Research aims to identify blood biomarkers for predicting Alzheimer's disease

With a NOK 40 million (approx. €3.5 million) grant, Professor Srdjan Djurovic at the University of Oslo aims to identify early blood-based biomarkers that can predict who is at increased risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. The goal is to intervene before the brain sustains irreversible damage - and ultimately to prevent the disease from developing at all.

Alzheimer's disease progresses slowly over many years, from mild early symptoms to severe cognitive decline by the time a diagnosis is made. There is currently no effective cure, and the number of people living with Alzheimer's is rising worldwide.This new project asks a critical question: what if it were possible to delay, or even prevent, the onset of Alzheimer's disease?Professor Srdjan Djurovic, at the Centre for Precision Psychiatry (SPP) at the University of Oslo (UiO), and the Department of Medical Genetics at Oslo University Hospital (OUS), has been awarded NOK 40 million by the Research Council of Norway (RCN). He will lead the effort in identifying key biomarkers that can predict Alzheimer's disease, long before symptoms appear, by combining innovative research methods with large-scale patient data. "This may be decisive for early prevention and could provide a breakthrough in how Alzheimer's disease is diagnosed and treated," he says.

The project "Multimodal metabolic markers for mechanisms and predictive trajectories of Alzheimer's disease" marks the first time the RCN has awarded project funding specifically aimed at building world-leading research environments in Norway. "This grant is truly a great honour, and it is a pleasure to work with highly skilled colleagues, from Centre for Precision Psychiatry, led by Professor Ole A. Andreassen, from the Department of Medical Genetics, as well as other leading research groups in Norway and across Scandinavia," Djurovic adds.

To make prevention possible, clinicians need reliable tools to identify who is at increased risk of Alzheimer's disease before irreversible neurodegeneration begins.Djurovic and his team therefore intend to uncover biological signs of Alzheimer's disease that appear prior to the onset of clinical symptoms.