IHI launches AD-RIDDLE, an interdisciplinary initiative to help prevent and treat Alzheimer’s

Members of the AD-RIDDLE consortium, including the Barcelonaβeta Brain Research Center (BBRC), research centre of the Pasqual Maragall Foundation, have joined efforts in a new European initiative that aims to bridge the gap between Alzheimer’s research, implementation science, and precision medicine. The programme will offer healthcare professionals a toolkit for timely detection and diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease and dementias.

"With new research on the efficacy of multi-domain lifestyle interventions and the promise of disease-modifying therapeutics, there is renewed hope for patients, caregivers, and healthcare providers, and a window of opportunity for substantial progress,” said Miia Kivipelto, Professor, Research Director and Senior Geriatrician at the Karolinska Institutet and Karolinska University Hospital, and Principal Investigator (PI) for the project.

The endeavour, funded by the Innovative Health Initiative (IHI) and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), aims to transform how Alzheimer’s disease is detected, diagnosed, and treated across healthcare settings. The consortium unites academic and industry partners, healthcare providers, regulatory bodies, and patient organisations. 

Over the course of five years, the project will create a modular toolbox platform designed to provide support at all stages of the clinical pathway, including a digital community engagement portal, screening tools for increased accuracy in risk detection and early diagnosis, a decision support toolkit for healthcare providers, and personalised patient therapies.

A testing study will be conducted in diverse settings, from memory clinics to primary care, across six European countries, and will provide evidence to support implementation of diagnostic tools, treatments and lifestyle interventions. Data from the study will be hosted on the European Platform for Neurodegenerative Diseases (EPND). For further information, the full press release is available here.
 

Bibliographic reference
Malzbender, K., Barbarino, P., Ferrell, P.B. et al. Validation, Deployment, and Real-World Implementation of a Modular Toolbox for Alzheimer’s Disease Detection and Dementia Risk Reduction: The AD-RIDDLE Project. J Prev Alzheimers Dis (2024). https://doi.org/10.14283/jpad.2024.32
 

About the project
AD-RIDDLE receives funding under the auspices of the Innovative Health Initiative Joint Undertaking (IHI JU) and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) under the UK government’s Horizon Europe funding guarantee. The AD-RIDDLE programme has an initial budget of over €31 million, comprising €12,090,250 from the EU, €16,421,395 from the contributing partners and €2,368,307.25 from UKRI. The budget is distributed across a total of 24 partners:

·    Region Stockholm (manages all publicly-financed healthcare in Stockholm County)
·    Karolinska Institutet 
·    FINGERS Brain Health Institute
·    University of Gothenburg
·    Lund University 
·    University of Eastern Finland
·    Stichting VUmc
·    Universiteit Maastricht
·    Fundació Barcelonaβeta Brain Research Center
·    SYNAPSE Research Management Partners SL
·    Alzheimer Europe
·    Alzheimer’s Disease International
·    Università Degli Studi Di Perugia
·    Gates Ventures LLC
·    Davos Alzheimer’s Collaborative
·    Combinostics OY
·    Fujirebio Europe NV
·    Sanofi
·    C2N Diagnostics LLC
·    neotiv GmbH
·    Cambridge Cognition Limited
·    University of Leicester
·    Imperial College of Science Technology and Medicine
·    National Institute for Health and Care Excellence