National funding bodies kick-off joint research in Alzheimer’s

Research leaders from across Europe gathered in Brussels for the launch of a ten-year Europe-wide programme of coordinated research aimed at tackling the neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Disease.

The EU Joint Programme in Neurodegenerative Disease Research (JPND) is the first of the European Joint Programming initiatives, which are designed to address the ‘grand challenges’ that are considered beyond the scope and resources of any one country to tackle.

Addressing the meeting on Tuesday (7 February), European Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science, Máire Geoghegan-Quinn said, “We are expecting the countries participating in the JPND to commit substantial scientific, financial and management resources, even in the current economic climate.”

It has required a coordinated effort to define and agree how to harness European research efforts most effectively to tackle neurodegenerative diseases. Current capabilities were scoped across Europe and a group of 15 international experts drew up the research strategy in consultation with 140 researchers. “I would like to congratulate the members of the JPND for having come this far already,” said Geoghegan-Quinn. “This is a defining moment, when the first Joint Programming Initiative moves from design to implementation.”

Joint programming plays into ERA ambitions

The Joint Programming process was launched on the 14th of July 2008 in the recognition that major challenges in health, the environment, energy security, and so on, are so great and so complex that they are beyond the means any one country to tackle. “If we are to find answers, we need to act together and coordinate publicly-funded research across Europe,” Geoghegan-Quinn said. “We need economies of scale across Europe, we need the best research brains working in a coordinated way, and we need to avoid unnecessary duplication.”

As pan-European research programmes that are driven by member states, Joint Programming Initiatives play into Geoghegan-Quinn’s plan, announced last week,  of driving the formation of the European Research Area not by legislation, but by cooperation “pacts” (see Science|Business 2 Feb).

Indeed, since the JPND was launched in 2008, national research funders have announced nine more Joint Programming Initiatives in different fields. Member States collaborate with the Commission to identify and define such initiatives, in the interest of the whole European research and innovation landscape. “The process is working well,” Geoghegan-Quinn told the JPND launch meeting.

And she added, “The JPND is being watched closely, and will set standards for the other Joint Programming Initiatives. This places an extra responsibility on the JPND member countries, and I am confident all of you will agree on an efficient way to implement the research strategy.”

Scoping the problem

Neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s are debilitating and largely untreatable conditions that are strongly linked with age. Amongst these disorders, the dementias are responsible for the greatest burden of disease, with Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders affecting over 7 million people in Europe. This figure is expected to double every 20 years as the population ages. It currently costs approximately €130 billion per annum to care for people with dementia across Europe, highlighting age-related neurodegenerative disease as a leading medical and social problem.

The JPND strategy sets out the common vision of the 25 European countries involved, providing a strategic approach to supporting world-class research that is able to exploit emerging research on the causes of these diseases, confront barriers to progress, and provide new approaches to prevention, intervention and care.

“This common Research Strategy will guide research activity and investments in the field of neurodegenerative diseases over the coming decade in Europe”, said Philippe Amouyel, Chair of the JPND management board, which will oversee implementation of the strategy.

The goals of the European-wide strategy are:

•    To develop new treatments and preventive measures
•    To improve health and social care approaches
•    To raise awareness and de-stigmatise Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative disorders
•    To alleviate the economic and social burden of these diseases

JPND is working to reach these goals through:

•    building capacity in excellent basic, clinical and healthcare/social research
•    coordinating and aligning European and national research activities
•    translating research evidence into clinical, social and public health practice
•    partnering with industry, patients, carers and health services

Research priorities identified by the strategy include investigating the origins of neurodegenerative disease; studying disease mechanisms and models; exploring disease definitions and diagnosis; developing therapies, and improving healthcare and social care.

“The recommendations outlined address the full spectrum of research and approaches that are required to achieve impact, and recognise the important role that other stakeholder groups including research funding agencies, patient and carer organisations and industry representatives have in delivering this agenda” said Thomas Gasser, Chair of the JPND Scientific Advisory Board.

What will it mean in practice?

Although individual national research funding bodies may have put money into discrete international projects, it is unprecedented for so many to sign up to support a single coordinated programme. But what will it mean in practice? “It means that we are coordinating our best researchers across Europe. [….] It means better value for the public money invested in this research. And, most importantly, it means that by working together, across borders, we will make faster progress in getting the results that millions of people depend on,” Geoghegan-Quinn said.