09 Mar. 2012 posted by EuroBioForum
Karolinska Institutet has been selected to coordinate a major EU research project on neurodegenerative diseases involving 22 countries and a total budget of over 90 million kronor.
The research project is focusing largely on already known biomarkers existing in the spinal fluid of patients with Alzheimer´s or Parkinson´s disease. One of the objectives is to standardise and harmonise these substances so that the same reference values can be used everywhere for diagnostic purposes, for example - what concentrations of different biomarkers must there be for a diagnosis to be possible?
The project is also looking at developing new biomarkers (i.e. identifying new substances) of relevance to learn more about these diseases. All in all, this recently launched EU collaboration can lead to earlier and more accurate diagnoses for Alzheimer´s and Parkinson´s disease, and enable the therapeutic effects of new drugs to be monitored.