What was your role on AMYPAD?

I worked as Clinical Project Manager in the UNIGE team until October 2017, working in strict collaboration with WP3 leadership (Prof. Giovanni Frisoni from UNIGE and Nicola Raffa, Rossella Gismondi and Andrew Stephens from Piramal).

I was responsible of management and monitoring of all Diagnostic and Patient Management Study (DPMS) activities. This included preparation of the relevant agreement and documents necessary for the study, and the coordination and preparation for the submission to Institutional Review Boards and Regulatory Authorities in seven European countries. I was also directly responsible for the submission of the DPMS to the Ethical Committee in Geneva, Switzerland.

What was your overall vision?

The validation of ß-amyloid imaging as a diagnostic and therapeutic marker for Alzheimer’s disease is extremely important for an improvement in the healthcare of these patients. The AMYPAD project aims at validating a methodology for an earlier diagnosis of AD, and at reaching a better understanding of the natural history of this disease in a pre-symptomatic stage. This will be extremely helpful in planning the management of patients with suspected AD, and ultimately to work on the most effective therapies.

What did you find most challenging about the project?

While I was working on the project, one of the biggest challenge was to coordinate the activities of the eight different centres, spread all across Europe. The DPMS is designed to have the clinical trial integrated in the best possible way into the diagnostic routine of the centres. This routine is different depending on the country where the centre is located, and it also depends on health national system requirements. I found working in such a big project, and managing activities within so many parties really challenging, but I also believe that the international and comprehensive nature of the AMYPAD project is one of its major strengths.