Joint programming Initiatives:
The development of a SRA
What is Joint Programming?
•A new Member States-led initiative in Europe which
aims to address “grand challenges” to EU society by
coordinating national research programmes within the
EU to increase the impact and effectiveness of research
efforts.
Source : Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament,
the Council, the European Economic and social committee and the
Committee of the Regions toward Joint Programming in Research : Working
together to tackle common challenges more effectively - COM(2008) 468
final, Brussels
Joint Programming - a definition
European countries engaging
•voluntarily and on a variable geometry basis to
tackle a major societal question
•in the definition, development and implementation
of a common strategic research agenda
•based on a common vision on how to address major
societal challenges.
JPI: key steps
•Selective topic
•Common vision
•Governance
•Best scientists
•Stakeholders
•Inventory of ongoing activities
•Strategic Research Agenda (SRA)
•It’s implementation (funding, variable geometry)
•It’s outcomes (social en economical benefits)
A Healthy Diet For A Healthy Life
Leave medicines in the chemist’s pot if you can cure your patients with food.
- Hippocrates –
The Vision
In 2030 all Europeans have the motivation, ability
and opportunity to consume a healthy diet from a
variety of foods, have healthy levels of physical
activity and the incidence of diet-related diseases
will have decreased significantly.
Healthier diets
and reduced incidence of
diet-related diseases
Policy-making; effective communication and
knowledge and technology transfer
Full operation of ERA: strong cooperation and
collaboration in research
Determinants Diet and
of diet and
food
physical
production
activity
Diet-related
chronic
diseases
Safe and sustainable foods
Identification of joint activities, improving research
infrastructure, harmonising research standards,
curricula, providing access to infrastructure,
databases, cohort studies, …
National food and nutrition programmes;
EU and regional funding
Diet and physical activity
Strategic Research Agenda: priority list
time-line
2012
2015
2020
Establish a European trans-disciplinary research network on determinants of dietary and physical activity
behaviours and the relation with health and best practice implementation strategies for sustainable changes
Create pan-European programmes that utilize a prospective design and a comprehensive approach of diet and
physical activity in real-life conditions to better understand how individual, social, environmental and policy
factors interact to shape behaviours that promote the incidence of chronic diseases; use pilot and feasibility
studies with different levels of complexity in interventions (including natural experiments) to determine the most
effective ways of promoting a healthy lifestyle by also integrating social inequities
Establish European Nutrition and Food Research Institute to improve scientific collaboration and
communication across national borders and for a better integration of food, nutrition and health research
throughout Europe. Provide a hub-like structure with academic research institutes in member and
associated states and create a knowledge and education centre for knowledge transfer into various
stakeholder groups (academia and industry) in EU member states and abroad (underdeveloped and
developing countries).
Diet and food
Strategic Research Agenda: priority list
time-line
2012
2015
2020
Set up a roadmap-initiative for biomarkers of nutrition and health; define research strategies and
launch research activities that address the needs of consumers as well as industry towards measures
on health claims and explore new methodologies or emerging biomarkers in consumer subgroups
(target groups) or individuals at risk
Initiate research programmes (i.a. ERA-NETs) on comprehensive analyses of the metabolic fate of food constituents
(nutrients and other bioactives, including microbiota effects) in human physiology with a strong emphasis on
different population groups, including the elderly.
Establish European Nutrition and Food Research Institute to improve scientific collaboration and
communication across national borders and for a better integration of food, nutrition and health research
throughout Europe. Provide a hub-like structure with academic research institutes in member and
associated states and create a knowledge and education centre for knowledge transfer into various
stakeholder groups (academia and industry) in EU member states and abroad (underdeveloped and
developing countries).
Diet and disease
Strategic Research Agenda: priority list
time-line
2012
2015
2020
Establish a European Nutrition Phenotype Assessment and Data Sharing Initiative providing a standardised
framework for human intervention studies on food and health and their phenotypic outcomes with an open access
reference database
Expand and foster existing prospective diet-related cohort studies, merge them into open access nutritional
databases and initiate new pan-European prospective studies on the diet-health relationship with new markers
of health as derived from comparative phenotype analysis
Establish European Nutrition and Food Research Institute to improve scientific collaboration and
communication across national borders and for a better integration of food, nutrition and health research
throughout Europe. Provide a hub-like structure with academic research institutes in member and
associated states and create a knowledge and education centre for knowledge transfer into various
stakeholder groups (academia and industry) in EU member states and abroad (underdeveloped and
developing countries).
Horizontal Issues
 Primary goal for 2020 and beyond: Full integration of the research
areas
 Establish a European Nutrition and Food Research Institute to
improve scientific collaboration
 provide a platform for harmonisation and standardisation in nutrition
and food research and technology,
 provide a standardised infrastructure to support and perform large
multi-centre nutritional interventions throughout Europe;
 provide a vital research environment stimulating innovation in
nutrition and food science;
 provide a platform for continuous education for all stakeholders,
including young researchers, experts in R&D from academia and
industry
Joint Programming Initiative on
Neurodegenerative disease
What are the goals?
To tackle the challenge of Alzheimer’s and other
neurodegenerative diseases, the goals of the JPND
Research Strategy are to
•To develop new treatments and preventive strategies
•To improve health and social care approaches
•To raise awareness and de-stigmatise
Neurodegenerative disorders
•To alleviate the economic and social burden of these
diseases
Scope of JPND
Focus on
Three Domains
Scientific
• Animal models
• Biobanks
• Cohorts/registries
• Disease pathology
Medical
• Early diagnosis
• Prevention
• Clinical trials
Social
• Health care delivery
• Home automation
• Health economics
• Ethics
Diseases Targeted
Alzheimer’s Disease and other
dementias
Motor Neurone Disease
Prion Disease
Parkinson’s Disease & related disorders
Huntington’s Disease
Spinocerebellar Ataxia (SCA)
Spinal Muscular atrophy (SMA)
JPND Research Strategy – what is it?
• A holistic ‘roadmap’ for future EU-wide activity and
investment
• not a review of the field, not a list of calls for proposals
Delivery takes into account;
• SAB recommendations
 based upon outputs from 4 scientific/strategic workshops
• National and European research portfolios
• Broad consultation with stakeholder groups
Delivering JPND Research Strategy
•1. Mapping exercise of National and European programmes
•2. Strategic prioritisation
•three thematic workshops (basic/clinical/healthcare)
•Stakeholder discussions
•fourth workshop to integrate outputs, incorporate stakeholder
perspectives
•3. Consultation exercise (website publication)
•4. Delivery taking into account
•Outputs from scientific workshops
•Consultation
•Discussion at MB (to incorporate funder, political & policy
considerations)