Blood Based Biomarkers for Dementias

Over the past decade, blood-based biomarkers for dementia have been increasingly studied as way to diagnose and track the progress of Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases. In this podcast three leading blood-based biomarker pioneers come together to discuss the field, their research and motivations, current challenges and future directions of this field of research (they also reveal a little about themselves as people away from the lab too – find out which if them wants to drive refuse trucks...). In the host chair is Dr Nicholas Ashton, Associate Professor of Neurochemistry from University of Gothenburg and King’s College London. Nicks has more than a decade of experience in biofluid analysis and assay development for Alzheimer’s disease, which ranges from discovery mass spectrometry methods to ultra-sensitive immunoassays. Recently this has produced ultra-sensitive single molecular array (Simoa) assays for phosphorylated tau in blood, which are now widely used in research settings, therapeutics trials and being validated for clinical use. -- Nick’s guests are: Oskar Hansson, Professor of Neurology & Senior Consultant in Neurology at Lund University in Sweden. Oskar explores fluid and imaging biomarkers for neurodegenerative disorders. His inspiration came at medical school when diagnosing dementias. It became clear to him that we needed to be able to identify these diseases before widespread neurodegeneration and disabling symptoms have already developed. At these early disease stages, we are more likely to substantially slow down or even stop the disease progression by different types of interventions. Henrik Zetterberg, Professor of Neurochemistry, Senior Consultant in Clinical Chemistry, Head of Department at UK Dementia Research Institute at University College London and University of Gothenburg. With a background in molecular biology and medicine, Henrik has have spent the last 15 years developing biomarkers for Alzheimer's disease and other brain disorders - becoming a world expert in the process. He has published more than 1100 scientific articles and has received numerous awards. -- If you’re listening to this podcast, you probably already know that Biomarkers are proteins, molecules, or other measurable substances that can provide valuable insight into diagnosing and measuring the progression of a medical condition or disease. For a many years researchers have been exploring the potential of what can discover from blood, to help diagnose Alzheimer’s and other Neurodegenerative diseases. -- You can find out more about our panellists, and their work on our website. There you will also find a full transcript: https://www.dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk -- Like what you hear? Please review, like, and share our podcast - and don't forget to subscribe to ensure you never miss an episode. -- This podcast is brought to you by University College London / UCLH NIHR Biomedical Research Centre in association with Alzheimer’s Association, Alzheimer's Research UK, Alzheimer's Society and Race Against Dementia who we thank for their ongoing support.