Call for research projects on Charcot disease – ALS

Charcot's disease, also known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), is a neurodegenerative disease caused by the progressive degeneration of the central and peripheral motor neurons in the brainstem and spinal cord that control voluntary muscles. It is the most common of the rare diseases, with 4 new cases diagnosed each day in France. Life expectancy is 3 to 5 years after the onset of the first symptoms, and to date, there is no cure available.

Following the Senate decree of January the 13^th, 2025, the Ministry of Higher Education and Research has commissioned the ANR to launch a specific call for research projects on Charcot disease - ALS.

The aim of the call for research projects is to bring together scientists to establish a collaboration on a common interdisciplinary patient-centered research project. Projects should be based on complementary expertise. 

To improve therapeutic approaches, the research project may focus on one of the following fields of research: 

• Identification of any visible precursor signs before the onset of motor symptoms and/or environmental, social and behavioural factors that contribute to the disease’s development;
• Investigation of the causes of the disease and understanding of its pathophysiological mechanisms. Identification of the molecular and cellular determinants involved as well as new genes and their mutations;
• Identification and characterisation of biomarkers for diagnosis and prognosis, enabling earlier disease detection and the discovery of ways to slow its progression;
• Stratification of patients through the implementation of measures and technologies to characterise the different clinical subgroups;
• Development of new therapeutic strategies.

This call also encourages the implementation of research findings into clinical practice, including:

• Improvement of the medico-social and multidisciplinary care of patients, with research into/use of relevant assistive devices to improve their quality of life;
• Investigations of ethical and/or medico-economic aspects of the research topics mentioned above;
• Identification of new clinical evaluation criteria to improve the results of future clinical trials.

Clinical trials and the creation of patient cohorts are excluded from this call.
Research proposals must clearly demonstrate the potential impact on health and the added value of building a consortium that combines complementary expertise and innovative technologies.

Consortia must include:

• at least two partners
• at least one ‘research organisation or equivalent’ entity.