Our research

Dementia is a major public health concern globally but treatments have so far been inadequate. Our focus is to understand the early molecular and cellular pathology that we see initiating in synapses in Alzheimer’s disease, the most common neurodegenerative disease. It remains imperative that academic researchers uncover early steps in the disease process, rather than only translating current knowledge to the clinic. Due to its greater complexity, the brain is an ultimate frontier for translational medical research. Over the years our group has played an important role in redefining the early mechanisms that initiate Alzheimer’s disease process even prior to the loss of brain cells. The goal of our group is to provide new insights into these early disease mechanisms in order to contribute to better therapies for dementia. We use cell and mouse models, as well as human tissue, with, amongst other methods, cutting-edge imaging technologies, for our research.

Aims

• Determine the cellular and molecular mechanisms whereby the early accumulation of beta-amyloid initiates synapse dysfunction.
• Determine the cellular and molecular mechanisms by which the major genetic risk factor for the most common dementias (Alzheimer’s disease and Lewy Body Dementia) alters early synapse function. 
• Collaborate on a joint project elucidating how early synapse pathology in Alzheimer’s disease relates to early inflammatory mechanisms in the brain.

Impact

Dementia is a growing health care burden that initiates in complex structures called synapses in the brain. Age, genetics, and lifestyle impact the propensity to develop these terminal diseases. Our research aims to uncover early steps leading to dementia in order to provide more rationale approaches for more effective therapies.

How our research contributes to the goals of MultiPark

We believe that neurodegenerative diseases will be best treated when we better understand and target their early molecular missteps. Our research contributes to reaching the aims of MultiPark's working groups 1 and 5. 

Research Team & Publications

Read about publications and research team members of the Experimental Dementia Research group in the LU Research Portal.