The BBRC joins a Europe-wide project on menopause and brain health

The Barcelonaβeta Brain Research Center (BBRC) is a partner in MENOBRAIN, a new Marie Skłodowska‑Curie Doctoral Network that aims to investigate how the menopausal transition affects women's brain health and long‑term Alzheimer’s disease risk. The BBRC team, co‑led by Dr. Anna Brugulat and Dr. Oriol Grau, will contribute longitudinal and cross‑sectional analyses from the ALFA research platform, supported by the “la Caixa” Foundation.

The BBRC will use data from the ALFA cohort (1,725 cognitively unimpaired postmenopausal women) and the ALFA+ longitudinal subcohort (272 participants) to study trajectories of core AD biomarkers in blood and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) including Aβ42 and phosphorylated tau, markers of neurodegeneration (NfL), neuroinflammation, synaptic and vascular dysfunction, brain glucose metabolism and biological brain age. MENOBRAIN will also examine how genetic factors such as APOE‑ε4, social determinants, and modifiable risks like education, cardiovascular health and physical activity interact with menopause history to influence brain ageing.

This interdisciplinary network will train doctoral candidates across Europe, harmonise advanced imaging and fluid‑biomarker methods, and aim to identify early biological pathways and potential intervention targets to improve prevention and personalised care for ageing women. BBRC’s contribution will strengthen the project through our deep phenotyping resources and long‑term follow‑up from the ALFA studies.

More about MENOBRAIN

With the global population of menopausal women projected to reach 1.2 billion by 2030, MENOBRAIN addresses a critical yet understudied period in women’s health. Funded by Horizon Europe MSCA, MENOBRAIN will run over four years (2025–2029) and will train 15 doctoral candidates within a multidisciplinary consortium of 18 participants (11 beneficiaries and 7 partners), coordinated by Universitätsklinikum Jena.