MOPEAD, finalist in the 2019 Internet Awards on the strength of its digital-health innovation

• The European project, led in Spain by Fundació ACE, aims to engage the public at large in the early detection of Alzheimer’s disease.
• GMV has developed the research project’s online patient recruitment technology and the Big Data mining platform.
• MOPEAD represents a milestone in Alzheimer research, engaging citizens with digital tools.

The European MOPEAD project (Models of Patient Engagement for Alzheimer’s Disease), coordinated in Spain by Fundació ACE (Barcelona Alzheimer & Treatment & Research Center) has reached the final of the 2019 Internet Awards (Premios de Internet 2019), on the strength of its digital-health innovation.

Backed by the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA)  and brokered by the European Union’s public-private consortium Innovative Medicine Initiative (IMI), the project has won the Research and Entrepreneurship category as a trailblazing and revolutionary initiative in the field of Alzheimer’s research, in terms of the citizen-participation model it is based on.

Doctor Mercè Boada, medical director of Fundació ACE and project coordinator, attended the award ceremony in the gala venue, Espacio Fundación Telefónica. Speaking about the award given to Fundación Reina Sofía, which is also working on Alzheimer’s research, she pointed out that “Alzheimer’s is a disease that calls for the effort and engagement of the whole society. With the MOPEAD project we are advocating a new model that will allow us to make greater headway in the early detection of Alzheimer’s while still in the stage of mild cognitive impairment”. This model “draws on citizen participation and Big Data developed by the project’s technology partner, GMV, whose work has been excellent”. Because “working with Big Data calls for high-quality technology and expert handling”.

The MOPEAD partners, besides Fundació ACE Barcelona Alzheimer Treatment & Research Center, are Eli Lilly and Company Ltd.; ASDM Consulting;  AstraZeneca AB; the European Institute of Women’s Health; Karolinska Institute; KITE Innovation (Europe) Ltd.; Spomincica-Alzheimer Slovenia; Cologne University Hospital; Ljubljana University Medical Center; Vall D’Hebron-Institut University Hospital Recerca; Stichting VUmc; and Alzheimer Europe.

MOPEAD, early Alzheimer’s Disease detection, in patients’ hands

The overriding aim of the MOPEAD project is to consolidate an early dementia-diagnosis system driven by cross-society engagement and collaboration to define new Alzheimer’s Disease treatment. The participating organizations come from several European countries (Germany, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the Netherlands); between them they have developed and tested the following models for encouraging patient participation: answering an online questionnaire, voluntary participation in a medical check during Fundació ACE’s Open Days and themselves taking primary and tertiary healthcare checks. Researchers are now cross-checking all the data obtained to weigh up the effectiveness of each model.

Dementia, a top public-health priority

Dementia currently affects over 35 million people around the world; this figure is expected to increase to 115 million by 2050. Even as this disease’s impact soars, however, there is still no effective cure or treatment. In recent years experts have therefore focused on early detection of the disease, before any effective treatment becomes impracticable.