individual’s risk, and provide protection from, or even resilience to, neurodegenerative diseases.   However, it is likely that a combination of factors are involved, so a critical step will be to establish the relationship between genetic, epigenetic, environmental and social factors and their relative importance in order to identify those factors that can be changed or modified. 

Modern research techniques have allowed researchers to create models of risk and protective factors.  The aim of this call is to engage researchers to use these techniques and apply them to neurodegenerative diseases. The ultimate aim will be to use the knowledge generated to develop strategies that can delay or even prevent these diseases.

Call 2: Evaluating health and social care policies, strategies and interventions for ND
It is widely accepted that better integration and coordination of approaches to health and social care across Europe would help to reduce costs and improve the quality of care for patients with ND and their carers.  In order to tackle this issue, the first step has to be an assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of formal (e.g. hospitals) and informal (family- and home-based) care. Establishing what works best will create a firm foundation to support new initiatives that tackle inequality and inefficiency and build equal, fair and efficient health and social care systems for ND.

This call asks research teams to assess and compare the policies, strategies and interventions related to neurodegenerative disease care, with regard to quality, access and cost-effectiveness. Examples of areas to be evaluated include care pathways, psychosocial interventions, end-of-life strategies, and educational programmes that benefit not just persons with neurodegenerative diseases, but also their carers and families.  The call will also seek proposals to improve the various outcome measures currently used to assess the impact of healthcare and social care interventions on the quality of life of patients and carers – for example inclusion of the patients’ and carers’ perspective. 

More information on the participating countries in both calls, in addition to specific grant practicalities is available athttps://www.neurodegenerationresearch.eu/initiatives/2012-joint-transnational-calls/open-calls/

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

The COEN initiative has released its second call for proposals aiming to further catalyse collaborative research to drive a step change in neurodegeneration research.

The Network of Centres of Excellence in Neurodegeneration (COEN) initiative; aims to build collaborative research activity in neurodegeneration research across borders, focusing on the critical mass and excellence. COEN is aligned with JPND, although it operates as an independent entity.

The second COEN call for proposals will provide funds for “Pathfinder” grants for innovative approaches to better understand disease mechanisms and provide new avenues for therapeutic development, with the potential for “programme” level support to take forward successful Pathfinders.

The remit of the call is broad in scope: projects may include studies to understand neurodegenerative mechanisms, or create technological advances to support novel diagnostic or therapeutic approaches.

The call will be administered as for the previous COEN call, with partners funding research in their own country. Funds of £5m are available across this call.

More information can be found at the COEN website at the link below.

JPND is leading a series of workshops on patient involvement in research initiatives

The 20th Anniversary Conference of the European Parkinson’s Disease Association (EPDA) takes place in Amsterdam on September 29th, 2012.

The conference is being held in association with the first ever European Unity Walk – a unique event that aims to raise awareness across Europe about Parkinson’s and its impact on people living with the disease, their families and our entire society. 

JPND is leading the organisation of a series of research workshops during the 20th Anniversary conference entitled “Patient Involvement in Research Initiatives”.

For more details on the 20th Anniversary Conference, click on the first link below.

For more details on the EPDA’s Unity Walk, click on the second link below.

JPND has established a monitoring and evaluation framework to develop indicators of success and monitor the merits of the new Joint Programming approach to performing research on the European level.

The framework, following the publication of theJPND Research Strategy, was created as a deliverable of theJUMPAHEAD action. It includes a set of peformance indicators and a questionnaire for participating countries to investigate attitudes and opinions towards the JPND initiative.

The framework has relevance for other Joint Programming Initiatives (JPIs), in particular those in other health domains, to understand the effects of the process of Joint Programming.

The published framework report, as well as an overview presentation of the report,  is availablehere or at the link at the bottom of this page.

JPND has recently published its policy on the membership and participation in JPND activities of countries outside of EU member states and EU-associated countries

JPND partner countries recognise that the unmet clinical need and societal impact of neurodegenerative diseases is a global issue, and that opportunities exist to link to worldwide research efforts in this area.

In this regard, JPND has recently set out its approach to working with Third Countries (i.e. countries outside of EU Member States and EU – Associated Countries)

For more information, click on the link below.