Page 87 - Annual Report 2018

5. INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

ration (COEN), among other initiatives. These and ber of priority areas for future research have been
other internationalization activities carried out during identified: The origins of neurodegenerative disea-
2018 by CIEN Foundation are detailed below. ses; Disease mechanisms and models; Disease defi-
nition and diagnosis; Treatment and prevention;
▄▀ 5.2. European Union Joint Health and social care.
Programming for Research in
This Research Strategy also provides a framework of
Neurodegenerative Diseases (JPND)
opportunities for countries involved in JPND and wi-
lling to participate in joint actions, which will be im-
The EU Joint Programming for Research in Neurode- plemented through co-operative activities that
generative Diseases (JPND) is an innovative colla- realign or link national investments to achieve incre-
borative research initiative created to address the ased impact, and the provision of new funding. A
growing challenges posed by these disorders. The guiding principle for its delivery will be that the rese-
JPND is a pioneering example of joint programming arch to be supported is of the highest scientific quality.
for the promotion of research within the European
Union aimed at scientific challenges requiring a res- In this regard, during 2011 took place the first call for
ponse that exceeds the capacity of a single European research projects JPND. Under the theme
country, based on the alignment of national rese- "Optimization of biomarkers and harmonization of
arch programs devoted to these challenges. Its ob- their use in the clinic", four transnational projects
jective is to enhance the impact of research by were awarded for the period 2012-2015, with parti-
aligning existing national research programs and the cipation of the CIEN Foundationin one of them, the
identification of common objectives whose scope DEMTEST Project: “Biomarker based diagnosis of
would benefit from joint action. The JPND Scientific rapid progressive dementias-optimization of diag-
Advisory Committee has significant participation of nostic protocols”. Currently, the CIEN Foundation
two CIBERNED researchers, Drs. Jesús Avila and Jesús does not have any active research projects through
de Pedro, as well as Dr. Angel Cedazo-Mínguez, the JPND, but its researchers will continue to partici-
from the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm and mem- pate actively in the program.
ber of the CIBERNED Scientific External Advisory
Committee. ▄▀ 5.3. Centers of Excellence in
Neurodegeneration (COEN)
The Research Strategy designed by JPND provides a
framework for future investments and shows that the A major obstacle to the advancement of research
research effort within the European Union can be le- on neurodegenerative diseases is the relative lack of
veraged to improve care on prevention, diagnosis common standards and mechanisms for validation
and treatment of patients suffering from these of potentially relevant results in preclinical studies,
diseases. and clinical studies based on population. One ap-
proach to deal with these challenges on a large
To achieve impact there is a need to encourage scale is through a more effective use of large centers
novel as well as multidisciplinary approaches, and to and institutes, where there is already the necessary
strengthen and extend existing capabilities across critical mass of resources and expertise. Increased
the full spectrum of basic, clinical, health and social collaboration between national centers of exce-
care, and translational research. To that end, a num- llence should also provide the opportunity to acce-

CIEN Foundation Annual Report 2018 / 87