IMI Stakeholder Forum 2013

IMI Stakeholder Forum 2013
Public-private partnerships for health research and innovation

More than 250 people attended IMI’s annual Stakeholder Forum in Brussels, Belgium on 13 May and many more followed 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.

• Download the final agenda
• Read the highlights of the event on Twitter at #SF2013
• Watch the videos of speakers and pannelists on the IMI YouTube channel here

Presentations

Keynote speeches

• New treatments for brain disorders – needs and challenges
  Richard Frackowiak, Head of Service of Neurology, CHUV University Hospital, Switzerland
• Immunity versus Immunological Memory
  Rolf Zinkernagel, Professor Emeritus, University Hospital Zürich
  Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine, 1996

IMI’s neuroscience projects – pan-European public-private partnerships in brain research

• Introductory remarks
  Peter Andersen, Chair, EFPIA Research Directors Group

• NEWMEDS - schizophrenia & depression
  Tine Bryan Stensbøl, Divisional Director for Synaptic Transmission Research, Lundbeck

• PHARMACOG - Alzheimer’s disease
  Esther Schenker, Research Project Leader, Institut de Recherches Servier

• EUROPAIN –chronic pain
  Jordi Serra, Chief Scientific Officer, Neuroscience Technologies

• EU-AIMS - autism
  Will Spooren, Section Head, F. Hoffmann-La Roche
• EMIF-AD - Alzheimer’s disease
  Pieter Jelle Visser, Senior Clinical Researcher, Maastricht University

The future of European brain research: challenges and opportunities

• Introductory remarks
  Ruxandra Draghia-Akli, Director, Health Directorate, DG Research & Innovation, European Commission

IMI in the European Research Area

• The biopharmaceutical industry and IMI
  Richard Bergström, Director General, EFPIA

IMI and the month of the brain

Brain disorders affect 1 in 3 Europeans and cost the economy €798 billion every year. However, there are few effective treatments in this area and developing new drugs to treat brain disorders takes longer and costs more than for other diseases.

The Stakeholder Forum focused on how IMI projects are tackling these challenges at all levels by enhancing our understanding of brain disorders, developing new tools to improve drug development in this area, and improving clinical trial design.

This focus on the brain was timely as the European Commission declared May 2013 the Month of the Brain - a full month dedicated to events and activities to make decision-makers, stakeholders, the media and the public aware of the successes achieved and the challenges still laying ahead for brain research.