On 23 October (The Hague, Netherlands), Neuronet (Efficiently Networking European Neurodegeneration Research) convened the second meeting of its Scientific Coordination Board coinciding with Alzheimer Europe’s annual Conference.
Neuronet’s high-level, overarching Scientific Coordination Board is formed by 15 leaders of Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI) projects in the area of neurodegeneration. The Scientific Coordination Board is responsible for Neuronet’s strategic decision-making as well as the creation of specific Working Groups and Task Forces in which projects will be able to collaborate.
José Luis Molinuevo from the Barcelona Beta Brain Research Center (BBRC) represented AMYPAD at this meeting.
The day started with an update on Neuronet’s latest and future activities by project leads Carlos Dìaz (SYNAPSE Research Management Partners) and Lennert Steukers (Janssen Pharmaceutica NV). This provided the Scientific Coordination Board with the opportunity to give feedback and to shape the future priorities for Neuronet.
The following discussions focussed on an online tool entitled the “Knowledge Base”, which will bring together project information in an easily accessible way for project leaders.
The Scientific Coordination board encompasses the following public-private projects, which are each represented by their project coordinator or leader respectively:
| Project title | SCB member | Institution/Company | Funding |
| ADAPTED | Margot Bakker | AbbVie Deutschland GmbH, DE | €6.8M |
| AETIONOMY | Martin Hofmann-Apitius | Fraunhofer SCAI, DE | €17.8M |
| AMYPAD | Jose Luis Molinuevo | Barcelonaβeta BrainResearch Center, ES | €27.3M |
| EMIF | Pieter Jelle Visser | VU University Medical Center, NL | €55.8M |
| EPAD | Craig Ritchie | University of Edinburgh, UK | €59.9M |
| EQIPD | Malcolm Macleod | University of Edinburgh, UK | €9.8M |
| IM2PACT | Zameel Cader & Dominique Lesuisse | University of Oxford, UK & Sanofi, FR | €17.4M |
| IMPRiND | Georges Tofaris | University of Oxford, UK | €11.3M |
| MOPEAD | Mercè Boada | Fundació ACE, ES | €4.5M |
| PD-MitoQUANT | Jochen Prehn | Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, UK | €6.9M |
| PHAGO | Andreas Ebneth | Janssen Pharmaceutica N.V, NL | €18M |
| PRISM | Hugh Marston | Eli Lilly, UK | €16.2M |
| RADAR-CNS | Matthew Hotopf | King’s College London, UK | €25.7M |
| RADAR-AD | Dag Arsland | King’s College London, UK | €7.6M |
| ROADMAP | John Gallacher | University of Oxford, UK | €8.2M |
Further, the group discussed Neuronet’s working groups. The focus of each group is on a topic of common interest. Neuronet will form these groups by expert members from the different projects, and involve invited experts from related initiatives. The framework currently focusses on four key areas: Data sharing and re-use, HTA/regulatory interaction, Patient privacy and ethics as well as one on Sustainability.
After that, the members discussed past collaborations between projects and what difficulties they encountered as well as lessons learnt. This led to a subsequent dialogue on opportunities for new collaborations and tangible Neuronet results.
Next, the group discussed current gaps in the research portfolio and how to address these. After that, the chairs wrapped up the meeting with a recapitulation of the days’ main conclusions as well as the next steps.
