| RESEARCH NEWS | ||
Although the United States is making great strides in Parkinson's Research, this issue we will travel across the world to review European research. Thank you to Ron Hutton, England, who provided us with this report:
Marburg, June 27, 2002
Research networks - the European strategy in combating major brain diseases Cooperative networks of leading European experts will combine expertise and resources in order to accelerate scientific progress in combating major brain diseases such as Parkinson's Disease. The European Cooperative Network for Research, Diagnosis and Therapy of Parkinson's Disease (EuroPa) associates clinical centers of currently 11 countries (United Kingdom, France, The Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Czech Republic, Israel and Italy). Specialists from other European countries have already expressed their interest in joining this project.
EuroPa will build the infrastructure of a multinational research and clinical trial network based on modern Internet technology. A crucial achievement will be the central patient registry that facilitates a fast recruitment of clinically well described patients for multi center studies. Medical data will be stored anonymously at the central server.
Personal data of all informed, consenting patients remain at the medical centers with respect to the according data protection guidelines and are used to re-identify potential clinical trial participants. "By setting up the networking structures of EuroPa, cooperation between leading specialists in the field of movement disorders, in particular Parkinson's Disease, will reach a new and very promising level", says Wolfgang Oertel, neurologist at Philipps-University, Marburg (Germany) and coordinator of the project. EuroPa will be a European network consisting of emerging national networks of excellent clinical centers that do not just collect standardized data but will also carry out state-of-the-art research and clinical studies.
Olivier Rascol, the French specialist of Parkinson's Disease in EuroPa, emphasizes: "Combining the knowledge and resources of all participants with a growing data base of precise medical data will speed up and improve clinical research. A growing number of patients will increasingly benefit from the spread of good clinical practice in all participating countries and the faster development of
new treatment options for Parkinson's Disease."
The number of patients suffering from Parkinson's Disease, a neurodegenerative movement disorder, already exceeds 500.000 in Europe. Due to the increased ageing of the European population Parkinson's Disease is not only an individual burden and medical challenge but also a growing economic concern. Therefore, the EuroPa network also supports economic evaluations and comparative analyses of patient care for Parkinson's Disease "In the long run, patient care can only be improved if the interests of all parties (patients, physicians, health insurance organizations, pharmaceutical industry) are taken into account, is Richard Dodel (Marburg) pointing out, who is in charge for conducting the economic evaluations within EuroPa in close collaboration with Cristina Samapaio (Lisbon).
EuroPa will furthermore cooperate with the European MSA Study Group (EMSA-SG), another European network funded by the EC, that focuses on Multiple System Atrophy, a movement disorder related to Parkinson's Disease. The EMSA-SG is coordinated by Werner Poewe and Gregor Wenning (Innsbruck), the Austrian representatives of EuroPa. The development of EuroPa is supported by the European Commission with approximately 1,7 million EUR for 3 years and aims at the establishment of an independent, non-profit organization that will have a lasting influence on clinical research and treatment of Parkinson's Disease in Europe.
Members of the EuroPa consortium are: P. Barone (Naples), interActive Systems GmbH (Berlin), K. Leenders (Groningen), A. Lees (London), O. Lindvall (Lund), E. Melamed (Tel Aviv), W. Oertel (Marburg), W. Poewe (Innsbruck), O. Rascol (Toulouse), E. Ruzicka (Prague), C. Sampaio (Lisbon), E. Tolosa (Barcelona). A website is currently under construction.For more information please contact:
Dr. Regina Wick
Project Manager EuroPa
Philipps University Marburg
Scheppe Gewissegasse 8
D-35039 Marburg