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.
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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
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...
Prof Jan Buitelaar receives INSAR Lifetime Achievement Award
At this year's annual meeting of the International Society for Autism Research (INSAR), 3rd - 6th May in Stockholm, our CANDY consortium was well presented and among the senior PIs also our Early Career Researcher had the chance to present their work and results in...
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The 🔟th World Congress on #ADHD is underway in Prague 🇨🇿 &our Coordinator Prof. Jan Buitelaar is quite busy:
🔹Chairing and giving a talk in a hot topic session #HT16
🔹chairing the plenary session #PL03
🔹moderating poster tour #P18
All participants an inspiring conference💡
How can the EU better support the rights of #autistic people🇪🇺?
A high-level conference by the EP_Disability Intergroup on the rights & priorities of autistic individuals is upcoming on 🗓️Apr 23, 2025 in Brussels🇧🇪
Join the dialogue on #inclusion & change at the #EU level
Great to see Prof. Eva Loth @eva_loth presenting CANDY findings in London at the @ADHD_Europe General Assembly Meeting 🧠💬
Exploring mind-brain-body links to improve support for neurodivergent people.
Thanks, Eva, for representing #TeamCANDY🩵
📣Busy weekend for our coordinator Jan Buitelaar, speaking at2️⃣ #ADHD events!
🇮🇹Apr 11: Psychiatric Symposium, Catania – on "Biomarkers & personalised medicine in ADHD"
🇩🇪Apr 12: 18th Int. ADHD Conf., Berlin – on multimodal assessment in ADHD & autism
#MentalHealthResearch
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.