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"IMmune-related biomarkers and targets in PArkinson's Disease"


The IMPAD project aimed to identify immune-related biomarkers in the blood of people with Parkinson's disease. The IMPAD team hopes that blood biomarkers can enable clinicians to easily diagnose, stratify and follow patients based on their presence. The IMPAD project also aimed to identify novel targets for immunomodulation that can be used for treating the disease.

During the project (2021-2023), the IMPAD investigated blood samples from both healthy controls and well-characterized people with Parkinson’s disease to identify changes in the immune system in different subtypes of the disease and at different disease stages. The team used both cellular and protien analyses to determine the condition of the neurons during disease and identify blood biomarkers.

On this page you can can watch a video recorded at the beginning of the IMPAD project. You can also read an article on the output of the project and you can find lists of project participants.


When all samples have been analyzed, we hope to have a thorough characterization of how the immune cell representation changes over the course of the disease. This knowledge can form the basis for identifying new therapeutic drugs. Immunotherapy might thus be a relevant avenue of research when it comes to Parkinson’s disease.”

 

Marina Romero-Ramos, Head of the IMPAD project


THE IMPAD TEAM


Academic team members

  • Marina Romero-Ramos, Professor, Aarhus University
  • Jørgen Kjems, Professor, Aarhus University
  • Per Borghammer, Professor, Aarhus University Hospital
  • Ankita Singh
  • Sara A. Ferreira

Industrial team members

  • Karina Fog, H. Lundbeck
  • Kaspar Russ, H. Lundbeck 

"If we succeed in finding specific biomarkers that can inform on disease stage and neuronal changes in the brain, these biomarkers can be used for both diagnosis but also – and just as importantly – for objective evaluation of efficacy, when testing new drugs."

 

Marina Romero-Ramos, Head of the IMPAD project



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