Silver Santé Study – Partners

Belgium France Germany Spain Switzerland UK

inserm.frInserm (Institut national de la santé et de la recherche médicale) is based in Caen, France and is the office of Dr Gaël Chételat, Project Co-ordinator.

Inserm is responsible for several work packages within the project:

Work Package 1 Meditation is led by Dr Antoine Lutz and will manage different aspects relative to meditation in the project.

Dr Julie Gonneaud is leading Work Package 2 Lifestyle investigating the scientific questions related to lifestyle, including relationships between protective and risk factors on cognition, well-being and biomarkers of ageing and Alzheimer’s Disease, the effects of language practice and the impact of meditation on lifestyle.

Work Package 6 Biomarkers is led by Dr Gaël Chételat, Project Co-ordinator. This Work Package is responsible for the implementation biological measures in Study 2 and all analyses related to ageing and Alzheimer’s Disease biomarkers.

Dr Géraldine Poisnel is responsible for Work Package 7 Coordination & Management. This transversal Work Package is one of the pillars of the Medit-Ageing project, overseeing an efficient implementation, coordination and monitoring of the project and handling all administrative and financial aspects.

Finally, Work Package 9 Clinical Trial is led by Hélène Espérou, the sponsor of the study, who will oversee the regulatory/ethical aspects and monitoring of the European trial.

The University of Liege (ULG) has the multidisciplinary Structural Research Entity of the GIGA-CRC in vivo imaging.

The multidisciplinary core team form a research entity renowned for neurosciences studies on modified states of consciousness (sleep, hypnosis, anesthesia and comatose patients) and on cognition in aging and neurodegenerative diseases, and for producing and testing radio-biomarkers for neurology, oncology and cardiology.

Collette SalmonDr Fabienne Collette (pictured far left) is the leader of Work Package 3 Attention – she has expertise in fMRI design implementation and statistical analyses, and theoretical and practical background in the domain of executive functioning at the neuroimaging and neuropsychological level.

Professor Eric Salmon (left) is contributing to cognitive assessment and executive functions in Work Package 3 Attention.

ULG will also contribute to Work Package 4 Emotion with expertise in fMRI design implementation and statistical analyses, and Work Package 6 Biomarkers (neuroimaging, aging and AD biomarkers), having theoretical and practical background in cognitive and brain changes (PET and fMRI) in normal and pathological ageing.

patrik-UNIGE Olga_jpgThe University of Geneva, founded in 1559, is one of the main universities in Switzerland, and among the most international in Europe with more than 40% of faculty coming from outside Switzerland. Within the University, the Swiss Center for Affective Sciences unites researchers and teachers from several disciplines (such as psychology, medicine and social sciences) who collaborate in exploring the role of emotions in different domains. Created in 2005, this is the first center in the world to be entirely dedicated to the study of emotions at individual, societal, and cultural levels.

Dr Olga Klimecki, a senior researcher at the University of Geneva, leads Work Package 4 Emotion together with Prof. Dr. Patrik Vuilleumier (deputy). The Work Package Emotion is responsible for analyzing the role that emotions and their malleability play in healthy ageing and is also testing whether emotions and emotion regulation are changed by meditation practice.

ucl_logoUniversity College London (UCL) is based in the centre of the UK capital and was recently deemed to be the country’s most productive research university. The UCL Division of Psychiatry specialises in neuroscience, psychiatric epidemiology, and developing and evaluating interventions in mental health, with particular experience in research into disorders of older age. The Division also has close affiliation with the University College London NHS Trust through UCL Partners, the largest academic health partnership in Europe.

Dr Natalie L Marchant, a Lecturer in the Division of Psychiatry at UCL, leads Work Package 5 Cognition and Wellbeing and is responsible for developing a comprehensive behavioural assessment battery to investigate novel hypotheses regarding the effects of the interventions on different aspects of mental health, well-being, and cognition. Dr Marchant is also responsible for coordinating one of the clinical trials involving patients with subjective cognitive decline.

UoC_University_of_Cologne_800x400University of Cologne is deputizing for Work Package 5 Cognition and Wellbeing under the leadership of Professor Frank Jessen, supporting the work of UCL.

f7c65e2e7aThe Clinical and Research Memory Centre of Lyon is a public institution and the second Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de France (CHU). It aims to contribute to the continuous improvement of health through teaching, research and medical innovation. It is involved in the implementation of and recruitment of volunteers for Study 1. This state of the art clinical site has strong experience in clinical trial research.

Pierre Krolak-Salmon is a hospital practitioner and university professor, with research interests in predictive factors of cognitive, functional and behavioural dependency in Alzheimer’s disease and related diseases.

Barcelona-TeamHospital Clinic is a university hospital founded in 1906,which serves as a community hospital, and is the main public provider within its district in Barcelona. It also serves as a high-complexity tertiary hospital, and is recognised as a institution of reference, both domestically and internationally. A significant part of the hospital’s research activities are coordinated by the Institut d’Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS). The Alzheimer’s Disease and other Cognitive Disorders Unit,is a leading centre, nationally and internationally, in the study of preclinical and prodromal Alzheimer’s disease. It is partner of multiple public-funded projects such as BIOMARKAPD, AETIONOMY, EURO-SCD, among others. It also focus on early onset cognitive impairment and genetically determined dementias, with a dedicated genetic counselling program for monogenic dementias (PICOGEN).

Dr. José Luis Molinuevo (MD, PhD) (pictured left centre, with his team) is contributor to both Work Package 5 Cognition & Wellbeing and Work Package 6 Biological markers. He is the principal investigator of multiple research studies on Alzheimer’s disease and has extensive experience in international research, clinical trials, pre-clinical Alzheimer’s and biomarker research, providing a major contribution to the project.

The contribution of the European Clinical Research Infrastructures Network (ECRIN) will allow coordinated implementation of the clinical trial in our four European partner countries.

Inserm Transfert is the private subsidiary of the French National Institute of the Health and Medical Research (Inserm), dedicated to technology transfer. The Department of EU Affairs has a strong expertise in the financial and contractual rules of EU programs.

Inserm Transfert is co-leader of Work Package 7 Coordination & Management. Delphine Smagghe will support the legal and administrative management of the Consortium, and the co-ordination of the exploitation of foreground and management of intellectual property.

University of ExeterThe University of Exeter is a member of the Russell Group of leading research-intensive UK universities. The department of psychology is recognized internationally for its academic excellence.

Dr Thorsten Barnhofer is an associate professor at the University of Exeter, Mood Disorders Centre, a centre of excellence in the evaluation of mindfulness-based interventions for psycological disorders. The centre is based in the Sir Henry Wellcome Building for Mood Disorders Research, a recently established, fit-for-purpose-built clinical research site that houses state-of-the-art facilities for multi-centre trials of psychological including dedicated video conferencing facilities that will benefit the continuous supervision and adherance monitoring of the interventions.

Dr Barnhofer will contribute to Work Package 1 Meditation. He will work on the design of the mindfulness-based intervention and the control condition for Study 1 and contribute to their implementation and delivery across the different sites, including the supervision of teachers and monitoring of treatment adherance.

Rhonda-Crop Minerva Health & Care Communications UK supports organisations across health, care and science research to build capacity, competence and confidence, to improve knowledge flow, create insights, share expertise and deliver impact.

Director Rhonda Smith (pictured far left) is leading Work Package 8 Communication with the support of Senior Project Manager, Charlotte Reid (pictured right).

Minerva is responsible for driving and supporting external communications and dissemination on behalf of the project, reaching out to all important stakeholder groups. Tasks include: design and management of the project website; development of promotional materials including the project e-newsletter; media relations and social media activity; and development of a network database.