Projects
NEUROBID
project name: Neuroscience on Barriers in Development
initiating country: The European Union
Framework Programme: FP7 programme area: Health contract type: CP-FP – Collaborative Focused Research Project
contract/proposal/call number: 241778
status: active
start date: January 2010 duration: 48 months projected finish date: January 2014
Keywords
Fields of Research:
Neurology and Neuromuscular Diseases
keywords: blood brain barrier (BBB); brain diseases; treatment strategies
Project Budget
total budget: € 4,195,911
Participants
Note that the follow people may not represent the full extent of the consortium. FEAST has tried to identify the Australian participants, and their collaborators (or coordinator), within the project. Also note that Australian participation may not necessarily be on a formal level.
| name | organisation | state or country |
|---|---|---|
| Prof Norman Saunders | The University of Melbourne | VIC, Australia |
| MHH | Germany | |
| GU | Germany | |
| Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg | Germany | |
| University of Oxford | United Kingdom | |
| UMC Utrecht | The Netherlands | |
| Simcyp Limited | United Kingdom | |
| ABT | Austria | |
| Brain-i | France | |
| Inserm | France |
Further information
summary:
Brain diseases are one of the most prevalent groups of diseases in Europe with estimated annual costs amounting to €386 billion (1). Data collected by the WHO suggest that brain diseases are responsible for 35% of Europe’s total disease burden (1). In the treatment of neurological disease, the blood brain barrier (BBB) still represents an obstacle for the delivery of drugs to the brain and thus a major challenge for the development of therapeutic regimens. Understanding the molecular basis and functioning of the BBB in health and disease, including transport mechanisms across the BBB, therefore holds significant potential for future strategies to prevent and ameliorate neurological disease.
Recent research indicates that some neurological disorders have a developmental etiologic component. The major goal of the NEUROBID project is thus to understand the molecular mechanisms and function of the BBB in health and disease both in the developing brain and the adult central nervous system. With an interdisciplinary consortium from the fields of developmental neurobiology and BBB research, NEUROBID aims to (i) understand the involvement of normal and disturbed BBB function in normal and abnormal brain development and (ii) to develop novel strategies for drug delivery to the brain. Unique transport mechanisms across the BBB will be used to target potential therapeutic macromolecular and cellular agents specifically to the brain barriers and transport them into the brain. The main target disorders of NEUROBID are non-inherited neurodevelopmental disorders arising from perinatal adverse exposure, such as cerebral palsy, and classic adult neurological disorders such as multiple sclerosis and stroke. In the long term, NEUROBID hopes to pave the way for new treatment strategies and thus reduce the economic and social burden of neurological disease.
1. Olesen J, et al. Consensus document on European brain research. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 2006;77 Suppl 1:i1-49.
