Workshop Details
- Day 1 – March 13, 2023, 2:00pm-5:00pm ET
- Day 2 – March 14, 2023, 9:30am-4:00pm ET
About this Workshop
A key step towards reducing the burden of central nervous system (CNS) disorders is the identification of disease-specific biomarkers that can help predict, monitor, and guide treatment development. Multimodal biomarkers, in particular, offer the potential for improved diagnosis and more accurate disease assessments. However, there remain challenges in current data collection, standardization, and validation practices that impede the development of multimodal biomarkers. On March 13-14, 2023, the National Academies’ Forum on Neuroscience and Nervous System Disorders convened experts and stakeholders from a diverse range of sectors and explored thechallenges and potential pathways forward to advance the field.
Workshop Objectives
A planning committee of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine organized and conducted a 1.5-day public workshop that brought together experts and key stakeholders from academia, industry, government, philanthropic foundations, and disease-focused non-profit organizations to examine the potential to develop multimodal biomarkers for central nervous system (CNS) disorders through integration of different biomarkers. The workshop explored steps toward this goal, such as data collection for biomarker discovery, development, validation, and assessment of clinical utility; standardization; and regulatory considerations.
Invited presentations and discussions:
- Reviewed current state of knowledge regarding biomarkers for CNS disorders (e.g., blood-based, imaging, molecular, proteomic, genetic) and ongoing efforts to generate multimodal biomarkers.
- Examined current practices for data collection, cohort development, and measurement standards for discovery of biomarkers that are representative of the CNS disease phenotype.
- Explored the process of replicating biomarker research findings and validating single and multimodal biomarkers.
- Discussed opportunities to standardize the methodologies, terminology, and metadata for biomarker discovery, validation and use in order to increase applicability across diverse populations/cohorts and enable accessible data sharing.
- Reviewed the current regulatory guidance for decision making regarding multimodal biomarkers for CNS disorders, current barriers, and implications for clinical utility.
- Discussed innovative and new methodologies for biomarker integration in CNS disorders, including consideration of lessons learned from other therapeutic areas.
The planning committee developed the agenda for the workshop, selected and invited speakers and discussants, and moderated the discussions. A proceedings of the presentations and discussions at the workshop will be prepared by a designated rapporteur in accordance with institutional guidelines.
To view questions submitted online throughout the event, please click here.