Neuronet members hold final meeting with Scientific Coordination Board

On 1 July, representatives of Neuronet’s partner organisations and members of its Scientific Coordination Board (SCB) came together in Barcelona (Spain) to compile and evaluate the achievements of Neuronet at a final meeting. This meeting has also served as an opportunity to share and evaluate lessons learned.

Members of the SCB present at the meeting were, AMYPAD Leader – Gill Farrar, EPAD Chief Investigator – Craig Ritchie, Mobilise-D & IDEA-FAST representative Kirsten Emmert, MOPEAD representative – Marta Marquie as well as ROADMAP Coordinator – John Gallacher.

Neuronet (Efficiently Networking European Neurodegeneration Research) is a three-year coordination and support action that began in March 2019, approaching the end of its funding period at the end of August 2022.

Its main aim was to set up an efficient platform to boost synergy and collaboration across the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI) projects of the Neurodegenerative Disorders (ND) portfolio, assisting in identifying gaps, multiplying its impact, enhancing its visibility and facilitating dovetailing with related initiatives in Europe and worldwide.

Neuronet is steered by Synapse Research Management Partners S.L (read the interview with Coordinator Carlos Díaz here) and led by Janssen Pharmaceutica NV (read the interview with Project Leader Lennert Steukers here). Main pillars of Neuronet are to focus on the development of tools and services to support the dissemination of project results, as well as the promotion of synergies between projects.

Up until today, Neuronet already supports more than 20 projects in IMI’s ND portfolio through multiple activities, including its working groups on data use and sharing, support and interaction with regulatory agencies and Health Technology Assessment bodies, on ethics and patient privacy, and sustainability.

In addition to this, Neuronet convened ten meetings with the representatives of the individual projects discussing areas of common interest, alignment of communication activities, best practice, shared challenges as well as approaches to overcome them. The group also organised three annual networking and communication events involving the IMI ND projects, relevant external experts and stakeholders.

Tangible results

At the last meeting, the Consortium reflected on the tangible results and innovations of the project, with a special emphasis on its Knowledge Base – The Neuronet Asset Map to provide a comprehensive overview of the assets from the IMI ND portfolio, categorised by R&D stage (non-clinical, clinical, regulatory and Real-World Evidence) and type, including its Asset Map and Decision Tool for engagement with Regulatory and Health Technology Assessment bodies.