Research Projects

ArrestAD proposes a novel and visionary thinking resulting from the demonstration of the central role of a particular heparan sulfate species at the intracellular level in neurons and in circulating cells in the molecular pathology of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). AD is a societal challenge for which there is neither prevention nor possible cure...

Understanding the genetics of Alzheimer's disease (AD) is one of the best ways of improving our knowledge of the disease's underlying pathophysiological processes. Indeed, genetic factors account for up to 70% of the attributable risk in common forms of AD. The advent of genomic approaches has led to the characterization of 26 genetic determinants...

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is an ever-increasing public health concern among the aging population and is the most common form of dementia affecting more than 15 million individuals worldwide and around 5 million Europeans. The direct and indirect costs of AD and other dementias amount to more than €440,000 million each year (www.alz.org, 2010).Even...

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a major societal challenge, impacting up to one third of the population over 85 years old. The European Commission and various international bodies have repeatedly fostered research initiatives to prevent the development or stem the progression of the disease. Several recent phase 3 clinical trials have failed to show...

NEUREKA will bring a paradigm shift in drug discovery for neurological diseases, a sector that suffers multiple, repeated failures exacerbating the economical and societal burden of these incurable diseases. It will do so by addressing a crucial shortcoming: the lack of in vitro systems faithfully reproducing brain pathology that enable the...

FP7 neuGRID (www.neuGRID.eu) is being developed aiming to provide large sets of brain images paired with grid-based computationally intensive algorithms for studies of neurodegenerative diseases. Two infrastructures with similar aims are operational or under construction overseas. In Canada, the Montreal Neurological Institute (MNI) aims to develop...

IMI’s Call 8 is geared to develop knowledge frameworks for ‘druggable mechanisms’ for two domains of pathophysiology. In response to this call, we propose (I) the development of a generic AETIONOMY pipeline to capture and infer over mechanistic knowledge of pathophysiology, and  (II) the focused application of this pipeline to derive clinically...

Neurodegenerative and neurodevelopmental diseases constitute a major health burden, and in spite of several decades of intensive research, the molecular mechanisms underlying these diseases are still poorly understood, and effective drug treatments are generally lacking. Alterations in protein synthesis have been implicated in several of these...

The JA will be contribute to public health programmes in Europe and develop Alzheimers disease (AD) and dementia prevention and care models in different European countries. The aim is to contribute to improvements in health by supporting and facilitating quality and efficiency of public health and healthcare policies and interventions. Synergy and...

Amyloid fibrils are likely causative or contributing agents in diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease, type 2 diabetes, Parkinson’s disease, and transmissible spongiform encephalopathies. AD represents a major health problem and heavy economic burden in industrialized countries. AD is characterized in pathology by the presence of several kinds of...

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is one of the most serious diseases mankind is now facing as its social and economical impacts are increasing fastly. AD is very complex and the amyloid-β (Aβ) peptide as well as metallic ions (mainly copper and zinc) have been linked to its aetiology. While the deleterious impact of Cu is widely acknowledged, intervention...

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common cause of dementia in the elderly, and a major reason for disability and death. The time course of AD varies between different people affected, and being able to tell in advance how the disease is likely to progress would have a great value for patient, their caregivers and for all of society. In the...