Adriano Aguzzi, professor and director of the Institute of Neuropathology at the University of Zurich, has been awarded for his research into neurodegenerative diseases linked to aberrant protein aggregates, such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s or Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. Adriano Aguzzi has dedicated most of his professional life to understanding the molecular basis of these diseases.
But despite decades of intensive research and impressive advances in understanding their genetics and biochemistry, the most prevalent neurodegenerative diseases remain essentially uncurable. This sobering situation has prompted Aguzzi to question whether the fundamental mechanisms of neurodegeneration have yet been discovered.
In his NOMIS-financed project, entitled “Exploring the Locales of Cognitive Decline: Cellular and Molecular 3D Atlases of Brain Pathology in Aging and in Neurodegeneration”, Aguzzi and colleagues propose combining advanced 3D imaging techniques with molecular methods of genome interrogation/perturbation.This will enable the creation of detailed atlases of the cell types that drive damage in various models of neurodegeneration.
NOMIS Foundation
The NOMIS Foundation is a private Swiss foundation headquartered in Zurich and founded in 2008. It promotes and supports innovative and pioneering research in the natural sciences, arts and social sciences. The award is granted to three researchers at a time.
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