Project description
Improving Alzheimer’s trial designs for better treatments
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) does not follow a single path. Its progression varies widely among individuals due to differences in risk factors, symptoms and cognitive decline rates. Despite this, clinical trials often take a one-size-fits-all approach, which limits their success in developing effective treatments. As researchers focus on earlier interventions, refining trial design is essential to improving outcomes. A key challenge is identifying subgroups of patients who may respond differently to treatments. With the support of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the STRATA-ALZ project tackles this issue by analysing neurobiological differences in over 2 900 individuals from different cohorts. By identifying distinct AD subtypes and assessing disease progression factors, the project aims to create data-driven guidelines, ultimately increasing the likelihood of successful therapies.
Objective
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) heterogeneity is associated with distinct risk factors, clinical manifestations, rates of cognitive decline, and comorbidities. However, this population variance is not properly incorporated in clinical trial design, directly hampering successful development of treatments. As the field is shifting towards (early) secondary or event primary intervention, the overall objective of the current project is to optimize clinical trial design of an early AD population, by providing data-driven guidelines for sample stratification and outcome measures. To this end, I will assess neurobiological heterogeneity in ~2000 cognitively unimpaired (CU) and ~900 mildly impaired (MCI) subjects enrolled in the BioFINDER study from Lund University (host institution). Using their unique data-set, I aim to identify subtypes of amyloid-β (Aβ)-vascular interplay, the two most common co-occurring and interacting pathologies in the aging brain. Next, the role of neuronal function, microglial activation, and novel targets through proteomics analyses based on CSF/plasma biomarkers on disease progression within these subgroups will be determined. Finally, resulting tau-PET accumulation patterns and cognitive decline across domains across will be assessed. A main innovative aspect and strength of this project is the utilization of regional information available from the imaging modalities, an aspect of analyses which I have specialized in. In turn, the expertise of the host institution regarding fluid biomarkers and tau-PET imaging is paramount to support this multi-modal project. Finally, our respective experience with longitudinal study design will support a critical aspect of the project, which is lacking even in the most comprehensive studies to date. Unravelling heterogeneity in disease trajectories is paramount to optimize trial population selection and stratification, directly increasing the changes of positive trial outcomes.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
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CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- natural sciences biological sciences biochemistry biomolecules proteins proteomics
- medical and health sciences basic medicine pathology
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Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
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Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
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Call for proposal
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(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2022-PF-01
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22100 Lund
Sweden
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