DKK 17.9 million for research into diseases of the brain

A research group based at Rigshospitalet is to test human brain cells with substances to treat diseases of the brain. The tests have been granted DKK 17.9 million from the Danish Council for Strategic Research.

A research group at Rigshospitalet has joined the fight against some of the hardest-to-treat brain conditions.  They are being joined by a number of universities and hospitals in Denmark and the US. The diseases include schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s and autism, which affect patients' ability to remember and concentrate, and which currently are more or less untreatable with almost no medicines on the market to treat these symptoms.

The problem with testing medicines is that results, which have proved the new substances to be effective on animals, do not have any effect in tests on patients. It has been so hard to make a break-through in the area that many of the world's large pharmaceutical companies have decided to stop projects to develop medicines for these diseases.

The Neurobiology Research Unit at Rigshospitalet has developed a completely new technique to identify new substances which can activate a protein called the alpha 7 nicotinic acetylcholine-receptor. The protein is linked to human cognitive skills and therefore it is expected to be important in patient treatment.

The advantage is that it has been possible to document effects on human neurons before the substances are actually tested on patients.

The Programme Commission on Individuals, Disease and Society under the Danish Council for Strategic Research is behind the grant, which secures funding for the research project.