Caterina Dallari, Federico Masserini, Veronica Mutti, Marco Rasile, Erica Staurenghi and Gabriella Testa are the six researchers who have been awarded the Airalzh Grants for Young Researchers (AGYR). The Association, through the allocation of 300,000 Euro, has thus selected 6 Research Projects on the early stages of Alzheimer's disease, identification of diagnostic markers, possible new pharmacological targets, innovative technological approaches, but also lifestyles and prevention.
The Researchers' Research Projects focus on different topics. Dr. Caterina Dallari has identified a potential diagnostic method for blood screening in order to achieve early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease. Dr. Federico Masserini aims to understand whether certain brain alterations (hyperintense lesions of the white substance) are different in people with chronic cerebrovascular diseases or Alzheimer's disease and, by means of artificial intelligence models, to understand whether the specific features of these lesions can help in identifying the disease that causes them and in predicting its evolution over time. Dr Veronica Mutti is investigating whether modulation of LRRK2 can attenuate the neuroinflammatory response and thus slow down or reduce the disease. Dr. Marco Rasile is investigating why women account for 2/3 of patients with this disease, while Dr. Erica Staurenghi is investigating the impact of the ApoE4 genotype linked to cholesterol metabolism as a major risk factor. Finally, Dr Gabriella Testa studies the ability of a polyphenol, contained in olive oil, to prevent the accumulation of the tau protein in Alzheimer's disease.
