The economic burden of brain disorders within the European Union is approximately 800 billion euros annually, indicating a major need for brain research to improve diagnosis and treatment and for training medical doctors and healthcare professionals to better care for patients. Parkinson’s disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative movement disorder. Therefore, PD was chosen as a proof-of-concept template for applied biomedical research in Luxembourg, that would translate into novel neuroprotective therapies for PD. To promote translational research on PD, Luxembourg stakeholders, including the National Research Fund (FNR), invested great effort over the past decade into the implementation of a strategic initiative. This initiative was between the University of Luxembourg (UL) and institutional stakeholders from the integrated Biobank of Luxembourg, the Luxembourg Institute of Health, and the Centre Hospitalier de Luxembourg,
Luxembourg benefited largely from the expertise of excellent European research peers within the CENTRE-PD (
http://www.centre-pd.eu(öffnet in neuem Fenster)) project. It twinned the UL with the Universities of Oxford (UOXF) and Tübingen (EKUT), to strengthen ongoing research and health care advancements for a comprehensive clinical centre for diagnosis and treatment of PD in Luxembourg. The CENTRE-PD project contributed positively to this goal with transfer of skills and knowledge from UOXF (
http://opdc.medsci.ox.ac.uk(öffnet in neuem Fenster)) and EKUT (
https://www.hih-tuebingen.de(öffnet in neuem Fenster)) to UL.
The overall objectives of the project included:
(1) Supporting the development of a research clinical centre for PD patients in Luxembourg (including a prospective PD patient cohort and at-risk cohort for PD, a brain bank, neuro-imaging and stem-cell research platforms, a neuro-stimulation centre and gait laboratory)
(2) Launching of joint collaborations for future research initiatives (harmonised clinical datasets and neuropathological validation, joint biomarker studies for early diagnosis and stratification of PD, compound screening campaigns on patient-based cellular models, and joint studies on neuro-modulation)
(3) Engaging key stakeholders through clinical and public outreach programmes, a joint education and training programme for clinician scientists and researchers, partnerships with industry and initiatives for patient engagement.
The CENTRE-PD project supported successfully the above goals, boosted research excellence in Luxembourg, and provided knowledge to implement better diagnostics and therapies for PD in Luxembourg. The lessons learnt during the implementation of CENTRE-PD in the context of PD, were of great value for the transfer of clinical research culture in Luxembourg.
