EVENTS
2013
KICK OFF MEETING 6-8 NOVEMBER 2013, SAN SERVOLO, VENICE, ITALY
MEETING AGENDA
The Kick-off meeting, for the new FP 7 funded project DESIRE,
Development and Epilepsy - Strategies for Innovative Research to improve
diagnosis, prevention and treatment in children with difficult to treat
Epilepsy (Grant Agreement n.: 602531) was held on 6 - 8 November 2013 at
San Servolo Island, Venice, Italy. The meeting was attended by over 70
participants from the consortium. This is a five years project,
involving 25 partners in 11 countries, with eight third parties, a total
of 2166 person months, with more than 250 researchers involved and 19
clinical centres involved in the clinical trial. The participants were
welcomed to San Servolo by the Dean of Venice International University,
Professor Agar Brugiavini.
The co-ordinator, Prof Renzo Guerrini explained how DESIRE is a unique
opportunity for all partners, since it is a translational collaborative
project, having cutting edge innovative objectives, using cutting edge
technologies with involvement of SMEs. DESIRE builds on the experience
of a previously funded project EPICURE and will also network with other
relevant EU wide projects such as the ESF funded Euroepinomics. It will
also serve as a platform for future projects in area of epilepsy and
also promote the involvement of many young researchers.
Over 0.5-1% of the general population have epilepsy and more than 50% of
these have childhood epilepsy. DESIRE will focus on epileptogenic
developmental disorders (EDD) ie early onset epilepsies the origin of
which is closely related to anatomo- functional developmental brain
processes. The project has five key objectives in six research/demo work
packages (coordinated by R. Guerrini, G. Avanzini, M. Mantegazza, R.
Spreafico, I. Blümcke, A. Represa, F. Benfenati, J. Chelly, H. Cross and
C. Barba):
WP1: Identifying genetic causes and pathophysiological mechanisms of
epileptogenic brain malformations
WP2: Identifying genetic causes and pathophysiological mechanisms of
epileptic encephalopathies WP3: Validating High Frequency Oscillations
(HFOs) as a biomarker of the seizure onset zone
WP4 Improving Diagnostic Tools and Protocols in Cortical Dysplasia
WP5 Improving epilepsy treatment in children with Focal Cortical
Dysplasias (FCD) Type II as classified by the International League
Againest Epilepsy (ILAE)
WP6 Innovative strategies for treatment and prevention of Epileptogenic
Developmental Disorders (EDD) related epilepsy and of its consequences
During the three day event the partners met to discuss the task,
milestones and deliverables to be carried out in each workpackage. The
consortium members also nominated Ethical Advisory Board members, the
Data Safety Monitoring Board experts. The participants were also
addressed by Dr M Saura Moreno and Dr R. Dall'Acqua from the European
Commission who gave an overview of the administrative aspects for DESIRE
. The importance of a dissemination plan strategy and the ethical
aspects of the proposal were also extensively discussed. Plans were also
made to ensure widespread dissemination of the research being undertaken
by the project partners at international meetings and conferences.
