Joint Programming Initiative Neurodegenerative Diseases (JPND)

Neurodegenerative diseases are debilitating and largely untreatable conditions that are strongly associated with ageing. The most common neurodegenerative diseases are Alzheimer’s disease and related conditions that account for the largest global burden of disease, affecting an estimated 50 million people worldwide. By 2050, the total direct and informal healthcare costs in Europe alone will exceed €350 billion per year, which shows that Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease pose one of the most important medical and societal challenges of our time.

The JPND brings together 30 countries to use international research efforts as effectively as possible to improve prevention, diagnosis, treatment and patient care for people with neurodegenerative diseases.

We focus on the following neurodegenerative diseases within JPND:

1. Alzheimer’s disease and other types of dementia
2. Parkinson’s disease and related conditions
3. Prion disease
4. Motor neurone disease
5. Huntington’s disease
6. Spinocerebellar ataxia
7. Spinal muscular atrophy

Within JPND, we are committed to promoting the impact of research by:

• Aligning and building on existing national programmes.
• Identifying common goals of participating countries that could benefit from the collaboration.

We contribute to the JPND through the Dementia Research Programme. In addition, JPND overlaps in terms of content with ZonMw’s themes Eldery and Palliative Care.

Dementia affects the whole world. By conducting research on a larger scale, sharing data and pooling research resources, real breakthroughs can be achieved faster. Moreover, Dutch dementia research and dementia care are held in high regard internationally,

The Dementia Research Programme aims to reinforce the prominent international role of Dutch dementia research and link it to international programmes. This is why ZonMw has been participating in JPND on behalf of the Netherlands since 2011 and we contribute annually to its international grant rounds.

On behalf of the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport, the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science and the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the Netherlands provides grants to the research component of projects in which Dutch partners participate. This gives Dutch researchers the opportunity to contribute internationally to research on neurodegenerative diseases. See the JPND website for open calls for grant applications. See the country-specific information sheet for the ZonMw conditions to participate in a JPND grant round. This sheet is published as an Appendix to each call for grant applications.