The University of Minnesota has won a $4.3 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to study potential causes of Alzheimer’s disease.
The School of Public Health, along with the University of Mississippi, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and Wake Forest University, will examine data from a long-term study that for the past 20 years has been tracking 16,000 people, including 4,000 in Minnesota, as they progress from middle age to later life.
Researchers say they believe there is not one root cause of Alzheimer’s, but rather a combination of physiological factors including diabetes, high blood pressure and lifestyle.
When Investment Rhymes with Canada
Canada has a proud history of achievement in the areas of science and technology, and the field of biomanufacturing and life sciences is no exception.
“This study will help us have a deeper understanding of the causes of dementia and will contribute to the development of preventive strategies and new treatments,” Dr. Alvaro Alonso, an assistant professor in the School of Public Health at the University of Minnesota and an investigator on the study.
Over the years researchers have developed new technologies to image the brain and search for genetic clues to the disease.
For example, Orasi Medical Inc., a university-bred startup, is developing a technology that can help drug firms determine if their therapies are working by comparing novel brain scans of patients with neurological diseases to its image database of people with normal brain activity.
Orasi owns the largest commercial database of magnetoencephalography (MEG) scans and is the only provider of MEG biomarkers, the genetic clues scientists use to identify diseases. Drug companies can determine whether or not to pursue a therapy rather than spend billions on a drug with a high likelihood of failure.
