Research Projects

Increasing evidence suggests that the genetic information in our bodies can vary from cell to cell. Such variation has also been found in the brain, although its consequences for brain function or disease remain largely unknown. In this project, we will study the role of genomic instability in Alzheimer's disease and related tauopathies. The...

Get Ready For Activity – persuasive ambiences is the modular application of ambient lighting, sound and scents research to create room ambiences for supporting people with dementia (PwD) and their caregivers in their daily activities and structure and positively influence erratic behaviour (depression and agitation) of PwD. The project aims to...

Amyloid fibrils form and precipitate in more than 50 incurable human diseases, including Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. All proteins may be able to form amyloids, at least under certain circumstances. However, aggregation is actually rare as the process of amyloid formation is controlled by a high kinetic barrier: protein sequences have to...

In Europe, there is an increasing number of people with neurological problems, such as probable Alzheimer’s disease (pAD) or aphasia, which often result in severe language and memory impairments. It has been argued that memory deficits contribute to the language problems brain-damaged populations face and, further, can predict these populations’...

Neuronal circuits in mammalian brain act predominantly via excitatory synapses on dendritic spines. Formation of new spines in adult brain constitutes the structural basis of neuronal plasticity. The underlying molecular mechanisms remain largely unknown but depend essentially on kinase-dependent signalling pathways. Final formation of synapses on...

Diabetes mellitus, hypertension, obesity, hypercholesterolemia, smoking and physical inactivity are common in elderly persons and are all associated with an increased risk of myocardial infarction, stroke and dementia. Efficacious treatments of these cardiovascular diseases are available, but in elderly patients with multiple cardiovascular...

The advent of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technology has brought us closer to understanding brain function in health and disease. With 7 Teslas high field MRI machines, pioneers of imaging physics have made possible in-vivo examination of the human brain at sub-millimetre scale. New imaging contrasts additionally offer rich information...

Although mass spectrometry has brought about major advancements in proteomics in the last decade, protein mass spectrometers still have important limitations. One fundamental limitation is that they require sample ionization, desorption into the gas phase and fragmentation, clearly leading to protein denaturation. Since relevant protein complexes...

Devastating diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and various cancers are still without cures, continue to undermine the quality of life for millions of people and impose significant economic burdens. Misfolded toxic proteins constitute the microscopic basis of these diseases, but little is understood about their structure and biological...

The goal of the 3D MiniBrain project is to establish and standardize the use of miniaturized human brain-like structures as a relevant three-dimensional (3D) testbed to decipher the roles of the main genetic risk factors for Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease, according to original hypotheses obtained from our genetic studies. Minibrains...

Neurological disorders affect over 540 million individuals in Europe alone, yet effective treatments are limited, primarily due to the challenge of delivering therapeutic compounds across the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and the blood-cerebrospinal fluid barrier (BCSFB). This project aims to develop a novel, virus-inspired technology that utilizes...

Complexity of living matter currently poses the most significant barrier to modern in-vivo microscopy. Fuelled by various branches of life sciences, the race is now to increase the penetration depth of super-resolution imaging inside living organisms. Additionally, no high-resolution in-vivo imaging technique has ever been introduced into medical...