Funding will be provided for a UMA scientist's research to slow down the development of Alzheimer's

Inés Moreno, a doctor in Biology and researcher in the Department of Cell Biology at the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Málaga, identified a potential new treatment in 2022 to slow down Alzheimer's disease. It involved a therapeutic target aimed at eliminating a type of proteins that naturally occur in the brain, but over time accumulate and form toxic molecular aggregates.

Her research will now be funded after being awarded globally at the Grifols Scientific Awards. Moreno has been recognized for her studies in finding a therapy against this disease, which is diagnosed with 40,000 new cases each year in Spain. The treatment seeks to slow down its progression.

Her Albus Award annually honors innovative solutions concerning albumin, a protein typically found in blood plasma, and its role as a therapeutic product. Moreno will receive funding of 50,000 euros for 12 months to continue advancing in the research of albumin as a therapeutic tool to develop a more effective strategy.

Reducing Brain Toxicity

"The idea is to use it as a 'glue' which the toxic proteins found in the blood of patients with Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative diseases will bind to, in an attempt to reduce their toxicity in the brain," she explained.

"With this approach, we hope to slow down the development of the disease," added the professor, who was also awarded a few years ago by the Alzheimer's Association and who is now the first Andalusian scientist to receive the international award from the global healthcare company Grifols. Established in 2015, this distinction, which can be awarded to both research personnel and clinical professionals, has so far been given to only four Spaniards.

Inés Moreno belongs to the Department of Cell Biology of the UMA, a university that includes the NeuroAD group (Neuropathology of Alzheimer's Disease), which is a reference in the study of this disease and of which she is a member.

Led by Professor Antonia Gutiérrez, current president of the Spanish Society of Neuroscience, 'NeuroAD' is part of the Biomedical Research Network Center on Neurodegenerative Diseases (CIBERNED) and the Biomedical Research Institute of Málaga and the Nanomedicine Platform (IBIMA-Plataforma BIONAND), centers to which Moreno also belongs.