iCRIN — Infrastructure for Clinical Research in Neurosciences
Overview
iCRIN (Infrastructure for Clinical Research in Neurosciences) is Paris Brain Institute’s translational clinical research programme, designed to bridge ICM’s basic research teams with the clinical neurology and psychiatry services of the AP-HP DMU (Département Médico-Universitaire) Neurosciences at Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital. Launched in 2019 with 13 thematic projects selected by ICM’s Scientific Advisory Board, iCRIN serves as an accelerator for clinical research at the interface of basic neuroscience and patient care — building cohorts, developing biomarkers, and designing proof-of-concept studies across all major neurological and psychiatric disease areas treated at Pitié-Salpêtrière.
iCRIN is distinct from the CIC Neurosciences (CIC-1422), which provides the formal Inserm/AP-HP regulatory and operational infrastructure for clinical trials. iCRIN uses the CIC as its operational backbone while organising research activity thematically across disease areas and connecting clinical teams with ICM researchers.
Structure and Thematic Projects
iCRIN is organised around 13 disease-area themes, each a collaboration between an AP-HP clinical service and one or more ICM research teams:
- Alzheimer’s disease (in collaboration with IM2A) covers cohort building, cognitive markers, and biomarker-enriched early-phase trials.
- Parkinson’s disease covers familial forms cohort, prodromal biomarkers (CSF, imaging, biofluids), and genetic risk.
- Epilepsy covers electro-clinico-biological characterisation, autoimmune epilepsy, and digital tools (rEPI, EpiDay).
- Stroke covers acute stroke biomarkers, neuroimaging endpoints, and neuromodulation rehabilitation.
- ALS/MND covers biomarker development and therapeutic trial design.
- Multiple sclerosis covers biomarkers, imaging, and neuromodulation.
- Neurogenetics covers rare neurological diseases and genotype-phenotype correlation.
- Neuro-oncology covers brain tumour biomarkers and therapeutic strategies.
- Psychiatry covers digital phenotyping, neuromodulation (rTMS/tDCS), mood disorders, PTSD, and ASD.
- Neuromodulation and rehabilitation covers therapeutic video games, Living Lab collaboration, and digital rehabilitation tools.
- Additional themes cover movement disorders, pain, and neuroinflammation.
Role in the Clinical Research Ecosystem
iCRIN integrates several ICM infrastructures:
- CIC Neurosciences (CIC-1422) is the operational backbone for trial conduct, regulatory submissions, and patient recruitment.
- CENIR provides neuroimaging endpoints (MRI, PET-MRI, MEG) for iCRIN studies.
- Banque ADN et Cellules handles biobanking of cohort samples (DNA, CSF, plasma, cells).
- DAC provides bioinformatics and statistical analysis of iCRIN cohort data.
- REDCap is used for clinical data capture for iCRIN observational studies and trial databases.
Connections
- Hosted at: Paris Brain Institute
- Clinical partner: AP-HP
- Operational backbone: CIC Neurosciences
- Imaging: CENIR
- Biobanking: Banque ADN et Cellules
- Data management: DAC, REDCap
- Translational infrastructure: NeurATRIS