Neuronet, a coordination and support action (CSA) for the neurodegeneration projects of the Innovative Medicines Initative (IMI) portfolio, aims to enhance collaboration and communication between projects, multiplying the portfolio’s impact and enhancing its visibility in Europe and beyond. The Neuronet Scientific Coordination Board (SCB) is composed of 18 leaders from IMI neurodegeneration projects and plays a central role in determining the overall scientific strategy of Neuronet. The SCB meets on a quarterly basis, bring wide-ranging scientific, clinical, R&D and computational expertise to the table and identifying key challenges and priorities for Neuronet to address.
The fifth Neuronet SCB meeting was held online on Thursday 1 October, attended by leaders of the AETIONOMY, EPAD, EQIPD, IDEA-FAST, IMPRIND, Mobilise-D, PHAGO, PD-MitoQUANT and ROADMAP projects along with members of the Neuronet consortium. Alzheimer Europe was represented by project officers Cindy Birck, Chris Bintener and Angela Bradshaw.
Carlos Diaz, Coordinator of Neuronet, kicked off the meeting by updating SCB members on recent Neuronet activities. These activities include new updates to Neuronet tools such as the Knowledge Base, as well as the recent, successful IMI interim review. Active discussions between SCB members ensued, on topics including assets beyond the neurodegenerative disease portfolio, challenges for digital data and biosample sharing, and how to best support the sustainability of large, public-private partnership projects.
In the second half of the meeting, Neuronet project leader Lennert Steukers summarised some of the research challenges being faced by IMI neurodegeneration projects as a result of COVID-19, and also updated on new collaborations that Neuronet is facilitating. Jacoline Bouvy and Diana O’Rourke of NICE then outlined recent findings from an impact analysis currently being carried out by Neuronet, which is aiming to assess the impact of the IMI neurodegeneration portfolio on collaboration, research and innovation. Finally, Carlos Diaz chaired a discussion on how to increase the visibility of the portfolio and identify new priorities for neurodegeneration research as we move beyond the IMI2 period and towards the new Horizon Europe framework programme.
