There is an urgent need for finding novel approaches to promote drug discovery for Alzheimer Disease (AD). Despite an overwhelming increase of dementia costs and an aging population, there is currently no disease modifying therapies on the market and we are facing a large number of failed clinical trials and the decision of pharmaceutical companies to discontinue their nervous system R&D programmes. Increased collaboration between academia, providing a huge knowledge base; and the private sector, providing the understanding of the drug discovery value chain, would provide a novel approach to find cures for dementia.
The European Training Network “Synaptic Dysfunction in Alzheimer Disease” (SyDAD), have met this need by training 14 Early Stage Researchers (ESRs) to a new generation of researchers with an innovative mind-set and full understanding of the requirements of academia, pharmaceutical companies, the clinics and the societal challenges and an established network for future collaborative efforts.
In addition, SyDAD has greatly promoted collaborations among the SyDAD sites and several collaborative research projects have been initiated. The research programme focuses on synaptic dysfunction, the main connection point between pathology and cognitive decline in AD. We have collected world-leading expertise in different AD fields as well as in synaptic biology to serve as supervisors for the ESRs. In addition, we have included two pharmaceutical companies to facilitate potential future implementation of the results into clinical trials and to expose the ESRs to the private sector.
The objectives for the research programme of SyDAD were:
1. To investigate the pathways behind synaptic dysfunction in AD and thereby identify novel pharmacological targets, using state‐of‐the‐art and standardised methodology and an interdisciplinary approach.
2. To establish an efficient and collaborative drug discovery platform for intervention of AD synaptic dysfunction based on resources already present within the network as well as novel tools.
3. To test interventional strategies already in the pipeline within the network, or which will be identified in aim 1, with the ultimate goal of advancing to clinical trials, using the platform of aim 2.
The research performed by the ESRs has significantly increased our understanding about the pathways underlying synaptic dysfunction in AD, models and methods have been developed and biomarkers and interventional strategies have been evaluated.
Furthermore, the ESRs have been trained in advanced methodology at the Bordeaux School of Neuroscience and by utilising the expertise at different SyDAD sites during secondments. The methodological expertise has also been further spread by organising a final course open to young researchers world-wide.
A large number of scientific articles have been published whereof several involved collaborative efforts between SyDAD sites.
