Cyprus Institute of Neurology and Genetics secures funding for study on dementia

The Cyprus Institute of Neurology and Genetics (CING) has secured €760,000 in funding to study optimised and personalised interventions aimed at delaying and alleviating dementia.

A CING press release says that the EU allocated a total of €17,500,000 for the creation of a pan-European network which, for the next four years, will focus on dementia and the development of techniques for personalised, early prognosis and counseling.

A total of 39 partners from 12 countries including Greece, Slovenia, Belgium and Cyprus participate in the pan-European COMFORTage network, while 13 pilot surveys are to be conducted.

The Cyprus Institute of Neurology and Genetics will lead category C which will specifically study differences in clinical picture, clinical tests as well as the expression of molecules in the blood between people with Alzheimer's disease, people with mild cognitive impairment and people with no memory loss.

The research data will be analysed together with the data of the other countries in order to develop a holistic health care models, which will work personalised for each patient and their needs.

The research will be led by Professor Giorgos Spyrou, Director of the Department of Bioinformatics, Dr. Eleni Zamba Papanikolaou, Senior Neurologist and Director of the Department of Neuroepidemiology and Dr. Andreas Koupparis, Senior Neurologist and Director of the Department of Neurophysiology.

The team consists of scientific officers Dr. Marios Tomazou, Dr. Margarita Zachariou, Dr. Christiana Christodoulou, and Dr. Ioanna Kousiappa, Senior Neurologist Dr. Menelaos Pipis, Director of the Department of Neuropathology, neurologist Dr. Archontia Adamou, clinical neuropsychologist Dr. Eleni Dimitriou, speech therapist Dr. Astero Constantinou, neurophysiologist Gabriella Alexandrou, physiotherapist Demetris Sokratous and postdoctoral researchers Dr. Eleni Loizidou and Dr. Sotiroulla Ellina.

Dementia, i.e. the loss of memory and the reduction of cognitive ability, affects 55 million people worldwide, according to a recent estimate by the World Health Organization.

It is estimated that every year there are 10 million new cases, while the majority of cases of dementia concern Alzheimer's disease.

(Source: CNA)