Harmonization of neuroimaging biomarkers for neurodegenerative diseases: a survey in the imaging community of perceived barriers and suggested actions

Introduction: Molecular, functional, and structural neuroimaging biomarkers are largely used to study neurodegenerative diseases, but their benefits to patients/science might be greatly enhanced by improving standardization and cross-validation. In this EU Joint Programme-Neurodegenerative Diseases Research–funded project, we surveyed the neuroimaging community to assess perceived barriers in multicentric neuroimaging harmonization and actions to overcome them. Methods: An anonymous survey addressed researchers, clinicians, pharma industry, and professional associations, inquiring about both general and modality-specific harmonization barriers. Results: Survey participants (459) represented an international (37 countries) multidisciplinary community. We identified two sets of funding actions, one proposing the creation of an updated hub of documents to help researchers plan and execute multicentric neuroimaging studies capitalizing from previous studies, and the other focused on modality-specific harmonization challenges in future neurodegenerative diseases clinical trials. Discussion: This large survey of priorities and actions may help define harmonization calls launched by worldwide science funding agencies.