Chapter 6 Strategy for the next six years

6. Strategy for the next six years

In the fall of 2019 Amsterdam Neuroscience adopted the slogan, ‘Connecting the people, the science and the brain.’ To direct Amsterdam Neuroscience’s activities during the second half of its accreditation period, it was decided the institute should focus on seven points of attention for the years 2019-2021 (see Section 3: Strategy, p. 13). Investments, activities and efforts from the research institute were mainly geared towards these points in order to bring the new strategy in line with its campaign to reach a wider community of stakeholders (see Figure 5, p. 12). With this strategy, Amsterdam Neuroscience has created a solid foundation for its researchers and has established itself as an important connector between the Amsterdam UMC, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and UvA knowledge institutes, and their strategic plans for the coming years (see VU Amsterdam Strategy 2020-2025; see UvA Strategy 2021-2026; and Amsterdam UMC Strategy 2021-2026 is available on request).

Steps going forward

When the 2016-2021 period under review here came to an end last year, the new board of directors continued with these achievements, taking them into 2022 with a fresh perspective: that of the next six-year period and on the grand challenges in our field.

As a first step, and as a follow-up of the 2019 evaluation, we performed an internal SWOT analysis in dialogue with the directors, management team and program leaders. Figure 14 (p. 26) shows that both internal and external factors are likely to contribute to what can been seen as strongholds and points on which the organization needs to improve. As a second step, we asked all program leaders (see Appendix 1, p. 33) to perform a SWOT analysis for their respective research programs (as shown in Appendix 2, p. 37). Strongholds, focus areas for research for the coming years, and points of specific focus are addressed for each of the nine research programs.

Thirdly, the new board of directors of Amsterdam Neuroscience – in dialogue with the management team – proposes to focus on seven Grand Challenges, three internal operational organization objectives and four external strategic goals. In doing so, Amsterdam Neuroscience wants to become a ‘future-proof’ institute, with an entrepreneurial mind, with the aim of provideing a healthy and fruitful academic world for the neuroscientists of today and tomorrow. A network organization in Amsterdam where young talents can flourish, with sustainable research programs and projects, and where collaborations are formed to improve our understanding of the human brain and nervous system in health and disease.

Helpful

Strengths

Translational neuroscience Research program strategy Evidence-based connections between genetics, neuroscience, psychiatry, and neurology Forging ahead with the precision medicine approach Connecting with external stakeholders, including patients The largest community of neuroscientists in the Netherlands New leadership team of three directors with different backgrounds Industry Alliance Office strategy Strong track record in communication, branding, and webinar

National funding programs (AI & Health, MedTech, Biotech Booster, and Urban Diagnostics) New research buildings (O2, W&N-CNCR, and ADORE-RDC) Bioinformatics and Biocomputing Center and Clinical Trial Unit (funded by ADORE) New expertise centers to connect health care and research Use core facilities as assets in public-private partnerships Provide networking opportunities for graduate students Some research programs lack a cohesive and dedicated funding strategy Link between science facilities and clinic is suboptimal Difficulty securing commitment on the dedicated research time for Principal Investigators and staff Lack of external funding in some preclinical domains Downside of being (too) large as an institute and the risk of losing talent Risk of losing leadership in neuroradiology and neuropathology

Negative effects of COVID-19 lockdown measures, particularly for (under) graduate investigators The (highly) competitive world of funding for fundamental research, and a system where application procedures are inefficient and not sustainable Top-down decisions in science policy and lack of bottom-up approaches harm cohesive funding strategy Relocation of animal facilities and VU neuroscience to a new building will negatively impact research Possible negative implications that (i) necessary expenditure to combat climate change and (ii) geopolitical issues will have on large-scale science funding opportunities

Harmful

Weaknesses

Opportunities

Threats

Figure 14 Infographic summarizing the SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) highlights of Amsterdam Neuroscience. The analysis is based on the institute’s 2019-2021 metrics and the trend-watching by Amsterdam Neuroscience’s directory board in dialogue with the management team and the program leaders of the nine research programs.

Grand Challenges:

I. From ‘precision science’ to ‘precision medicine’ to acknowledge ‘individuality in biology, diagnosis and treatments’

In our quest for the best diagnosis and treatment of each patient, individuality has become a point of interest in all research fields, including neuroscience.

Personalized or precision medicine is high on the scientific agenda. Complementary to studying groups with similar symptoms, disentangling the heterogeneity in underlying disease mechanisms will bring customized diagnostics, individual treatment solutions and prognoses, and care a step closer to the patients. It is a prospective approach in order to achieve optimal individual health decisions. This needs further investment in the research field of individuality and brings with it the challenge to adequately value individual differences in fundamental and clinical studies.

II. Application of data-driven research to shape the field of genetics, neuroscience, neurology and psychiatry

The rise of Electronic Health Records (EHRs) and robust information technology (IT) systems supporting both research and health care delivery has placed patients and research participants who agree to provide biospecimens and share their clinical and research data at the epicenter of precision medicine research.

In parallel, novel computational methods in fundamental science have already yielded results, e.g., new insights in genetics and genomics data, molecular modeling and information processing in the brain. Big data-driven science will be a major component of future studies and Amsterdam Neuroscience will accommodate these developments.

III. Translate breakthrough innovations in fundamental science into clinical use

CRISPR gene editing is considered highly significant in biotech and medicine as it allows for the genomes to be edited in vivo with extremely high precision, cheaply and with ease. New sequencing technologies provide unprecedented insight into cellular processes, and stem cell technologies have changed the way we can work with patient-derived materials. In extension of this, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has defined ATMPs as medicines for human use that are based on gene therapy, somatic-cell therapy, vectorized antibodies or tissue-engineered medicines. For most new technologies, the implementation into clinical use will be an exciting challenge.

In line with this, in the new Research &

Diagnostics facilities of ADORE on the Vrije

Universiteit Amsterdam campus, integrated research efforts and core facilities will be available to facilitate this ambition. IV. From first-in-kind to best-in-kind: prioritize investigator-initiated and industry-sponsored clinical research

In extension of the ambition to focus, investigators will be able to participate in the newly established ADORE Clinical

Research Unit (ACRU), where we will integrate several trial groups from different therapeutic areas within the Neuroscience and Oncology departments into a newly formed structure. ACRU will design, conduct and report in early and later phase clinical trials and cohort studies in neuroscience and oncology, and secure Amsterdam UMC’s leading position in breakthrough clinical research by optimizing the synergistic collaboration of translational and clinical oncology and neuroscience research. ACRU will provide a high-quality infrastructure for both investigator-initiated and industrysponsored clinical research.

V. Participate and lead national and international team science projects and large consortia

Taking initiatives to join national and international team science efforts are important to create breakthrough opportunities; for example, the CNCR and

SILS participate in the Human Brain Project, a formally European Commission Future and Emerging Technologies flagship project that was awarded €1 billion in 2013. Other examples of international team science in which Amsterdam Neuroscience researchers participate (and often take the lead), include the Psychiatry Genomics Consortium, ENIGMA, and SynGo 1.0 and 2.0. And more recently, Amsterdam Neuroscience’s Principal Investigators initiated the NWO gravitation program, Brainscapes. Another important collaboration is when Amsterdam Neuroscience joined the lead-team of, and successfully launched, the Biotech Booster campaign, which focuses on extending the development of knowledge into business. In addition to application in health care, the proposal also focuses on other sectors such as the chemical industry and agriculture. The maximum investment from the National Growth Fund is €246 million, with €50 million set aside for the first phase along with a conditional allocation of €196 million. As such, the Biotech Booster has great potential for Amsterdam Neuroscience.

VI. Organize a proper ‘bedside-to-bench’ translational strategy and stimulate

‘predictive, personalized, preventive and participatory medicine’

One of the Grand Challenges for the coming years is to improve the inclusion of ‘value-based health care’ principles and patient participation in our translational neuroscientific strategy. Only then will we be able to ask pressing health care questions and translate these into relevant scientific ones. In other words, Translational

Neuroscience is not only ‘bench-tobedside’, but also ‘bedside-to-bench’.

In doing so, this may bring a) predictive medicine based on companion diagnostics and may be applied to a substratified patient that has been selected on the basis of predictive biomarkers. This may result in b) personalized medicine for each individual patient, which leads to c) preventive medicine aimed at preventing or delaying the onset of diseases. This can be done with predictive and precise diagnoses and adequate treatments on people who are in an asymptomatic state in which clinical symptoms or severe tissue damage have not yet occurred. And it will stimulate d) participatory medicine, where participation (of distinct) patient populations, innovation and the application of AI technology (and wearables) are changing business-as-usual in health care: this will lead to high(er) patient expectations, technology-enabled care, new treatments and increase efficacy of existing treatments, more effective focus on quality and costs, and big data use at point of care.

VII. Public-private partnerships as accelerators to achieve value for society

Amsterdam Neuroscience’s overall aim is to transform the fundamental understanding of human well-being and human diseases into effective, peoplecentered and affordable health measures.

Working in public-private partnerships supports this aim by accelerating opportunities for prevention, the discovery of disease mechanisms, the identification of novel (drug) targets for intervention and facilitating the discovery of drugs. It also accelerates opportunities for the development of ATMPs, diagnostic instruments, biomarkers, algorithms, medical devices and treatment strategies, which in turn need validation in clinical trials, supported by AI, data science and participatory medicine. As a dedicated business development office, Amsterdam Neuroscience’s IAO will be facilitating the strategy of our investigators (see below).

Internal organization:

In addition to the Grand Challenges above, the new directors will take the following operational steps as far as internal organization is concerned:

a. Improving on cross-links between the research programs of Amsterdam

Neuroscience, taking into account that basic science is the foundation of the innovative translational programs • The directory board will (1) start a dialogue with the program leaders concerning the program’s needs, potential, and synergy with the other programs. • Taking this input, we will (2) bring together program leaders to outline a strategy that is aimed at further enhancing science, promoting translational research and new funding options. The board will explore whether (or not) distributed seed funding

of Amsterdam Neuroscience is instrumental to the programs. • The board will take this dialogue and use the insights/input in the strategy of the coming years, with the notion that sustainable basic science is a cornerstone of innovative translational programs. Here, the connection between clinicians and basic scientists in team science is crucial and can be developed even further. (3)

Reshuffling or re-organizing (a) program(s) will be considered if necessary to increase success.

b. Building on continued funding and accessibility of core facilities, including those for animal research, imaging, IPS facilities, proteomics and genomics, drug screening and AI- and computational infrastructure

• The board foresees difficulties that come with large investments and high access fees due to depreciation costs. Amsterdam

Neuroscience co-funding might aid in the use of facilities with high costs, which might benefit the use of high-end technologies in the research programs. • The board will carefully monitor the impact of the move of animal research into a new facility which may experience delays or setbacks. • Feedback from the Amsterdam Neuroscience community is required to explore this model and to identify whether and how new shared technology infrastructure

will benefit the research output of the programs. • The board will improve the visibility of the core facilities for potential users.

c. Providing more network opportunities for young researchers and students • For undergraduate students there is a growing need to find their way and work in the labs of researchers within Amsterdam

Neuroscience. The board will address this by generating a web-based platform to connect students to ongoing projects. • Amsterdam Neuroscience has a large body of MSc and PhD candidates. The board will strive to improve the alignment of the teaching portfolio offered by the ONWAR graduate school as well as the Amsterdam

UMC Doctoral School. • Amsterdam Neuroscience will be aligning with the strategic plans of Vrije Universiteit

Amsterdam, UvA and Amsterdam UMC – this relates to acknowledging team science, to open and transparent reporting and to recognizing the development of young talents and diversity in personnel, given the international setting in which we operate nowadays (see Appendix 8, p. 103).

External strategy:

The new directors – in collaboration with the program leaders - will aim for the following strategics goals as far as external opportunities are concerned:

a. Building on more external funding commitment with the aim of providing sufficient support for innovation and collaboration between Amsterdam

Neuroscience’s investigators • The Amsterdam Neuroscience board sees that large differences exist between

Amsterdam Neuroscience researchers with respect to the strategies they use to obtain external funding. This may need exchange of practices and insights between Principal

Investigators. • The board wishes to explore the potential to increase, in particular, the external funding component where this is felt difficult to obtain. This may also need exchange of ideas and insights between Principal

Investigators.

b. Aim for (and take the lead in) national and international consortia and funding opportunities for research infrastructure, research and innovation • The board aims to further explore the potential to lead national consortia and research infrastructures, funded by NWO,

ZonMw and ministries-sponsored programs. • Researcher-driven initiatives that need internal assembly and eventually sponsoring from external partners. The latter can be accommodated to a large extent by the

Amsterdam Neuroscience IAO (see also below, under item ‘d’).

c. Align strategy of valorization and working towards societal impact as an integral part of the translational and clinical research strategy • The Amsterdam UMC has appointed a vice-dean Valorisation of Research. We will increase the expertise of Principal

Investigators regarding this topic by individual courses, bringing them in touch with our IAO, and stimulating contacts with the relevant patient organizations and knowledge institutes.

d. Building on the success of the IAO • The board has identified that the partner scouting and contract-making capacity of the IAO has not penetrated equally well into all partner groups/institutes. • We aim to advertise the work of the IAO for those that have not yet been in contact with it and explored possibilities for projects and collaborative project funding. • The IAO can also be instrumental in bringing researchers together within Amsterdam

Neuroscience by assembling science teams that optimally match internal expertise and external demand.