Information on the topics under consideration for inclusion in IMI’s 9th Call for proposals is now available online . Currently, IMI plans to include the following topics in the 9th Call, which is scheduled for launch in the coming weeks:

Webinars on the topics will be organised around the time of the Call launch – join IMI’s group on LinkedIn  or follow us on Twitter  for the latest updates.

All information regarding future IMI Calls for proposals is indicative and subject to change. Final information about IMI’s future Calls will be communicated after approval by the IMI Governing Board.

On 28 June 2013, IMI will hold an info session in Barcelona, Spain on its forthcoming funding opportunities in collaborative research and innovation. The session will be a satellite event of MIHealth, the Health Management & Clinical Innovation Forum. The event is designed for people interested in submitting an Expression of Interest in response to future IMI Calls for Proposals. It will provide information about the rules and procedures for participating in IMI projects, as well as tips and tricks to prepare a successful proposal. Presentations will focus on ongoing IMI projects, IMI’s financial and intellectual property rules, and topics of the forthcoming Calls for proposals. Registration is free of charge but compulsory. Participants in the IMI Info Session will also benefit from a reduced rate to attend the MIHealth Forum.

• Read more about this event on the IMI website 
• To register for this event, please complete this registration form 
• Learn more about the MIHealth forum 

More than 250 people attended IMI’s annual Stakeholder Forum  in Brussels on 13 May and many more followed the event via the live webcast. The morning of the event was dedicated to brain research, an area where IMI is particularly active and where there is an urgent need for new drugs. The afternoon focused on IMI’s place in the European Research Area. The event closed with a keynote speech by Nobel Laureate Rolf Zinkernagel who focused on immunology research. IMI already has a number of projects in this area and it is likely to be the subject of future Calls for proposals. Feedback from the event was overwhelmingly positive.

The European Commission declared May 2013 the Month of the Brain , and throughout the month, events were held across Europe to highlight the urgent need for more research into the brain and showcase projects that are making progress in this challenging area. IMI has five neuroscience projects, and press releases issued during May set out the key achievements of the projects.

On autism, EU-AIMS  has discovered that it may be possible to reverse some of the brain changes in autism.

On chronic pain, Europain  is investigating how clinical trials can be better designed to take account of the placebo effect.

• Read the press release 

On Alzheimer’s disease, PharmaCog  is developing a matrix of biomarkers to aid both early detection of the disease and drug development.

• Read the press release 

On schizophrenia, NEWMEDS  is investigating the genetic causes of the disease with a view to understanding the changes taking place in the brain and, ultimately, paving the way for new treatments.

• Read the press release 

IMI and its projects were also the subject of presentations and discussions at the official Month of the Brain events organised in Brussels and Dublin by the European Commission.

EUPATI , the European Patients’ Academy on Therapeutic Innovation, brought together 183 participants from 28 countries at its first conference in Rome, Italy on 19 April 2013. IMI’s EUPATI project aims at providing patients with training and education opportunities to enable them to play a role in the medicines R&D process. The conference unveiled EUPATI’s ongoing plans for three areas of training and education: a certificate level course that by 2017 will produce 100 patient experts drawn from across Europe; more generic online education for 10 000 patient representatives; and an Internet library providing information to anyone with an interest in medicines R&D. Attendees heard that the broad outlines of the content of courses and material have been established, but finding the right way of teaching them will prove more of a challenge – as will be selecting 100 people from across Europe for the certificate level course. Even translation can be challenging; for example, some languages do not have a term for ‘randomisation’. Overall, the tone of the meeting was positive, with many speakers noting that there is now a real window of opportunity for effective patient involvement in R&D.

• Open PHACTS apps get developer community buzzing 

Experts from across Europe and beyond gathered in London at the end of April for the public release of the Open PHACTS  application programming interface (API) during the project’s Community Workshop . The API allows researchers to access and query the vast amounts of data compiled by the Open PHACTS project, creating their own, customised apps to do so if needed. The workshop featured demonstrations of two apps based on the API. PharmaTrek  provides researchers with an intuitive tool to explore the reams of target-protein interaction data that are publicly available. Meanwhile, the ChemBioNavigator  app allows users to rapidly and easily compare the physicochemical properties of a molecule set. The API generated high levels of interest, and one attendee even incorporated use of the Open PHACTS API into an existing app during the workshop, proving that it is both easy to access and intuitive to use. The workshop also discussed safeguarding the sustainability of the Open PHACTS platform by setting up the not-for-profit Open PHACTS Foundation.
   •   The API is available online 
   •   You will find the presentations and a workshop report here 

• IMI’s SAFE-T project enters formal collaboration with C-Path safety project

IMI’s SAFE-T  project and the Predictive Safety Testing Consortium (PSTC) managed by the Critical Path Institute  (C-Path) have formalised their collaboration through a legal agreement which will enable them to share research and regulatory strategies.
Both PSTC and SAFE-T are working on the development of new biomarkers to improve our ability to predict, diagnose, and monitor drug-induced injury to the liver, kidney, and vascular system. SAFE-T and PSTC have already been collaborating informally for some time. Increased collaboration between the two research consortia will be mutually beneficial and improve results for both projects. In particular, this agreement defines the framework for enhanced collaboration and exchange of information.
Benefits resulting from the collaboration between SAFE-T and PSTC will include reducing the cost of research while boosting efficiency; maximising the strengths of both projects; increasing communication with regulatory bodies and the projects’ scientific influence; the creation of a dataset with wide dissemination possibilities, and higher chances of the application of safer biomarkers.
   •   Read the press release
   •   Find out more about IMI’s SAFE-T  project

• Drug Discovery Today features EMTRAIN’s on-course® portal

The on-course®  portal developed by IMI’s EMTRAIN  project is the subject of an article  in the April issue of Drug Discovery Today. Currently providing detailed information on 4 598 (and counting) biomedical courses, on-course® is the most comprehensive postgraduate course portal in Europe.
The portal lists all master’s degrees, continued professional development (CPD) and PhD courses in Europe. In addition, on-course® hosts advanced search options designed by the pharmaceutical industry, academia and regulatory bodies allowing the course seeker to find courses that are most relevant for them.
The April 2013 issue of Drug Discovery Today depicts the key role that on-course® plays for the enhancement of life-long learning as an EU objective to increase competitiveness, employability and prosperity. on-course® responds to Europe’s need to enhance life-long training and is a major tool in helping the EU reach this strategic objective for the biomedical sector. The portal is intended to become the reference platform for education and training in biomedical sciences, and will help ensure that the biomedical education and training landscape is geared towards keeping Europe at the forefront of research.
   •   EMTRAIN  is an IMI project that will establish a sustainable, pan-European platform for education and training (E&T) covering the whole life-cycle of medicines research, from basic science through clinical development to pharmacovigilance.
   •   Read the article  published by Drug Discovery Today
   •   Discover on-course®

• DDMoRe publishes white paper in Nature’s Pharmacometrics & Systems Pharmacology

Some outcomes from the education and training team  are highlighted in a white paper  published recently in the Nature journal CPT: Pharmacometrics & Systems Pharmacology.
DDMoRe’s focus is on Modelling and Simulation (M&S), a technology providing the quantitative basis for informed decision-making across all stages of drug development. This model-based drug development is acknowledged as a vital approach in understanding drug-related benefits and risks.
The white paper presents a survey developed by DDMoRe which targeted stakeholders who are either directly or indirectly involved in Drug Disease Modelling and Simulation (DDM&S) in academia, industry, or the therapeutic usage of medicines. The survey provides insights into the current impact, benefits, weaknesses, and potential hurdles as perceived by the different stakeholders and identifies requirements for effective decision-making and knowledge integration management. The insights gained from the survey results will be used as the basis for developing a framework of competencies, and will contribute towards future educational and training efforts in pharmacometrics and systems pharmacology and DDM&S.
The IMI-funded DDMoRe consortium came together to overcome the lack of common tools, languages and ontologies for M&S, as well as the limited access to stored information which created significant gaps in the use of knowledge within drug development. The consortium builds and maintains a universally applicable, open source, model-based framework, intended as the gold standard for future collaborative drug and disease M&S. More general information on DDMoRe can be found in another article  in the same issue of the journal.
   •   Read DDMoRe’s white paper 
   •   Learn more about DDMoRe