The CANDY Project
In Europe, 10-15% of children and adults or 50 to 75 million individuals are affected by neurodevelopmental conditions, such as autism, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), intellectual disability (ID), motor problems and language disorders. It is not hard to imagine that one of these conditions alone can have a serious impact on a person’s life. What makes the situation even worse is the fact that several of these conditions often co-exist and, on top of that, go along with somatic illnesses, such as epilepsy. This significantly affects both life expectancy and quality of life and there are no effective treatments to date.
In the CANDY project, we investigate the biological links between these neurodevelopmental conditions and co-existing somatic illnesses and how treatment and monitoring of affected patients can be improved.
%
of the EU population are affected by Neurodevelopmental Conditions such as autism, ADHD or ID
Autism
People on the autism spectrum experience persistent difficulties with social interaction and communication, display restricted and repetitive behaviour and/or have special circumscribed interests and activities. They often also experience sensory difficulties, such as increased or reduced sensitivity to light, sound, colour, smell, taste or touch.
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ADHD
ADHD belongs also to the group of neurodevelopmental conditions with onset usually occurring in childhood and adolescence. It manifests itself by problems with attention span and self-regulation and/or by impulsivity and high physical restlessness (hyperactivity). A clinical diagnosis is made when persistent symptoms are associated with impairments of functioning at home, school, workplace or during leasure time. However, symptoms alone are not sufficient for a diagnosis.
ID
Intellectual disability (ID) is characterized by significant limitations both in intellectual functioning (reasoning, learning, problem solving) and in adaptive behavior, which covers a range of everyday social and practical skills. This disability originates before the age of 18.
Partners
European countries
Project duration (months)
Our Research
Read more about the “problem” and the opportunity in CANDY, and more detailed information about biomarkers, the microbiome, neuroinflammation and critical periods.
FAQs »
Facts & Figures »
The Team »
CANDY PIP Study
In CANDY we are collaborating with the AIMS-2-TRIALS project and their study “Pre-School Brain Imaging and Behaviour Project (PIP)”. PIP is the first study to track how pre-school children with and without autism develop over time and across Europe.
Multiplex Study
This is the first study to track the heritability of rare genetic risk variants for several neurodevelopmental conditions. Neurodevelopmental conditions likely result from a combination of both rare genetic variants and many common low-risk variants.
News & Events
Eva Loth gave her inauguration lecture and became Professor at KCL
Eva Loth becomes professor of Cognitive Neuroscience at King's Colleage London. On 16th June 2023, Eva Loth, gave her inaugural lecture as professor of Cognitive Neuroscience at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience at King's Colleage London...
Recruitment of 10 MPX families at Karolinska Institutet
Recruitment completed at Karolinska InstitutetCongratulation to Sven Bölte and Terje Falck-Ytter and the whole team at Karolinska Institutet for completing the recruitment of 10 families for the Multiplex (MPX) study 👏👏👏 This is a big step forward for our the CANDY...
2nd Periodic Reporting successfully accomplished
On 31st December 2022 the second CANDY project period has officially ended. This means the first 3 years have been completed and the CANYD consortium had to submit a detailed progress report to our funding organisation, the European Commission. Although we encounter a...
Today starting in Washington D.C. 🇺🇲 The Society of Neuroscience Meeting #SfN23⭐
We wish all participants a great and inspiring conference
Don't miss to drop by at booth #1223 to check out the amazing software & research tools of our project partner @NoldusIT 👏
@SfNtweets
Congrats @LucasNoldus👏for being appointed as Fellow of the Netherlands Academy of #Engineering🎉
The NAE unites top experts in technological sciences & applied R&D to tackle the societal challenges with #sustainable engineering-based #innovation💡
👉
NAE Appoints 62 Leading Experts
NAE - NAE Appoints 62 Leading Experts
nae.nl
🧏Listen to @AndreaBilbowOBE from @UK_ADHD in the first #podcast episode of @TIMESPAN_H2020
Highly recommended, as it's always great to hear her speaking about her personal journey⭐
A #tbt to #adhdawarenessmonth 'cos every month we need to raise our voices💪
Meet @SanneKluin #TeamCANDY
She's Research Assistant @RadboudUMC & is doing the diagnostic testing in PIP-CANDY. She enjoys working with the kids,hoping that the research will facilitate their way🫶
On days off,she especially enjoys dancing🩰
Read more👉https://www.candy-project.eu/teamcandy-sanne-kluin/
As part of the “Horizon 2020” programme, the European Commission is funding the five-year CANDY research project with a total of six million Euro under grant agreement No. 847818.