News & Events

(13/03/2025) Our ICOD project will be present at the European Parliament in in Brussels the 19th of March in occasion of the World Down Syndrome Day 2025. EU for Trisomy 21, invited by various Members of the European Parliament (MEPs), will host a major event in the European Parliament to mark World Down Syndrome Day. This year’s theme, “From Projects to Policies: Including People with Down Syndrome in Europe,” aims to foster a more inclusive Europe for individuals with Down syndrome where their opinions are taken into the European policy debates. This event will be a key opportunity to engage in discussions on inclusion, healthcare, and research for people with Down syndrome alongside policymakers, experts, and advocates. In the context of this event Dr. PierVincenzo Piazza (Aelis Farma), during the session entitled “Research improving lives of people with Down Syndrome in Europe” will present the recent positive results of our ICOD H2020 EU funded project.

Thanks to EU for Trisomy 21 and European Parliament for this great opportunity!

See the program below: 

https://eufortrisomy21.eu/it/world-down-syndrome-day-2025/

(20/11/2024) Positive results from our phase 1/2 clinical trial with AEFO217 in young adults with Down syndrome. 

Great news for our European ICOD project and DS families! Thanks to IMIM and AelisFarma!!! Our next step? Phase 2b clinical trial in 2025!!!

The results of the study were presented by Pier Vincenzo Piazza, CEO of Aelis Farma and Stéphanie Monlezun, COO of Aelis Farma.

Read the news on: https://tinyurl.com/4e4jpekv

To see the presentation of the results click on the following link: https://youtu.be/pK77BxtRdDk

(19/10/2024) Thanks to T21RS and the Italian DS_taskForce for the round table together with more than 100 DS families to discuss on recent updates and the most frequent question raised by DS families: "Clinical trials on cognitive deficits in DS?

https://urly.it/311s0v

(18/10/2024) A great occasion to interact with DS families and discuss about the advancements of preclinical and clinical research in the field of DS!!

Meet us in Naples or on Zoom link: https://lnkd.in/da92EFkH

Follow our videos, highlights, or video interviews on Icod Channel on YouTube 🎥📲

Below are two links through which you can read special insights into the 5th International Conference of the Trisomy 21 Research Society (T21Rs), which took place in Rome from 5 to 8 June and involved over 500 researchers and doctors from the international scientific community.

In the first link a focus on the important steps forward in science to improve the understanding and treatment of Down syndrome

https://tinyurl.com/2awxwv24

In this article the direct testimony of some families who actively participated in the work of the 5th International Conference 

https://tinyurl.com/mrxx7sfk

Follow our videos, highlights, or video interviews on Icod Channel on YouTube 🎥📲

A special Thanks to the President of our regulatory Agency AIFA, Prof. Robert Nisticò for his presence today and his wonderful words for our Down Syndrome World for the opening of the 5thT21RS Conference!

Follow our videos, highlights, or video interviews on Icod Channel on YouTube 🎥📲

Thanks to T21RS for the opportunity to show the innovative mechanism of action of AEF0217 discovered by AELISFARMA and its high therapeutic potential in the treatment of cognitive deficits in Down syndrome!! Great talk from PierVincenzo Piazza ! A further step for our European ICOD project!! hashtag#ICOD hashtag#DS hashtag#IMIM hashtag#Cognition hashtag#AELISFARMA hashtag#Oasi hashtag#UniCT

Follow our videos, highlights, or video interviews on Icod Channel on YouTube 🎥📲

A great Thanks to our Italian Minister of Disability Alessandra Locatelli for her great support Today at our T21RS International Conference in Rome!! hashtag

Follow our videos, highlights, or video interviews on Icod Channel on YouTube 🎥📲

#DS hashtag#MinisterofDisability hashtag#Inclusion hashtag#ICOD hashtag#AlessandraLocatelli hashtag#EugenioBarone hashtag#Autonomy

The 5th International Conference on Down syndrome, being held in Rome from 5 to 8 June, organised by the T21 Research Society (T21RS), is registering good results in terms of involvement and participation. 

The mission of T21RS is to promote basic and applied research on Down syndrome, stimulate translational research and apply new scientific knowledge to improve the quality of life of people with Down syndrome. The meeting in Rome brings together researchers, doctors, industrialists conducting clinical trials, patient organisations and families, with the aim of mapping out together the future directions of research on Down syndrome. For the meeting in Rome, some 500 scientists from over 27 countries are present. For the family event on Friday and Saturday, over 400 families will attend. An unprecedented platform to share knowledge and advances in Down syndrome research.

Programme link: https://t21rs2024.com/famiglie-general-information/

Site link: https://t21rs2024.com/

Link for families: https://t21rs2024.com/famiglie-general-information/

Follow our videos, highlights, or video interviews on Icod Channel on YouTube 🎥📲

Happy to share our second publication from the @ICOD_Project , published in occasion, of the

World Down Syndrome Day, where we demonstrate that low TGF-β1 plasma levels are associated

with cognitive decline in Down syndrome and also suggest that rescue of TGF-β1 might represent a

new strategy to prevent cognitive decline in DS!

https://lc.cx/qiYLvu

A wonderful event organized by AIPD, in collaboration with the Italian DS Task Force, in Siracuse

(Italy)!  A special event for DS individuals and families from Sicily and a great occasion to discuss

about the advancements of research in this field!!

Thanks to #AIPD #ICODProject  #DS #Families #ICODforyou #DSTaskForce #LucioNitsch

https://lc.cx/SfTnfF

Follow our videos, highlights, or video interviews on Icod Channel on YouTube 🎥📲

We continue to celebrate our Down Syndrome Week with a wonderful Charity Auction organized by Futuro

21 !! Thanks to Our DS artists!! Thanks to #Futuro21 #DSfamilies #Catania

https://lc.cx/Wfen9X

On this Down Syndrome Day 2024, we are delighted to work with the researchers and clinicians of

the ICOD consortium and share experience with our colleagues from the GODS21 project !

It has been a whole week of committed work starting with interactions with DS individuals and

families and continuing with a Scientific Consortium meeting to preparate the next steps of the

ICOD project. We are grateful for all the people and energy involved in this Down Syndrome

Week!!

Thanks to #EuropeanCommission and #MonicaEnsini!!

#ICODProject  #DSfamilies  #IMIM  #EuropeanCommission #MonicaEnsini #AelisFarma #GODS21

The 16 th of March we started our Week of Down syndrome in a wonderful event organized by

IMIM in Barcelona exclusively for individuals and families from Catalan Down syndrome

associations that included online talks open to all families from the ICOD project locations!!

https://lc.cx/4IMTCm

The 23^rd of March we will continue to celebrate the Week of Down syndrome with “Scienza Incontra Down” an event organized by the Italian Task DS Force to update DS families and associations on the most relevant clinical trials for DS  including our european ICOD Project with a talk from Filippo Caraci, coordinator of the Dissemination Activities, directed  to DS families.

Join us on Zoom:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82958335732?pwd=UUF1bWN6V1JFVHFYWi9mamtsRjl4UT09

Follow our videos, highlights, or video interviews on Icod Channel on YouTube 🎥📲

The 16^th of March we will start to celebrate the Week of Down syndrome in a wonderful event orga nized by IMIM in Barcelona exclusively for individuals and families from Catalan Down syndrome associations that will include online talks open to all families from the ICOD project locations

Join us on Zoom  for the ICOD project session for DS families: 

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82467082442

Follow our videos, highlights, or video interviews on Icod Channel on YouTube 🎥📲

Our Coordinator of the ICOD project Rafael De La Torre and his costant interaction with DS families and associations!! Meeting with Down Catalunya: read the interview!

https://www.sindromedown.cat/febrer-mes-de-lassessor-a-down-catalunya/

#Icod #DownCatalunya #Down #Cognition #AEF0217

The coordinator of our ICOD project, Rafael De La Torre, will talk on “Therapeutic opportunities in the treatment of cognitive impairment in Down syndrome” on October Friday 20th (4.45 p.m) at the 7th National Scientific Italian DS Conference 

Join us on Zoom

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89262481258?pwd=RkZzU3FvT1ZKTnQzWkt6eFBhaVFSdz09

meeting ID: 892 6248 1258 Passcode: 889280

Follow our videos, highlights, or video interviews on Icod Channel on YouTube 🎥📲

Dear DS Families and Associations,

on behalf of the Coordinator of the Italian Down Syndrome Task Force Prof. Lucio Nitsch, we are pleased to send you the link to freely access the International Session of the 7th National Scientific Conference entitled "Down Syndrome: from Research to Therapy".

The International Session will be held online, in English, on Friday, October 20, from 2:00 p.m. to

6:00 p.m. CEST. Your participation will be highly appreciated.

Using the same link you are free to also access the second day of the Conference, which will,

however, be held in Italian, on Saturday, October 21.

Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89262481258?pwd=RkZzU3FvT1ZKTnQzWkt6eFBhaVFSdz09

meeting ID: 892 6248 1258 Passcode: 889280

A great occasion for DS families and associations to meet researchers in the DS field and discover novel therapeutic opportunities !!

Call for #symposia for the next @t21rs meeting in #Roma is OPEN! Don’t miss the #opportunity to

share your #research work with the #DownSyndrome community! You will find new opportunities

this year.

See https://t21rs2024.com/call-for-symposia/

See the video on our ICOD YouTube Channel https://youtu.be/Olh1hDHodXc

A great occasion to meet DS families and associations in Spain and better explain the ICOD project!!

An interesting publication from the @ICOD_Project where the authors critically assess current therapeutic approaches, why therapies fail in clinical trials in Down syndrome, and what could be the path forward!!

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36692980/

All the Videos Lectures from the Second ICOD Symposium held in Madrid 21 March 2023 are now

available in our Gallery section for DS families and associations

https://www.icod-project.eu/en/gallery

A great occasion of interaction and active discussions with DS families and associations!!

The ICOD project (Improving COgnition in Down syndrome), funded by European Union, aims to improve the cognitive impairment of individuals with Down syndrome with AEF0217, a first-in-class new pharmacological treatment developed by the French biotech Aelis Farma, and specifically designed to this end. The project was launched in February 2021 and a first ICOD symposium was held in Troina, Italy, on the occasion of the World Down syndrome Day 2022 with a strong participation of DS families.

The second ICOD symposium will take place in Madrid in 2023 at Hospital Universitario de la Princesa on the World Down syndrome Day (March 21^st). The symposium will be specifically dedicated to increase the knowledge about innovative therapeutic approaches to cognitive deficits in DS and promote the involvement of adults with DS in research. Face-to-face interaction and active discussions between families, associations of individuals with Down syndrome and researchers involved in the ICOD project will be promoted, as well as with other researchers working in the field of Down syndrome.

This event will be designed in close cooperation with the European Down syndrome Association (EDSA) and associations of each participating European country in the ICOD project; in particular with Spanish Down syndrome organizations (Down España, Fundación Down Madrid, Down Catalunya, Fundació Catalana síndrome de Down among others), Federation Trisomie 21 France, Association Française pour la Recherche sur la Trisomie 21, Italian Down syndrome organizations (AIPD and Coordown) and the Italian Task Force for DS.