Alzheimer Research Foundation supports ULiège research project with €250,000

The Alzheimer's Research Foundation has selected the scientific project of Prof. Eric Salmon, Medical Director of the GIGA Cyclotron Research Centre at the University of Liège, and has just granted him 250,000 euros out of the 3,800,000 euros granted by the Foundation to all Belgian universities.

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ric Salmon is a medical doctor specialising in neurology and nuclear medicine. He is director of the Cyclotron Research Centre (GIGA) at the University of Liege. He uses positron emission tomography (PET), using various radiotracers, to understand the molecular mechanisms of neurodegenerative diseases. He has just been awarded €250,000 in funding from the Alzheimer's Research Foundation for his project "Brain synaptopathy as a characteristic biomarker of preclinical AD", which will look at the role of brain synaptopathy as a characteristic biomarker of preclinical Alzheimer's disease.

Preclinical Alzheimer's disease (AD) is thought to occur in people without objective cognitive decline who have brain deposits of amyloid and tau proteins," explains Prof Salmon. However, large brain protein deposits have been observed in centenarians without cognitive decline. We believe that the density and location of synaptic contacts measured by the PET scanner will constitute an early biomarker of AD, better correlated with the clinic than protein deposits. Thanks to the foundation's funding, we will be able to explore this theory further. "

"With the Alzheimer's Research Foundation, we finance promising research", explains director Joost Martens. "Fortunately, we can count on many donors for this. Despite the health crisis, we have received a record amount of money, which allows us to fund millions3,8 of euros of research this year. This gives us a lot of opportunities, and we are happy about that. Scientific research will one day lead to a breakthrough in the fight against the disease.

This year, the Alzheimer Research Foundation is funding 18 scientific research projects at Belgian universities for a total amount of €3,000800.

All projects were rated excellent by national and foreign evaluators!