Projects
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ADAPTED - Alzheimer's disease apolipoprotein pathology for treatment elucidation and developmentAlzheimer's disease apolipoprotein pathology for treatment elucidation and development. The ADAPTED project aims to boost the development of new medicines by investigating an area of AD research which has previously received little attention – the APOE gene. The APOE gene is a well-known risk factor for developing the disease, but precisely how this gene contributes to the risk of developing AD is not known. People who carry the APOE4 version of the gene have a considerably higher risk of developing AD. They also tend to develop the disease much earlier in life. However, the reasons for this are not well understood and therefore APOE has largely been ignored in the quest to find treatments for AD. By bringing together leading experts in a range of state-of-the-art technologies, including three research-intensive small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), ADAPTED hopes to gain better insights into the causes of AD, something that will in turn lead to better treatments for patients. Partners / Work Packages / Publications / Deliverables / Assets / Website -
AETIONOMY - Organising mechanistic knowledge about neurodegenerative diseases for the improvement of drug development and therapyOrganising mechanistic knowledge about neurodegenerative diseases for the improvement of drug development and therapy. Today, diseases are defined largely on the basis of their symptoms, yet while two patients may share the same diagnosis, the underlying causes of their symptoms may be very different. This means that a treatment that works in one patient may prove ineffective in another. There is now broad recognition that a new approach to disease classification is needed, and that is where the AETIONOMY project comes in. It will pave the way towards a new approach to the classification of neurodegenerative diseases, particularly Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases, thereby improving drug development and increasing patients’ chances of receiving a treatment that works for them. Partners / Work Packages / Publications / Deliverables / Assets / Website -
AMYPAD - Amyloid imaging to prevent Alzheimer’s diseaseAmyloid imaging to prevent Alzheimer’s disease. Deposits of beta amyloid protein in the brain are a common sign of Alzheimer’s disease. AMYPAD will study the value of using positron emission tomography (PET) imaging to scan people’s brains for beta amyloid deposits. AMYPAD will carry out beta amyloid PET imaging on an unprecedented number of people who are suspected to be in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease. The goal is to determine the clinical added value of PET imaging in diagnosis and patient monitoring, and to develop data to establish its usefulness in clinical trials. AMYPAD will work closely with IMI’s EPAD project, which is working to increase our understanding of the early stages of dementia and creating a platform to test treatments designed to prevent dementia. Partners / Work Packages / Publications / Deliverables / Assets / Website -
DPUK - Dementias Platform UKDementias Platform UK (DPUK) is a partnership between 29 public and private sector organisations, with core funding from the Medical Research Council. Based at Oxford University, it brings together expertise from universities, charities, and pharmaceutical and technology companies to enable crucial breakthroughs in dementia research. DPUK focuses its attention on three key, human-centred areas: A repository of dementia-optimised health research data (DPUK Data Portal) An engine for matching public volunteers to the most appropriate new research studies (Trials Delivery Framework) A programme of cutting-edge experimental studies (Experimental Medicine Incubator) DPUK has also developed expert brain imaging and stem cell technology networks to increase our understanding of how dementia starts. Partners / Work Packages / Publications / Deliverables / Assets / Website -
EMIF - European Medical Information FrameworkEuropean Medical Information Framework. The EMIF project aims to develop a common information framework of patient-level data that will link up and facilitate access to diverse medical and research data sources, opening up new avenues of research for scientists. To provide a focus and guidance for the development of the framework, the project will focus initially on questions relating to obesity and Alzheimer’s disease. Partners / Work Packages / Publications / Deliverables / Assets / Website -
EPAD - European prevention of Alzheimer’s dementia consortiumEuropean prevention of Alzheimer’s dementia consortium. There is an urgent need for new treatments for Alzheimer’s disease. The number of people affected worldwide is expected to reach over 100 million by 2050, yet despite intensive efforts over many years, there is still no cure for Alzheimer’s and little in the way of treatments. Today, research increasingly focuses on ways to prevent the onset of Alzheimer’s in the first place. The EPAD project is pioneering a novel, more flexible approach to clinical trials of drugs designed to prevent Alzheimer’s dementia. Using an ‘adaptive’ trial design should deliver better results faster and at lower cost. Partners / Work Packages / Publications / Deliverables / Assets / Website -
EPND - European Platform for Neurodegenerative DiseasesThe European Platform for Neurodegenerative Diseases (EPND) integrates existing initiatives to build, grow, and deliver a scalable and self-sustainable platform for storage and analysis of high-quality clinical samples and data collections. It is a public-private partnership funded by the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI), aiming to become a future European infrastructure, facilitating access to biological samples and data to accelerate biomarker discovery and validation and eventually support the development of therapeutics for neurodegenerative diseases. Partners / Work Packages / Publications / Deliverables / Assets / Website -
EQIPD - European Quality In Preclinical DataEuropean Quality In Preclinical Data. EQIPD goal is to deliver simple recommendations to facilitate data quality without impacting innovation.The project team will start by analysing the variables in study design and data analysis that influence outcomes and establishing whether these are the same in academia and industry. They will then define the components of an EQIPD quality management system and work to achieve a consensus among different stakeholders on quality management recommendations for research. They will also assess the feasibility of the quality management system in prospective studies in the fields of neuroscience and safety. Finally, the project will set up an online educational platform that will deliver certified courses in the principles and application of data quality and rigour. This, combined with the involvement in the project of many junior scientists, will pave the way for a cultural change in approaches to data quality in the medical research and drug development field. Partners / Work Packages / Publications / Deliverables / Assets / Website -
IDEA-FAST - Identifying digital endpoints to assess fatigue, sleep and activities in daily living in neurodegenerative disorders and immune-mediated inflammatory diseasesIdentifying digital endpoints to assess fatigue, sleep and activities in daily living in neurodegenerative disorders and immune-mediated inflammatory diseases. IDEA-FAST aims to identify digital endpoints that provide reliable, objective and sensitive evaluation of activities of daily life (ADL), disability and health related-quality of life (HRQoL) for the following neurodegenrative diseases (NDD): Parkinson’s Disease (PD), Huntington’s Disease (HD) and the following immune-mediated inflammatory diseases (IMID): Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA), Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE), Primary Sjögren’s Syndrome (PSS), and Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD). Partners / Work Packages / Publications / Deliverables / Assets / Website -
IM2PACT - Investigating mechanisms and models predictive of accessibility of therapeutics into the brainInvestigating mechanisms and models predictive of accessibility of therapeutics into the brain. As the name suggests, the blood-brain barrier (BBB) tightly controls access to our brains, allowing nutrients and essential substances through, but blocking pathogens, for example. Getting medicines through this protective shield is a major challenge for drug developers, particularly those developing biopharmaceuticals, which are based on large molecules like proteins and antibodies. The goal of IM2PACT is to advance our understanding of the BBB to facilitate the development of more effective treatments for a range of neurological and metabolic disorders. Specifically, the project aims to develop better models of the BBB so that researchers can study it more easily; investigate the biology of the BBB in both health and disease, and the transport routes across it; and to develop innovative systems capable of delivering medicines to the brain. The project will focus on two major disease areas: neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer and Parkinson’s diseases, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease and motor neurone disease), vascular dementia, and multiple sclerosis; and metabolism-related diseases (mainly diabetes and obesity). Partners / Work Packages / Publications / Deliverables / Assets / Website -
IMPRiND - Inhibiting misfolded protein propagation in neurodegenerative diseasesInhibiting misfolded protein propagation in neurodegenerative diseases. Both AD and PD are characterised by the progressive loss of brain cells. Recent evidence suggests that this loss may be due to the release and uptake by brain cells of specific aggregated proteins (misfolded proteins which clump together leading to a progressive spreading of the degeneration). If these processes could be blocked, disease progression could be halted. However, the forces driving these processes are currently poorly understood. Working to change that is the IMPRiND project, which aims to understand how these aggregated proteins are handled once inside brain cells and how they are moved from cell to cell. To do this, the project team will work collaboratively to develop standardised tools and tests to establish disease-relevant mechanisms that could be targeted by drugs in the future. Partners / Work Packages / Publications / Deliverables / Assets / Website -
MOBILISE-D and IDEA-FAST - MOBILISE-D and IDEA-FASTPlaceholder Partners / Work Packages / Publications / Deliverables / Assets / Website -
MOPEAD - Models of patient engagement for Alzheimer’s diseaseModels of patient engagement for Alzheimer’s disease. Dementia researchers are increasingly focusing their efforts on finding ways to prevent the onset of dementia symptoms in the first place, and for this they need to work with people who are still in the very earliest stages of the disease. The MOPEAD project aims to identify and test different models for engaging with this important group and determine which models work best in different situations. As well as adding to our understanding of the earliest stages of dementia, the project will facilitate recruitment for clinical trials and, most importantly, ensure that patients are able to access support from early on in their disease. Partners / Work Packages / Publications / Deliverables / Assets / Website -
Mobilise-D - Connecting digital mobility assessment to clinical outcomes for regulatory and clinical endorsementConnecting digital mobility assessment to clinical outcomes for regulatory and clinical endorsement. Mobilise-D will develop a comprehensive system to monitor and evaluate people’s gait based on digital technologies, including sensors worn on the body. The project focuses on conditions which often affect mobility, namely chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, hip fracture recovery, and congestive heart failure. The Mobilise-D results will help to improve the accurate assessment of daily life mobility in clinical trials and patient treatment, thereby contributing to improve and more personalised care. Partners / Work Packages / Publications / Deliverables / Assets / Website -
NEURO Cohort - NEURO CohortThe first Task Force that Neuronet launched is the NEURO Cohort. It intends to build a European parent cohort that continuously follows up patients across Europe, to serve as basis to facilitate specific research projects and studies. Beginning as a grassroots initiative, NEURO Cohort is based on mutual trust and collaboration across a network of research and clinical sites according to jointly agreed, minimal protocols and policies that are designed to enhance visibility and participation of sites in the research landscape, and to improve initiation of further studies in the neurodegeneration field. The NEURO Cohort represents a coalition of circa 40 active sites from 13 countries in Europe. In totality, these sites work across approximately 50 research protocols which include at least 25,000 European participants. At present, the effort is progressing through its initial objectives. Specifically, with the assistance of the Medical Informatics Platform within the eBrains infrastructure, it has established the technical framework to complete a proof-of-concept pilot across seven sites. Furthermore, the team is engaged in ongoing conversations with potential funders who are interested in supporting the NEURO Cohort initiative through studies that could be run in collaboration with its sites. NEURO Cohort has the potential to become a unique asset, in Europe and worldwide, that unites research and clinical sites in an attempt to overcome research fragmentation, helping accelerate innovative research in an unprecedented way. Partners / Work Packages / Publications / Deliverables / Assets / Website -
NEURONET - Efficiently Networking European Neurodegeneration ResearchEfficiently Networking European Neurodegeneration Research. NEURONET is the Coordination and Suport Action for IMI’s growing neurodegenerative disorders (ND) portfolio. NEURONET aims to be a key enabler and mediator across the portfolio, assisting in identifying gaps, multiplying impacts, enhancing visibility and ensuring coordination with related initiatives in Europe and worldwide. The mapping of ND actions and initiatives is among NEURONET’s objectives, as is providing coordination and support to the individual IMI projects, management support to the whole programme, and the identification and dissemination of best practices and learnings. NEURONET hopes to help IMI’s ND projects to create a platform for the efficient collaboration of current and future IMI ND projects, thus helping them to make progress and deliver results that will benefit the millions of people who live with neurodegenerative diseases. Partners / Work Packages / Publications / Deliverables / Assets / Website -
PD-MIND - Parkinson disease with mild cognition impairment treated with nicotinic agonist drugParkinson disease with mild cognition impairment treated with nicotinic agonist drug. Currently, there is an unmet clinical need to treat Parkinson's disease with Mild Cognitive Impairment (PD-MCI). In fact, nicotinic agonists are specifically relevant for this condition. Hence, the major aim of the PD-MIND project is to identify the potential of the nicotinic α7 agonist AZD0328 in a randomized, placebo-controlled, parallel group, international multicentre study on cognitive function in people diagnosed with PD-MCI. Partners / Work Packages / Publications / Deliverables / Assets / Website -
PD-MitoQUANT - A quantitative approach towards the characterisation of mitochondrial dysfunction in Parkinson's diseaseA quantitative approach towards the characterisation of mitochondrial dysfunction in Parkinson's disease. Mitochondria are the powerhouses of our cells. Mutations in the mitochondria appear to be associated with Parkinson’s disease, a neurodegenerative disease that affects around a million people in Europe. It is triggered by the death of neurons that produce a chemical called dopamine; in order to properly work, these neurons need a lot of energy. Focusing on mitochondria dysfunction in Parkinson’s disease, the PD-MitoQUANT project aims to identify and validate molecular drivers and mechanisms of the condition and discover innovative therapeutic targets that can be further developed by the pharmaceutical companies. Current therapies can cause adverse side effects, and cannot stop, slow or reverse disease progression. This makes the improvement of Parkinson’s disease-related treatments even more urgently needed. Partners / Work Packages / Publications / Deliverables / Assets / Website -
PHAGO - Inflammation and AD: modulating microglia function - focussing on TREM2 and CD33Inflammation and AD: modulating microglia function - focussing on TREM2 and CD33. Clumps of proteins in the brain called amyloid plaques are a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease, and very often specialised immune cells cluster around these plaques. Recent research has shown that two genes involved in the immune system, TREM2 and CD33, appear to be involved in this immune response to Alzheimer’s disease and could therefore be targets for drugs. However, their exact role in the disease is still poorly understood. The PHAGO project aims to develop tools and methods to study the workings of these genes. The project results will therefore pave the way for the development of novel drugs that could tackle Alzheimer’s disease via this route. Partners / Work Packages / Publications / Deliverables / Assets / Website -
PRISM - Psychiatric Ratings using Intermediate Stratified MarkersPsychiatric Ratings using Intermediate Stratified Markers. Social withdrawal is a common early symptom of many neurological disorders, including schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s disease, and major depressive disorder. However, the underlying, biological causes of this symptom are still poorly understood and may differ from one disease to another. The PRISM project will carry out a range of tests, including blood tests, brain scans, and measures of behaviour, on patients with these all too common diseases in a bid to determine which biological parameters correlate with specific clinical symptoms, like social withdrawal. The hope is that the project’s findings will shed new light on the causes of mental illness and their symptoms and facilitate the development of much-needed new treatments. Partners / Work Packages / Publications / Deliverables / Assets / Website -
PRISM2 - Psychiatric Ratings using Intermediate Stratified Markers 2Currently, neurological disorders are diagnosed primarily on the basis of patients’ symptoms, and not on the causes of the disease. Furthermore, many symptoms appear in a number of diseases, yet we don’t always know if the causes of a given symptom are the same across diseases or not. Pinpointing the underlying causes of symptoms and diseases is essential if we are to develop targeted treatments for these complex conditions. IMI’s PRISM project focused on social withdrawal, a common early symptom of many neurological disorders. The “Big Idea” behind the PRISM project is that a quantitative biological approach to the understanding of neuropsychiatric disorders offers major advantages over the principally symptomatic and convention-based approach to diagnostic categorization used at present. PRISM shed new light on the underlying causes of social withdrawal in schizophrenia and Alzheimer’s disease, including some of the genes involved as well as a neural network. Interestingly, the neural network involved in social withdrawal appears to be the same in both diseases. The team also developed an early version of a suite of tests, including scans, blood tests and smartphone monitoring, which could potentially make it easier to diagnose conditions, indicate the brain mechanisms involved, and identify targets for new treatments. The goal of the PRISM 2 project is to build on the achievements of the original PRISM project. Specifically, it aims to validate PRISM’s findings on social withdrawal in schizophrenia and Alzheimer’s disease, and investigate whether they also apply to major depressive disorder. Ultimately, the work of PRISM 2 should ensure that these findings will result in more accurate diagnoses and treatments for people with Alzheimer’s disease, schizophrenia and major depressive disorder. Partners / Work Packages / Publications / Deliverables / Assets / Website -
Pharma-Cog - Prediction of cognitive properties of new drug candidates for neurodegenerative diseases in early clinical developmentWhen it comes to Alzheimer’s disease (AD), most potential drug candidates fail during clinical trials, resulting in significant setbacks in the development of effective treatments. IMI’s Pharma-Cog project set out to change that. The project developed a matrix of biomarkers which can be used to study the effect of a drug candidate both in animals and humans, and has the potential to more accurately predict the success of future drugs in early stages of drug development. Pharma-Cog scientists also found a better way to stratify patients with early signs of Alzheimer’s disease, which may lead to more definitive clinical trials. All this has the potential to help pharmaceutical companies conduct more efficient and more precise clinical trials in the future, speeding up the development of AD drugs. At least one biotech company is already using the results of Pharma-Cog to test a promising new drug candidate. Partners / Work Packages / Publications / Deliverables / Assets / Website -
RADAR-AD - Remote assessment of disease and relapse – Alzheimer’s diseaseRemote assessment of disease and relapse – Alzheimer’s disease. People in the earliest stages of Alzheimer’s disease experience declining cognitive and functional abilities, making it harder for them to remember things and places, carry out simple calculations, use a phone/computer, drive, and adhere to medications. The goal of the RADAR-AD platform is to develop a digital platform that would draw on smartphone, wearable and home-based digital technologies to track subtle changes in the cognitive and functional abilities of people with Alzheimer’s disease. The project will adapt the existing RADAR-CNS project’s platform for Alzheimer’s disease. Among other things, the team will have to take account of the fact that many people with Alzheimer’s disease are older and so may be less familiar with technology, while their condition may make it more difficult for them to learn to handle technological devices. People with Alzheimer’s disease will be fundamentally involved in the design and development of the project so that the systems put in place are acceptable and appropriate for them. The platform will be tested in a clinical study with people with different stages of Alzheimer’s disease. Ultimately, the project results will make it easier to assess how well new dementia treatments work. Partners / Work Packages / Publications / Deliverables / Assets / Website -
RADAR-CNS - Remote Assessment of Disease and Relapse in Central Nervous System DisordersRemote Assessment of Disease and Relapse in Central Nervous System Disorders. The RADAR-CNS project aims to develop new ways of monitoring major depressive disorder, epilepsy, and multiple sclerosis using wearable devices and smartphone technology. The key goal of the project is to improve patients’ symptoms and quality of life and also to change how these and other chronic disorders are treated. Epilepsy, depression, and multiple sclerosis are distinct disorders that affect 400 million people worldwide, with different causes and symptoms, all of which can be severely detrimental to patients’ quality of life and life expectancy. For all three disorders, patients often experience periods where their symptoms are manageable, followed by periods of deterioration and acute illness (relapse). Patient surveys have repeatedly highlighted the need to predict when relapses will happen and to improve the treatments which are available to stop them from occurring. Continuous remote assessment using smartphones and wearable devices provides a complete picture of a patient’s condition at a level of detail which was previously unachievable. Moreover, it could potentially allow treatment to begin before a patient’s health deteriorates, preventing the patient relapsing or becoming more ill before they seek treatment. Partners / Work Packages / Publications / Deliverables / Assets / Website -
ROADMAP - Real world outcomes across the AD spectrum for better care: multi-modal data access platformReal world outcomes across the AD spectrum for better care: multi-modal data access platform. Alzheimer’s disease is on the rise in our ageing population, and new, effective treatments are urgently needed. Currently, the safety and benefits to patients of potential treatments are assessed in strictly-controlled clinical trials. However, clinical trials do not provide information on the health benefits for patients in their daily lives in the ‘real world’. The ROADMAP project aims to deliver a series of methods and tools that will allow the scalable, transferable integration of data on patient outcomes in the real world. The tools will be developed and tested through pilot projects and will lay the foundations for a Europe-wide platform on real world evidence in Alzheimer’s disease. The project will also deliver tools for patient engagement and address the ethical, legal and social implications of adopting a real world evidence approach to Alzheimer’s disease. The project is part of IMI’s Big Data for Better Outcomes programme, which aims to facilitate the use of diverse data sources to deliver results that reflect health outcomes of treatments that are meaningful for patients, clinicians, regulators, researchers, healthcare decision-makers, and others. Partners / Work Packages / Publications / Deliverables / Assets / Website