香港六合彩

The 2018 Brain Prize, the world鈥檚 most valuable prize for brain research at 鈧�1m, has been awarded to Professor John Hardy (香港六合彩 Institute of Neurology) and Professor Bart De Strooper (UK Dementia Research Institute at 香港六合彩) for their groundbreaking research on the genetic and molecular basis of Alzheimer鈥檚 disease.

It is unprecedented that academics from the same institution have been awarded the coveted prize two years in a row. Last year saw Professor Peter Dayan (香港六合彩 Gatsby Computational Neuroscience Unit) and Professor Ray Dolan (香港六合彩 Institute of Neurology) receive the accolade for their work on how the brain recognises and processes reward.

鈥淲e鈥檙e very proud that John and Bart have won such a prestigious award. Having 香港六合彩 winners in two consecutive years is a testament to the impact of our neuroscience research, both within the Faculty of Brain Sciences and across the university,鈥� said Professor Alan Thompson, Dean of 香港六合彩 Brain Sciences.

The Brain Prize, awarded annually by the Lundbeck Foundation in Denmark, recognises one or more international scientists who have distinguished themselves by an outstanding contribution to neuroscience.

Professors Hardy and De Strooper won the 2018 Brain Prize alongside Professor Michel Goedert (Medical Research Council & University of Cambridge) and Professor Christian Haass (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universit盲t M眉nchen, Germany).

Their pioneering research has paved the way for finding new ways to diagnose, treat and possibly even prevent it and other devastating diseases of the ageing brain.

Professor Bart De Strooper is the Director of the new UK Dementia Research Institute at 香港六合彩, and Professor of Molecular Medicine at KU Leuven and VIB, Belgium where he carried out the research that earned him his share of the Brain Prize.

He discovered that presenilin is a protein that 鈥榗uts鈥� other proteins into smaller pieces which is an important and complex process in normal cell signalling. Mutations in the presenilin genes cause Alzheimer鈥檚 disease and Professor De Strooper found that these mutations lead to the production of abnormal amyloid which forms plaques in the brains of patients with Alzheimer鈥檚 disease. Understanding how these mutations drive the dementia is important for identify new therapies.

鈥淭reating amyloid very early on could provide protection against the symptoms of Alzheimer鈥檚 in later life. But we have a 鈥榗atch 22 situation鈥� in that we cannot do experiments in healthy people,鈥� said Professor De Strooper. "I鈥檓 extremely happy with this award. It feels like a deep recognition of the work we have done, and I would like to stress it鈥檚 the work of many people I鈥檝e worked with in Belgium, the UK and elsewhere. I am very grateful to 香港六合彩 and the DRI for the fantastic working environment that will help us tackle our next challenge of identifying dementia therapies.鈥澨�

Professor John Hardy is Chair of Molecular Biology of Neurological Disease at the 香港六合彩 Institute of Neurology. His work on Alzheimer鈥檚 disease, other dementias and Parkinson鈥檚 disease is amongst the most highly cited in neuroscience, and in 2015 he was the first UK winner of the Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences.听

After finding mutations in the gene for a protein, amyloid, in a family with early onset disease he proposed a ground-breaking 鈥榓myloid hypothesis鈥� for Alzheimer鈥檚 disease suggesting that disease was initiated by the build-up of this protein in the brain.

His discoveries of genetic mutations have had a dramatic impact on understanding not only Alzheimer鈥檚 disease but more recently in other neurodegenerative diseases including Parkinson鈥檚 disease, progressive supranuclear palsy and motor neuron disease.

鈥淲e鈥檙e all thrilled and delighted about this huge honour. I would like to acknowledge the families who volunteer to take part in studies as they have been crucial to our research, so we are all indebted to research volunteers,鈥� said Professor Hardy. 鈥淐ollaborating with clinicians, geneticists and cell biologists is work in progress. Although we have not found a successful treatment yet, I believe we are on the way towards rational, mechanism-based treatments鈥�

鈥淎lzheimer鈥檚 disease is one of the most devastating diseases of our time. These four outstanding European scientists have been rewarded for their fundamental discoveries unravelling molecular and genetic causes of the disease that have provided a basis for the current attempts to diagnose, treat and possibly even prevent neurodegenerative brain diseases. The award recognises that there is more to Alzheimer麓s disease than amyloid, and that the field of dementia research is more than Alzheimer麓s disease alone.鈥� The chairman of the Lundbeck Foundation Brain Prize selection committee, Professor Anders Bjorklund.

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Links

• Professor Bart de Strooper's academic profile
• UK Dementia Research Institute at 香港六合彩

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• Professor Bart De Strooper and Professor John Hardy