A major obstacle to the advancement of research on neurodegenerative disorders is the relative lack of common standards and mechanisms for validation of potentially important findings in preclinical, clinical and population-based studies. One approach to tackling these large scale challenges is through more effective utilisation of existing large centres and institutes, where the necessary critical mass of resources and expertise already exists. Enhanced collaboration between national Centres of Excellence should also provide opportunity to accelerate progress in understanding the mechanisms of disease as well as the identification of new therapeutic approaches.

To this end, on 10th June 2010, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Deutsches Zentrum für Neurodegenerative Erkrankungen (DZNE, Germany) and the Medical Research Council (MRC, UK) launched a funding initiative to establish such a collaborative approach to research into neurodegenerative disorders, entitled “Centres of Excellence in Neurodegeneration (COEN – www.coen.org)”. These founding members were joined by VIB (Flanders Institute for Biotechnology), the Health Research Board (HRB), Science Foundation Ireland (SFI), and the Ministry of Health Italy (Ministero della Salute, MDS) in October 2010. The overlap in membership of the COEN group with that of the JPND will ensure that their complementary objectives are delivered in close cooperation with each other.

The first phase of the COEN initiative was launched in November 2010 and will run for three years. Each agency has  committed funds to make almost €6 million available to support collaborative, cross-border projects that will address key barriers to progress  in the neurodegenerative diseases field. This is being implemented through a two step process, involving expert workshops to scope the requirements, followed by a call for proposals to establish collaborative teams between PIs within the participating national Centres of Excellence.

The focus of this first call, launched in February 2011, is the establishment of common resources and methodological approaches to underpin future studies. Some of the key issues to be addressed will be:

• the refinement and validation of cellular and animal  models of disease
• the development of novel measures to define patient subgroups for clinical studies
• the identification of new biomarkers to support translational research
• the development and harmonisation  of cognitive test batteries for diagnosis and monitoring disease progression
• the establishment of common informatics platforms to enhance data analysis and exchange

This will be managed as a co-ordinated funding stream but with funding staying within borders for delivery of national research components of joint activities. More information on the initiative and the results of the current call for proposals is available at www.coen.org or at the tab on the left hand side of this page.

Members of International Network of Centres of Excellence in Neurodegeneration

• Medical Research Council, UK *
• DZNE, Deutsches Zentrum fur Neurodegenerative Erkankungen, Helmholtz Association Germany *
• Canadian Institute of Health Research *
• VIB, Flanders Belgium
• Health Research Board, Ireland
• Italian Ministry of Health

* founding member of COEN 

On Sep 2nd, 2011, the COEN initiative announced investment in eight exciting new international research projects which will address these key issues in neurodegenerative disease research. For more information on the funded proposals, click on the "Results of First Funding Call" tab on the left hand side of this page.