The Pasqual Maragall Foundation announces the winners of the first call for its research grants programme Pasqual Maragall Researchers Programme (PMRP). With a total endowment of 1.5 million euros, this initiative that seeks to promote innovative projects in the research of Alzheimer's and other age-related neurodegenerative diseases has established itself as the most important private scholarship program in Spain dedicated to research in this field.
Thanks to this first call for proposals and through the selected projects, the PMRP programme will support excellent research led by other centres in Spain, will further strengthen the Foundation's research activity and will open up new perspectives in addressing Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative diseases related to ageing.
«These grants aim to boost the search for solutions to dementia. They are an investment in the future of scientific research and a firm commitment to the health and well-being of our society. Through this program, we reaffirm our commitment to research into Alzheimer's and other age-related neurodegenerative diseases, with the conviction that science will guide us towards a future in which they are eradicated.", he declared Arcadi Navarro, director of the Pasqual Maragall Foundation.
Scholarship Award Winners Pasqual Maragall Researchers Programme 2022
On the one hand, the project led by has been selected Pablo Martínez-Lage, from the CITA-Alzheimer Fundazioa Foundation which aims to identify epigenetic signatures that could help define risk profiles for Alzheimer's disease. «The project we have presented aims to study disease mechanisms in more depth from the epigenetic point of view. In addition, it raises the possibility of acting on these mechanisms through non-pharmacological intervention, controlling risk factors and promoting healthy lifestyle habits», has declared Martinez-LageAlberto Lleó Bisa (Hospital de la Santa Creu i San Pau Research Institute Foundation) and Maite Mendioroz Iriarte (Miguel Servet-Navarrabiomed Foundation) are collaborating on this project, which will strengthen research in this field.
Another of the award-winning projects has been that of Hugo Peluffo, from the University of Barcelona and also affiliated with the Pasteur Institute in Montevideo, Uruguay, which will focus on the relationship between aging and Alzheimer's disease. Specifically, it will explore how immune cells in the nervous system, known as microglia, influence the aging process and the late onset of Alzheimer's. «There is genetic evidence linking microglia with Alzheimer's and, therefore, they would play a very relevant role in the development of the disease. These cells are very important for the brain because they contribute to cleaning nervous tissue, for example, of the beta amyloid protein», has detailed Peluffo. In this respect, the collaboration with Michael Heneka (University of Luxembourg) will also broaden the scope of this research.
Finally, the project of José Vicente Sánchez Mut, from the Higher Council for Scientific Research at the Institute of Neurosciences of Alicante, will investigate “resilience” to Alzheimer’s disease, exploring why some individuals with high pathology for the disease do not develop symptoms. «The support of the Pasqual Maragall Foundation represents recognition of our work and a step forward in the consolidation of our group at a national and international level. In particular, it will allow us to investigate how interventions on sleep quality can rescue the cognitive abilities of patients despite the pathology and identify new therapeutic strategies to increase resilience to the disease,» has explained Sanchez Mut.
New call for PMRP scholarships
Following the success of the first edition of the programme, which received more than 60 applications, the Pasqual Maragall Foundation has today announced a new call for PMRP scholarships, with a new endowment of 1.6 million euros.
The scholarships of the Pasqual Maragall Researchers Programme They are aimed at individual projects led by a principal investigator, or collaborative projects (of a maximum of three groups) led by a consortium coordinator who carries out their research activity at public or non-profit research organisations in Spain.
Interested researchers can find more information on the website https://fpmaragall.org/pasqual-maragall-researchers-programme/ and send your queries to the email researchgrants@fpmaragall.org.
