Operating Grant - Joint Programme on Neurodegenerative Disease Research (JPND) 2019
Neurodegenerative diseases are debilitating and largely untreatable conditions that are strongly linked with age. Worldwide, there are estimated to be 47 million people suffering from Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders, the most common class of neurodegenerative diseases. This figure is expected to double every 20 years as the population ages. Existing treatments for neurodegenerative diseases are limited in effect and mainly address the symptoms rather than the cause or the progressive course. In this context, the EU Joint Programme – Neurodegenerative Disease Research (JPND) was established in order to better coordinate research efforts across countries and disciplines to more rapidly find causes, develop cures and identify better ways to care for people with neurodegenerative disease. The JPND Research and Innovation Strategy, published in 2012 and refreshed in 2018, identified research priorities and provided a framework for future investment.
One of the greatest challenges for treating neurodegenerative diseases is the deciphering of this variability, which can be addressed through personalised medicine. “Personalised Medicine,” as defined by the Horizon 2020 advisory group, “refers to a medical model using characterisation of individuals’ phenotypes and genotypes (e.g., molecular profiling, medical imaging, lifestyle data) for tailoring the right therapeutic strategy for the right person at the right time, and/or to determine the predisposition to disease and/or to deliver timely and targeted prevention.”
The goal of this call Multinational research projects on Personalised Medicine for Neurodegenerative Diseases (JPco-fuND) is to increase the number of high quality transnational scientific projects. These projects must demonstrate clear scientific added value from working across national borders.
Proposals to be funded under this call will need adequately to involve patients, carers and the public. Consortia are expected to make every effort to include approaches on Patient and Public Involvement, where appropriate, at each stage of the research process including the preparation of the application.