The Department of International Cooperation is delighted to pre-announce the 5th Joint Transnational Call (JTC 2023) to be launched in December 2022 by the consortium EJP RD (European Joint Programme on Rare Diseases) on the topic of
“Natural History Studies addressig unmet needs in Rare Diseases”
CALL TOPIC
Research proposals should cover at least one of the following areas:
- Estimation of disease prevalence;
- Identification of biomarkers/companions for the diagnosis/prognosis of a RD;
- Identification of biomarkers/indicators/predictors of a rare disease or group of disorders (e.g. having the same aetiology) onset/progression (including collection of genetic, physiological, environmental data or variables….);
- Identification of relevant endpoints for future studies that include potential biomarkers, querying patient-reported outcomes (PROs) and quality-of-life measures to identify the most;
- Identification of biomarkers/variables for therapeutic approaches (pharmacology, drug repurposing, gene therapy, RNA therapy, cell therapy, medical devices…).
It is possible to use cellular and animal models for validation of the new diagnostic approaches in the subtopics listed above where relevant.
The following approaches and topics are excluded from the scope of the call:
- Interventional clinical trials to prove efficacy of drugs, treatments, surgical procedures, medical procedures. This also includes studies comparing efficacy, e.g. two surgical techniques or therapies. Projects whose main objective is the implementation of a clinical phase IV pharmacovigilance study cannot be funded either.
- Studies on the exclusive testing of the safety of medical devices and drugs.
- Development of new therapies as covered in EJP RD JTC 2020.
- Development of new analytic tools and pathways to accelerate diagnosis and facilitate diagnostic monitoring of rare diseases as covered in EJP RD JTC 2022.
- Projects focusing only on rare neurodegenerative diseases which are within the main focus of the Joint Programming Initiative on Neurodegenerative Disease Research (JPND). These are: Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias; Parkinson’s disease (PD) and PD-related disorders; Prion diseases; Motor Neuron Diseases; Huntington’s disease; Spinal Muscular Atrophy and dominant forms of Spinocerebellar Ataxia. Interested researchers should refer to the relevant JPND calls. However, childhood dementias/neurodegenerative diseases are not excluded.
- Rare infectious diseases, rare cancers and rare adverse drug events in treatments of common diseases. Rare diseases with a predisposition to cancer are not excluded.
PARTICIPATING ORGANISATIONS
A number of national and regional funding organisations will participate in the EJP RD Joint Transnational Call (JTC) 2023 and will fund multilateral research projects on rare diseases under the EJP-COFUND action. The following funding organisations in their respective countries/regions have expressed their interest in joining the JTC2023:
- Austrian Science Fund (FWF), Austria*
- Fund for Scientific Research – FNRS (F.R.S.-FNRS), Belgium, French-speaking community
- Canadian Institutes of Health Research – Institute of Genetics (CIHR-IG), Canada
- French National Research Agency (ANR), France
- German Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), Germany
- German Research Foundation (DFG), Germany
- National Research, Development and Innovation Office (NKFIH), Hungary*
- Health Research Board (HRB), Ireland
- Chief Scientist Office of the Ministry of Health (CSO-MOH), Israel
- Italian Ministry of Health (IT-MoH), Italy
- Regional Foundation for Biomedical Research (FRRB), Lombardy (Italy)
- Tuscany Region (RT/TuscReg), Tuscany (Italy)
- Fondazione Telethon, Italy
- Research Council of Lithuania (LMT), Lithuania
- National Research Fund (FNR), Luxembourg
- National Centre for Research and Development (NCBR), Poland
- Slovak Academy of Sciences (SAS), Slovakia
- National Institute of Health Carlos III (ISCIII), Spain
- Swedish Research Council (SRC), Sweden
- Vinnova, Sweden*
- Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF), Switzerland
- The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Türkiye (TUBITAK), Türkiye*
* Decision still pending.
PRELIMINARY TIMETABLE
| 15th December 2022 | Information webinar for potential applicants |
| 15th February 2023 | Pre-proposal submission deadline |
| End of April 2023 | Invitation to full proposal |
| 14th June 2023 | Full proposal submission deadline |
| 26th July 2023 | Deadline for rebuttals |
| December 2023 | Notification of funding decision |
SAS’ participation in this call was approved by resolution no. 136 of the SAS Presidium on 13 October 2022. The Presidium allocated an indicative budget of up to 40,000€ per year (of which 15,000 € per year is an in-kind contribution of the SAS applicant’s organisation) for 1 project with maximum duration of 3 years.
More information at: https://www.ejprarediseases.org/joint-transnational-call-2023/
Partner search tool: https://live.eventtia.com/en/jtc2023matchmaking
CONTACT PERSON
Ing. Silvia Kecerová, PhD.
T: +421 2 57510 118