Among the neurodegenerative diseases, we are focussing on Alzheimer's disease (AD), Parkinson's disease (PD), Huntington's disease (HD) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Spinal cord injury (SCI) is the main model for neurotrauma.

NeuroNE brings together investigators from different backgrounds (basic scientists, active clinicians and therapeutically-oriented SMEs) to work at all levels on a given disease: post-genomic science, molecular and cell biology, animal models, therapeutic strategies and clinical studies.

Professional project management provides efficient integration, realization of scientific objectives and knowledge management.

Common infrastructures include shared NeuroNE-funded core facilities in 7 centres. The network has employed a team of scientists based in various laboratories who will conduct research and form collaborations amongst the different participants.

The network has a program of scientific meetings that will consist of three major international plenary meetings and ten scientific workshops on specific topics. The network has also created six technical platforms providing scientific support for members of the network.

To feed back the benefits of integration into EU society, we have involved patient organizations from the start, identified associated research groups who will benefit immediately from our infrastructures, and opened network meetings to identified scientists from emerging research centres.

Project objectives

Neurodegenerative diseases and neurotrauma represent one of the greatest clinical and societal challenges of the coming century. The NeuroNE consortium has addressed this problem by designing a long-term multidisciplinary approach based on recent progress in the field of neuronal degeneration and death together with a range of cutting-edge therapeutic strategies.

Our overall objective is to create within the Community the conditions for emergence of novel mechanism-based therapeutic approaches to neurodegenerative disease and neurotrauma. The NeuroNE scientists are convinced that the elucidation of the pathogenic mechanisms will help to identify pharmacological targets that will be required for the development of effective drugs for the treatment and prevention of neurodegenerative diseases.

This will be achieved by:

• assembling a critical mass of top-level expertise involving universities, research centres, technological platforms and SMEs from 9 European countries;
• developing new research collaborations between participant laboratories, aimed at enhancing the complementarity, and thus the potential synergy and efficacy, of the best EU groups in this field; multi-centre collaborations are planned in the areas of neurodegenerative diseases (Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, Huntington's disease, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), and in spinal cord injury;
• taking a multidisciplinary approach by organizing expertise in functional genomics and proteomics, biochemistry, physiology, chemistry, genetics and clinical studies;
• taking a multifaceted approach to study disease mechanisms, biology of cell death and survival, and to employ high-throughput screening, and gene- and cell-based therapies;
• facilitating inter-penetration of traditional excellence with post-genomic "big science" approaches, even at the level of smaller laboratories;
• focussing within the Network of Excellence on upstream research, a level at which interactions between the research, clinical and private sectors can be most open and productive, and can most likely lead to future Integrated Projects on development of specific therapeutic strategies;
• fostering durable integration of these research capacities through exchange of personnel, and in particular through the creation (or extension) of joint research infrastructures in the form of technological platforms shared within the network by private and public partners.