Oskar Hansson, Consultant at Skåne University Hospital and Professor of Neurology at Lund University will receive, jointly with the Swiss company AC Immune, a grant of approximately SEK 30 million. Of this amount, SEK 7 million will go to Oskar Hansson and his research colleagues who will study the various radioactive markers that can, together with PET camera technology, detect the presence of the toxic protein alpha-synuclein in different parts of the brain. Parkinson's disease is believed to be caused by an accumulation of this particular protein in the brain.

Diagnostic method

The studies are conducted in both experimental and clinical studies. The hope is to develop an advanced imaging technique that can more accurately detect and study the development of Parkinson's disease in the brain.

– Successful development of a diagnostic method that can detect accumulations of alpha-synuclein in the brain correctly would be a very big breakthrough for brain research, Hansson says.

Currently, around 20,000 people are diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in Sweden. Globally, more than six million people are estimated to be affected and, with an ageing population, this number is increasing rapidly. There is a major need for new treatments that relieve symptoms.

Developed PET technology is crucial

Oskar Hansson is research group leader of Clinical Memory Research at Lund University. He leads the clinical studies conducted at the Memory and Neurology Clinic at Skåne University Hospital in Malmö.

– There is an urgent need to develop a method that detects Parkinson's disease early on. We need to better understand the underlying disease processes in Parkinson's disease, as well as in other brain diseases where alpha-synuclein plays a role. The development of PET camera technology will be crucial for the development of new neuroprotective drugs that can slow down or stop the development of the disease in the brain in these diseases, Hansson says.