The results of the 202 ERA-Net Cofund action on Personalised Medicine (ERA PerMed) funding call have just been published, heralding the launch of 22 projects which will develop clinical support tools for the implementation of personalised medicine. Alzheimer Europe is a partner on the funded Pattern-Cog project, which is coordinated by Prof. Jussi Tokha (University of Eastern Finland) and also involves partners at Karolinska Institutet (Sweden), Charite Universitatsmedizin Berlin, Jena University Hospital (Germany) and the Carlos III Madrid Health Institute (Spain).
Pattern-Cog stands for “Personalised aging pattern for early risk detection and prevention of cognitive impairment and dementia in cognitively healthy individuals” and aims to improve dementia prevention strategies by developing and validating an AI-based framework that can detect the earliest signs of impending cognitive decline. Findings from multidomain lifestyle trials have emphasised the importance of accurately identifying at-risk individuals who are most likely to benefit from interventions such as improved diet, structured exercise programmes and cognitive training.
Pattern-Cog, which is funded for a period of 3 years from 2022, will develop methods for predicting future cognitive decline based on clinical data, identifying older adults who might be at higher risk for mild cognitive impairment and dementia. This methodology will be tested in ongoing dementia prevention trials. Alzheimer Europe will carry out public involvement work to explore the perspectives and views of people with cognitive impairment in relation to AI-based tools for risk prediction, also supporting the communication activities of the project.