The goal of the EC FP7 Collaborative Project INMiND (GA 278850) is to carry out collaborative research on molecular mechanisms that link neuroinflammation with neurodegeneration in order to identify novel biological targets for activated microglia, which may serve for both diagnostic and therapeutic purposes, and to translate this knowledge into clinical application and patient benefit.

The general objectives of INMiND are:

(i) to identify novel mechanisms of regulation and function of microglia under various conditions (inflammatory stimuli; neurodegenerative and -regenerative model systems);

(ii) to identify and implement new targets for activated microglia, which may serve for diagnostic (imaging) and therapeutic purposes;

(iii) to design new molecular probes (tracers) for these novel targets and to implement and validate them in in vivo innovative model systems and in patients;

(iv) to image and quantify modulated microglia activity in patients undergoing immune therapy for cognitive impairment, and to relate the findings to clinical outcome.

The INMiND projects brings together a group of excellent basic scientists and clinicians with a proven background in efficiently accomplishing common scientific goals (FP6 DiMI, www.dimi.eu), who belong to highly complementary fields of research (from genome-oriented to imaging scientists and clinicians), and who are dedicated to formulate novel image-guided therapeutic strategies for neuroinflammation-related neurodegenerative diseases.

The strength of the project is that, across Europe, it coordinates research and training activities related to neuroinflammation, neurodegeneration, neuroregeneration, and imaging with special emphasis on translating basic mechanisms into clinical applications that shall provide health benefits for our aging population.

With its intellectual excellence and its crucial mass the INMiND consortium is playing a major role in the European Research Area and will gain European leadership in the creation of new image-guided diagnosis and therapy paradigms in patients with neurodegenerative diseases.