Connecting brain science & business

On November 29th, all major clinical and basic research institutions in Norway got together with several companies to discuss opportunities and plans within the new Joint Program for Neurodegenerative Disorders (JPND).

Representatives from The Norwegian Research Council were also present and gave a brief introduction and background regarding this first pan–European joint programming research initiative for neurodegenerative disorders.as well as getting feedback from the participants.

Neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease are seen as one of the biggest socio-economic challenges that will come in the wake of the ageing European population, as these diseases are increasing exponentially with age. Medical innovations that may improve prevention, early diagnosis and treatment as well as improved patient management will be means to deal with this task.

This new funding initiative, the JPND program, is therefore launched in order to stimulate collaboration within the EU research community to provide new solutions that may help addressing this issue.

During the meeting several research institutions presented their expertise and how they could contribute to collaborations within this program. Among the presentations were:

• Biomarkers for Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease
• Attacking neurodegeneration with stem cell technology: Ongoing projects and potential synergies at the Norwegian Centre for Stem Cell Research
• A productive liaison between basic neuroscience and understanding brain disease
• Longitudinal biomarkers in MCI and AD     
  • Control of brain damage and repair
  • Parkinson and autism data for collaboration

From the discussion it became clear that finding partners across Europe is a challenge. There are many good ideas and excellent research groups scattered all over Europa, but how do we get in contact with them  an efficient way?

Therefore Nansen Neuroscience Network is currently discussing with the Norwegian Research Council how we may facilitate this process, being a member organization for potentially everybody working in this field across Europe.  

We intend to continue the dialogues both with our members, the Research Council and hopefully also the secretariat of the JPND in order to establish an effective virtual system for partnering.

Presentation Mari Nes

Summary by Stein Lorentzen-Lund

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