On 6-7 November, EPND partners gathered in Brussels for the project’s fourth Annual Meeting, marking an important moment as EPND enters its final project phase. Over two days, representatives from academia, industry, biobanks and patient organisations reviewed progress, shared scientific results and discussed priorities for ensuring that EPND delivers lasting value beyond 2026.

The meeting opened with a presentation from Phil Scordis (UCB), one of EPND’s co-leads alongside Niranjan Bose (Gates Ventures), Tony Brookes (University of Leicester), and Pieter Jelle Visser (Maastricht University). Setting the scene for the next two days of discussions, Phil highlighted several milestones from EPND’s fourth year, including the successful launch of the EPND Hub, onboarding of research cohorts, and progress in biomarker case studies that have unveiled new insights into neurodegenerative diseases.

Expanding the EPND Hub and growing the cohort community

A major focus of the meeting was the continued rollout of the EPND Technical Hub, launched in December 2024. The Hub acts as a single gateway for discovering neurodegenerative disease datasets and biosample collections, supporting secure access requests, ethical and legal guidance, and analysis in workspaces hosted on the AD Workbench. With more than 100 studies listed and a growing number of cohorts making their data and biosamples requestable, partners highlighted how the Hub is already enabling reuse of high-value resources and supporting collaborative biomarker research across Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and related conditions.

Researchers and cohort owners are encouraged to explore the EPND Hub, discover available datasets and biosample collections, and submit access requests linked to their own research projects.

Enabling collaborative biomarker research and advancing sustainability

The meeting also showcased progress in EPND’s biomarker case studies, spanning blood, CSF, proteomics and microbiome analyses. These studies are generating new datasets for the community while simultaneously testing EPND’s services end to end. By combining scientific outputs with platform development, EPND is demonstrating how shared infrastructure can accelerate biomarker discovery, validation and reuse across diseases.

Discussions also focused on long-term sustainability and the role of communications in supporting EPND beyond the project lifetime. Partners reviewed emerging service models for academia and industry, recognising the need to continue expanding awareness and engagement through coordinated communications, events and partnerships. Strengthening visibility of available datasets, cohorts and services was seen as essential for growing the EPND community and maximising impact.

Future perspectives for EPND

In addition to presentations and updates, the meeting fostered lively discussions, brainstorming sessions, and exchanges among partners. As EPND enters its final year, the project will focus on expanding cohort onboarding, completing case studies, refining services and strengthening sustainability planning, with the shared goal of ensuring that EPND remains a trusted, collaborative infrastructure for neurodegeneration research in Europe and beyond.

We would like to thank all partner organisations and colleagues for their contributions to EPND, and for their active participation during our fourth Annual meeting!