Research Projects

An important aspect of chronic neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Huntington’s or prion disease, is the generation of an innate inflammatory reaction within the central nervous system. Microglial cells play a leading role in the development and maintenance of this inflammatory reaction, showing enhanced proliferation and...

The life essential element iron is required as a cofactor in central nervous system metabolic processes, but unbound iron catalyzes the production of toxic reactive oxygen species. Neuronal iron accumulation is a common pathological feature in the cortex in Alzheimer’s disease (AD), the substantia nigra (SN) in Parkinson’s disease (PD), and the...

There is an urgent need for novel approaches assessing functional decline in early AD. The main goal of the RADAR-AD project is to develop a digital platform to detect subtle functional deficits in early Alzheimer’s disease (AD) individuals by integrating a meaningful combination of smartphone, wearable and/or home sensor based parameters. The...

Transport proteins are the gate-keepers of our cells, effectively controlling the flow of nutrients and other molecules across the cell membrane. With over 400 members, solute carriers represent the largest class of transport proteins. Yet although they have been implicated in diseases ranging from Alzheimer’s disease and amyotrophic lateral...

Protein Kinases (PKs) are involved in various human pathologies such as cancer, neurodegenerative diseases or can be targeted to alter the life cycle of various parasites such as those responsible neglected parasitic diseases such as leishmaniasis and malaria. There are no physiological events not involving significant changes in protein...

Dementia is 60 times less common in people aged below 65 years than in older adults. However, when dementia occurs at a relatively young age it imposes a particularly severe burden on patients and families. RHAPSODY attempts to improve the management of young-onset dementia across Europe. The project starts with an analysis how health and social...

The retina carries signatures of neuronal diseases which have been linked to mechanical abnormalities,including Glaucoma and Alzheimer’s disease. Yet no biophysical retina model exists due to a cross-disciplinarychallenge: While stem cell derived organoids mimic the retina in vitro, organoid research has beenlimited by large variations in cell and...

In recent years there is mounting evidence that type 2 diabetes (T2D) is associated with cognitive impairment and dementia, which can be considered as a “new” long-term diabetic co-morbid complication with dramatic consequences for patients and their families and a significant impact for healthcare systems. At present there are no reported...

Fronto-Temporal-Dementia (FTD) is a devastating progressive early onset dementia with a strong genetic influence. Currently, seven genes have been identified that explain >50% of familial cases, but how these different genes lead to a very similar clinical phenotype is still an unanswered question. Currently, there is no cure for FTD and for the...

RAMCIP will research and develop a novel domestic service robot, with the aim to proactively and discreetly assist older persons, MCI and AD patients in their every day life. Instead of simply being an obedient servant, the RAMCIP robot will have high-level cognitive functions, driven through advanced human activity and home environment modelling...

People suffering from brain degeneration like Alzheimer dementia can be helped by stimulation of their memory, meaningful activities and an improved level of physical activity in which all the help of many people around them is wanted for everyday life. The ReMIND project wants to develop a robot and tablet that can support the people with dementia...

With populations ageing, Alzheimer’s disease (AD), for which there is still no cure, has become a major public health problem in Europe. This is partly due to the neglect of the role of the immune responses to the build-up of cerebral Aβ-the pathogenic agent triggering AD. Clinical trials for vaccines aimed at reducing cerebral Aβ were accompanied...