Fifth Neuronet newsletter issue launched

We hope this newsletter finds you well. This fifth newsletter issue provides you with up-to-date insights on the Innovative Medicines Initiative’s (IMI) research efforts to tackle challenges in neurodegeneration.
Our programme actively connects 18 research projects. We are happy to welcome the IDEA-FAST project, which has recently joined the Neuronet programme. The aim of IDEA-FAST is to identify digital endpoints for fatigue and sleep disturbances that will provide a more sensitive, reliable measure of the severity and impact of these symptoms in a real life setting.

We are delighted, as ever, to share the progress we are making with Neuronet. There are many highlights including the launch of the social media campaign to highlight the value of public-private collaboration. We also had our IMI Mid-Term Review held online in June where each of the work package leaders and members of the ExCom were given the opportunity to present Neuronet to a panel of independent experts. The evaluators were pleased with the project, its progress and contingency plans we have in place. It was a successful Mid-Term Review meeting with much positive feedback, and constructive advice on how to meet our ambitious objectives.

An important date for your calendar: the annual Neuronet event will be held online, during the 30th Alzheimer Europe Conference. IMI project collaborators will present their work on data sharing, ethics and regulatory interactions. In a Roundtable session, IMI project leaders will address the challenges experienced by public-private partnerships during the COVID-19 pandemic, discussing how research will evolve in the critical post-COVID period. Neuronet is also dedicating a session to early-career researchers working on IMI projects.

As always, this newsletter also provides you with updates on progress and achievements from the IMI neurodegeneration research projects. Last but not least, we'd like to highlight that this issue also features a spotlight on two early-career investigators. We spoke to Shruti Desai and Rebecca Pinto who told us about their respective work on the PD-MitoQUANT and PD-MIND projects.

Happy reading and stay safe!