Human Prion Disease International Network (PRIONIER), COST Action CA25151

PRIONIER is a European research networking project on human prion disease, approved as COST Action CA25151 and running from 26 October 2026 to 25 October 2030. It aims to strengthen links between specialist prion centres, speed up diagnostic and prognostic tools, prepare for future therapeutic trials, and produce shared guidelines and minimum standards for clinical, diagnostic and biosafety work. It is chaired by Ellen Gelpi, with Inga Zerr as Vice-Chair, and is organised in nine working groups. As a COST Action it funds meetings, training and exchanges, not laboratory research itself. Information only, not medical advice.

Key facts

  • The Committee of Senior Officials gave CSO approval on 19 May 2026; the Action runs 26 October 2026 to 25 October 2030 under MoU reference 065/26.
  • The COST Actions listing independently shows the same title and the same start and end dates.
  • Ellen Gelpi is Action Chair and Inga Zerr is Vice-Chair; the page gives no institution for either, so the Chair institution is not stated by COST.
  • Stated aims: expand the network of specialist centres across clinical, epidemiological, laboratory, neuropathological, genetic counselling and biosafety fields; accelerate diagnostic and prognostic tools and prepare for trials; engage patient and family advocacy groups; produce consensus guidelines and minimum standards; support training, staff exchange and quality control across Europe.
  • Nine working groups: surveillance (Anna Ladogana, co-lead Grace Hallinan), clinical aspects and diagnostic criteria (Simon Mead), biomarker development and quality control (Susana Da Silva Correia), neuropathology (leader TBA), PrionAtRisk (Peter Hermann, co-lead Dana Zakova), biosafety (Regina Reimann), ethical guidelines (leader TBA), training and exchange (Dimitra Dafou), gender awareness (Beata Sikorska).
  • The Management Committee has 28 members from 19 countries: Albania, Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
  • The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control is the Management Committee observer; the organisation/partner member section is listed but empty.
  • Membership model: Management Committee seats are nominated through COST National Coordinators; other interested people can inform the Chair and apply to working groups through the e-COST portal.
  • COST is run by the Brussels-based COST Association, has 41 Members and 1 Cooperating Member, and has had EU funding since 1971; an Action pays for networking such as workshops, working group meetings, training schools and short-term missions, typically over four years.
  • No budget or grant amount is stated on the Action page.
  • A search excerpt of the COST approval documents names Austria as main proposer and a 228th extraordinary CSO meeting on 19 May 2026; the text was garbled and the PDF was not read, so this is unverified.

Timeline

  1. 2026COST Committee of Senior Officials approves the Action (CSO approval date on the Action page).
  2. 2026Action starts.
  3. 2030Scheduled end of the Action.

People

Last checked 1 November 2026

Sources for this page