Fluid Biomarkers and Translational Neurology Research Group
The Fluid Biomarkers and Translational Neurology Research group conducts translational research to develop biomarkers, discover new therapeutic targets and provide a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms of Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative diseases.
The group is made up of a multidisciplinary and diverse team of both clinicians and basic researchers who take a “bedside to bench and back again” approach. They identify clinical problems and patients’ needs at the bedside, conduct basic science research at the bench to answer clinically relevant questions, and bring the new generated knowledge back to the patient’s bedside and the community.
Research lines
The HeBe project (ERC Starting Grant)
The overall aim of the HeBe project is to identify blood factors with a rejuvenating or an ageing effect on the human brain that can therefore become therapeutic targets for Alzheimer’s Disease. The general hypothesis is that humans have age-related blood factors that have an effect in brain health. For these purposes, the group uses advanced proteomics and metabolomics to identify blood factors that differ between extreme phenotypes, and then develop a targeted assay toolkit. This project receives funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (Grant agreement No. 948677).
Neurodegenerative diseases fluid biomarkers lab
The lab is focused on the development, validation and implementation of novel biomarkers that will improve the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease or other neurodegenerative diseases in its earlier stages. These biomarkers will be also useful to detect individuals who are more susceptible to develop the disease, predict their prognosis, monitor disease progression and treatment effectiveness, or to be used as surrogate markers in clinical trials.
The group addresses the whole biomarkers development workflow, from identification of candidate biomarkers, assay development and finally clinical implementation, and collaborates with all relevant stakeholders in this process. The state-of-the-art lab is equipped with fully automated instruments to perform these measurements in a highly reproducible manner.
