Meet the ADAPTED Researchers - Itziar de Rojas MSc, Fundació ACE
What is your role within the ADAPTED Project?
I collaborate with the ADAPTED cell research group. I provide samples and data to the collaborating centres. I generate the corresponding databases and the realization of GWAS, APOE genotyping of plasma samples and CSF from Fundació ACE.
I also collaborate with the CNB-CSIC in the cholesterol efflux experiments.
Tell us a bit more about the organisation you work with, Fundació ACE?
Fundació ACE, Institut Català de Neurociències Aplicades (ACE) is a non-profit organisation located in Barcelona, Spain. ACE was registered and declared a welfare institution by the Government of Catalonia in 1995. ACE's mission is to manage dementia in a multidisciplinary way and it has become a global reference in the treatment and management of patients with cognitive disorders. ACE implemented its Memory Clinic in 1996 with the goal of addressing the increasing demands for treatment and education for dementia patients and offering personal attention to them and their families. The Memory Clinic currently comprises a multidisciplinary team of clinicians, neuropsychologists and social workers who attend over 7.000 patients every year.
ACE has made important contributions to the field of neurodegeneration. It is also actively researching on preclinical and prodromal AD and has collaborated in the evaluation of multiple innovative therapeutic approaches for dementia. Its lines of research comprise diverse fields such as genomics, genome-wide association studies, molecular epidemiology, phenomics, in vivo biomarkers, neuroimaging, social legal and ethical research, robotics, and brain training.
What have been some of the biggest achievements/breakthroughs so far in the project?
Generation of APOE Isogenic IPSCs lines for translational research.
Generation of an Integrative bioinformatics pipeline for further research in APOE genotypes.
Generation of Human CSF/Plasma data-set which is ready to go for research and validation purposes.
What excites you most about the project?
To identify the secrets of APOE alleles and its molecular mechanisms associated to Alzheimer’s disease.
What are your expectations for ADAPTED?
ADAPTED will help the research community know more about the APOE mechanism that affects Alzheimer's disease and thus discover drugs for treatment.
What are your hopes for the future treatment of Alzheimer’s disease?
That something is developed to combat the cognitive decline of affected patients and that we can reduce the risk of Alhzeimer's Disease in APOE carriers.
What do you think EU collaborative research projects have to offer?
Collaborative research projects accelerate research on important topics as can be seen in many IMI projects. They also allow a union of efforts and different specialities working for the same purpose.
