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...

Our project aims to address the need for improved informal care by training cohabitating spouse caregivers to implement music interventions that target behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia, and the quality of life and wellbeing of people with dementia, and of family caregivers. Our international randomised controlled trial involving...

Degenerative diseases of old age, including cardiovascular diseases, type II diabetes, and chronic respiratory conditions, have emerged as the major causes of death in EU countries. Of special concern are neurodegenerative conditions including Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, which have been described as the greatest unmet need facing modern medicine...

Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) is the most prevalent cognitive disorder and progressively leads to complete brain dysfunction and degeneration. The number of people living with Alzheimer’s worldwide is now estimated at 46M, with this figure set to almost double by 2030 and more than triple by 2050 due to population aging. Current methods for early...

A range of debilitating neurodegenerative disorders, including Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases, arise from the formation of amyloidogenic protein aggregates. Molecular chaperones can counteract aggregate formation, but their molecular action mechanisms remain poorly understood. This is chiefly due to the fundamental challenge of resolving...

The aim of the project is to utilise state-of-the-art in ICT in order to develop an integrated solution for the  self-management of dementia patients, and develop innovative tools to support this procedure. This  solution can be conceived as an integrated platform enabling distant monitoring of patient status and  facilitating personalised...

The DEM-CHILD project focusses on the main cause for childhood dementia in Europe, the neuronal ceroid lipofuscinoses (NCLs). The NCLs are neurodegenerative diseases characterized by dementia, blindness, epilepsy and physical decline leading to an early death of the patients. Since no cure is currently available, these disorders represent a serious...

FP7 neuGRID 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 a pan-Canadian...

In the absence of a cure for dementia, most research is aimed at an early diagnosis as it opens the way to timely future care and treatment, and can help people take control of their lives and plan ahead. However, people with moderate to severe dementia and their carers are often not receiving services of the type, quality and timing that they need...

MEETINGDEM aims to implement and evaluate the innovative Meeting Centres Support Programme (MCSP) for community dwelling people with dementia and their family carers, in three European countries: Italy, Poland and the United Kingdom. This person-centred approach has been positively evaluated and adaptively implemented in 118 meeting centres in the...