On 30 April 2024, the Luxembourg HealthTech Cluster managed by Luxinnovation organised a webinar illustrating the benefits for healthtech companies of cooperating with associations and patient groups. It provided companies and researchers with practical guidance to setting up meaningful collaborations and real-world examples. Experts from Alzheimer Europe provided a comprehensive overview of collaborative strategies and engagement methodologies essential for creating innovation in healthcare and developing solutions for the unmet needs of patients and their careers.
Angela Bradshaw, Director for Research at Alzheimer Europe, elucidated the role of the organisation in fostering collaborations across Europe. Drawing from her experience in EU-funded projects such as AI-MIND, EPND, Neuronet, and VirtualBrainCloud, she highlighted Alzheimer Europe’s commitment to advancing research and innovation in Alzheimer's disease (AD). She outlined the ecosystems of patient organisations in Europe, and the engagement of Alzheimer Europe at national and EU levels. Through debates, research projects, and flagship events like its annual conference, Alzheimer Europe networks with relevant stakeholder in order to keep the research for AD and other neurodegenerative diseases on the agenda of politicians. Complementing Dr Bradshaw's insights, Ana Diaz, Public Involvement Lead at Alzheimer Europe, explored the concept of Public Involvement in research.
Dr Diaz articulated Alzheimer Europe’s approach to empowering patients and caregivers to become active participants in the research processes. With examples from EU projects like EU-Fingers and the Multi-Memo project, she highlighted how patients and carers can provide invaluable insights and advice to researchers, working together to develop solutions that better meet their needs and can improve their quality of life. The webinar ended with a Q&A session moderated by Francesca Borrelli, Senior Advisor – European R&D and Innovation Support at Luxinnovation, during which attendees had the opportunity to engage directly with the speakers and discuss potential collaborations between healthtech solution providers and associations such as Alzheimer Europe.