The European Platform for Neurodegenerative Diseases (EPND) is working to accelerate global progress in neurodegenerative disease diagnostics, treatments, and biomarkers. Supported by the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI), EPND is establishing a data-and sample-sharing platform for collaborative, large-scale biomarker research. Alzheimer Europe is one of 29 public- and private sector partners in EPND, and is proud to co-lead its stakeholder engagement, public involvement and communications activities. Earlier this year, EPND launched its extended Study Catalogue, which includes information on over 70 clinical research studies, across 12 disease areas with almost 240,000 participants. EPND now invites academic and industry researchers to submit an Expression of Interest to leverage neurodegeneration biosamples and data catalogued on the EPND platform.
The Call is designed to test the full suite of functionalities of the EPND platform, helping to refine and adapt the platform to best meet the needs of neurodegeneration researchers. Successful proposals will benefit from an array of resources and services, including:
• Facilitated access to biosamples and datasets from neurodegeneration research studies
• Technical support for data harmonisation, saving time before initiating analysis • Access to secure online workspaces, analytical tools and apps, via the AD Data Initiative’s AD Workbench
• Ethical-legal guidance, helping researchers to understand and address compliance requirements.
EPND can also offer financial support in the range of EUR 10,000 - EUR 50,000 for successful academic proposals to cover biosample costs, although interested applicants are expected to apply with external funding sources to enable their research study. Selected applicants will join a robust community of researchers, working to accelerate the discovery of diagnostic and therapeutic solutions for neurodegenerative diseases. The deadline for submissions is 15 September 2024; selected applicants will be invited to submit a full proposal by 30 November. Learn more about the research Call and application process: bit.ly/EPNDResearch_Call