The European Platform for Neurodegenerative Diseases (EPND) is working to accelerate progress in neurodegeneration research by removing barriers to data and biosample sharing. Today, we are excited to launch the EPND Hub, a major expansion of our data and biosample catalogue that offers new capabilities and enhanced interoperability to streamline research collaborations and foster innovation.

The EPND Hub offers a unified gateway for discovering, accessing, managing and sharing datasets and biosamples from neurodegeneration research studies. New functionalities include:

• Biosample search and request capabilities: Researchers can now search for and request biosamples directly through the Hub. Next year, this functionality will extend to datasets, making it easier to discover and access these valuable resources.
• Aggregate biosample counts: The Hub provides total aggregate counts of biosamples, allowing researchers to quickly assess availability across different neurodegenerative disease areas and stages.
• Expression of Interest (EoI) form and data dictionaries: These tools streamline sample access requests for researchers and cohorts, providing greater transparency to enhance collaborative research.

Designed by researchers, for researchers, the EPND Hub aims to offer seamless, one-stop access and analysis. Interoperability with the Alzheimer’s Disease Data Initiative’s AD Workbench means that registered users can use a single set of login credentials to view and request available datasets across both the Hub and AD Workbench and perform analyses within their secure, cloud-based workspaces. The Hub can also connect to other data catalogues, offering new opportunities for partnership and enabling cross-listing, federated discovery, access request management and analysis.

“The integration of the EPND Hub and the AD Workbench provides more opportunities for researchers to collaborate, share, access and analyse data to further our shared goal of accelerating discoveries in neurodegenerative disease research,” said Niranjan Bose, Interim Executive Director of the AD Data Initiative. “We are excited to see the new features that the EPND Hub offers researchers and look forward to our continued work together.”

By facilitating data discovery, biosample access, and advanced analysis, the EPND Hub aims to empower researchers and drive scientific breakthroughs. The launch of the Hub represents a significant milestone in our mission to create new pathways for collaborative research, building on the invaluable contributions of cohort investigators who have made their datasets and biosamples discoverable through EPND. The Hub currently includes over 80 cohorts, spanning 12 disease areas and representing more than 250,000 research participants in Europe and beyond.

“EPND has broken new ground by providing the world with this fully-integrated technical solution, plus support services, for data and sample sharing in neurodegenerative disease,” said Anthony Brookes, Professor of Genetics at the University of Leicester, and co-Lead of EPND’s technical workstream. “Beyond its deployment in this domain - where it already benefits basic research, biomarker development, and healthcare activities - it can easily serve other disease areas and projects by virtue of its modular and standards-based design.”

We invite researchers, study investigators and data contributors to explore the EPND Hub and join our collaborative research community. We encourage you to test our latest features and share your feedback so that we can continue to work collectively to drive scientific breakthroughs on neurodegenerative diseases.

Stay tuned for more updates coming to the Hub in March!