ERA-NET for establishing synergies between the Joint Programming on Neurodegenerative Diseases Research and Horizon 2020

Project Information

JPco-fuND

Grant agreement ID: 643417

DOI

10.3030/643417

Project closed

EC signature date 1 December 2014

Start date 1 January 2015

End date 30 September 2021

Funded under

• SOCIETAL CHALLENGES - Health, demographic change and well-being

Total cost

€ 30 953 030,33

EU contribution

€ 9 999 999,98

Coordinated by

INSTITUT NATIONAL DE LA SANTE ET DE LA RECHERCHE MEDICALE
France

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - JPco-fuND (ERA-NET for establishing synergies between the Joint Programming on Neurodegenerative Diseases Research and Horizon 2020)

Reporting period: 2016-01-01 to 2021-09-30

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Since 2009 the EU Joint Programming Initiative on Neurodegenerative Diseases (JPND) has allowed to structure and defragment ND research of 30 countries in Europe and beyond. While progress has been pleasing to date, the implementation of JPND had to be scaled-up to further catalyse Member State commitments thanks to a close coordination with the EC through an ERA-Net Cofund instrument JPco-fuND with an unprecedented commitment of more than €30 million of national funds associated to a highly incentivizing EC top-up fund. Three priority topics have emerged through a consultative process between researchers and JPND members: the identification of genetic, epigenetic and environmental risk and protective factors, the development and maintenance of longitudinal cohorts, the creation of advanced experimental models. These key questions were addressed through a common joint transnational call allowing a significant acceleration of the execution of the JPND research strategy. Moreover, to expand the impact of JPco-fuND, JPND continued to implement other actions without EU co-funding such as aligning national research strategies, making databases more accessible and interoperable, developing enabling capacities such as supportive infrastructure and platforms, capacity building, education and training. These actions were required in parallel to achieve the highest impact for the patients, their carers and for society as whole and address this grand challenge.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

In WP1 a management and coordination framework was implemented for the project, to continuously orientate all activities towards the objectives, and to ensure their fulfilment within time plan and budget. The WP2 aimed to prepare and launch the JPcofuND/co-funded call. The call text and all relevant call documents were delivered, and an electronic submission tool was implemented. WP3 aimed at selecting the best proposals for funding that were submitted in response to the JPco-fuND call. The proposal evaluation and selection process was carried out by an international scientific peer review. 21 project proposals were recommended for funding based on scientific excellence with 36 million euros made available from the JPND member countries and the European Commission. In WP4 the progress of the funded projects was monitored and evaluated. A satisfaction survey was performed from mid-March till April 2016 among applicants for research proposals reflecting the processes of JPND from a participant perspective. The results were published on the JPND website. A midterm analytical report and a final one were developed on among other results, the outputs that the funded projects have provided. Two symposia, midterm symposium (November 2017) and a final symposium (November 2019), were organised for knowledge sharing among project coordinators and their consortia partners, policymakers, industry and PPI representatives.
WP5 aimed to promote and disseminate JPco-fuND calls through the JPND website, press releases, JPND social media platforms like Twitter and LinkedIn and various publications. Within this work package, all calls and results of these calls were publicised and disseminated accordingly. Fact sheets providing information of each funded consortium were also published. Finally, under WP6 a number of additional activities were conducted to support the implementation of the SRIA, the implementation plan preparation , the conduction of annual non-cofounded calls for proposals, the discussion groups on experimental models, alignment of national plans and activities to partnership with industry.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

The ERA-NET JPco-fuND was an efficient tool for creating an important piece of the ERA, with JPND aiming to set up a mini-ERA in the critical domain of ND research that addresses the insufficient funding, lack of an environment to stimulate research and exploit results, and the fragmented nature of activities and the dispersal of resources.
During the lifetime of JPco-fuND initiative 3 research calls (2015, 2017, 2018) were launched. The 21 JPco-fuND call 2015 supported projects are now completed. These projects supported the creation of interdisciplinary research teams in the field of ND and improved the integration of disciplines and research areas. Given the priority area’s, the majority of the supported projects were focussed on basic research. The JPco-fuND final symposium organised in November 2019 offered the investigators and young scientists of different JPND/JPco-fuND call 2015 supported projects the opportunity to exchange their research results. 170 people participated, representing 24 JPND and 21 JPco-fuND call 2015 supported projects (n=113).
All 3 topics under the JPco-fuND ERA-NET call, identified as immediate priority areas to implement the JPND SRA, will have medium and long term impacts on health with the prospect of:
- advancing the identification of new targets to which second generation pharmacological therapies can be directed and help to advance preventive strategies.
- Well-designed pan-European cohort studies with harmonized approaches will increase the likelihood of being able to answer ‘big research questions’ and will offer the prospect of providing platforms for prevention and intervention studies in the medium and longer term.
- Supporting the creation of novel and more predictive experimental models will respond to the needs for efficient drug discovery.
It is noteworthy that each of the above areas was identified as highly important during the JPND stakeholder workshop held with industry during 2011, the outputs of which were channelled into the JPND SRA. The outputs from each topic were therefore likely to generate strong interest from across relevant industry areas from Pharmaceutical to Diagnostics to Information Technologies.
14 out of the 21 JPco-fuND projects investigated pathways of relevance to improve our understanding of the disease origins and mechanisms, as well as to develop new disease modifying therapies. Among these, 6 projects evaluated tools to improve disease diagnosis. 4 out of 21 studied more specifically disease mechanisms and new target for treatment. 3 out of 21 studied disease mechanisms and models, to identify diagnostic markers and new treatment targets. One project was specifically addressed to identify improved treatments and tools to ameliorate health care.
All projects contributed to the understanding of the molecular basis of neurodegeneration. Exchange of bio-resources within the consortium was also significant. Some projects essentially developed basic research, with a translational potential to be exploited later. Some more clinically oriented ones developed national or transnational patient registries, databases or biobanks. In some cases, the projects led to new patents, datasets, models, clinical testings, softwares and protocols.
In the majority of the JPcofuND call 2015 supported projects public engagement activities (general, professional, scientific) took place but the number and variety of stakeholders varied between the supported projects. The research output was mainly communicated in open access peer-reviewed scientific publications (n=316 peer-reviewed articles) and at scientific congresses (n=290). These results will contribute to the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of ND and Alzheimer's in particular in the medium and long term.

JPcofuND figures

JPcofuND actvities

Logo JPND