Three young investigators receive the Boehringer Ingelheim APOPIS awards 2005 for studies on neurodegenerative diseases

Satellite symposium prior to the 7th International AD/PD Conference 2005 presents early results of the EU-funded APOPIS Integrated Project

14  March 2005

Sorrento/Italy, 14 March 2005 - For the first time, the Boehringer Ingelheim APOPIS Award for Young Researchers was presented at the 7^th International Conference on Progress in Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Disease in Sorrento. Three scientists from three countries received the award for their efforts in investigating abnormal protein aggregation in neurodegenerative diseases carried out under the APOPIS research project, which is funded by the European Union (EU) under its 6^th Framework Programme APOPIS. Each winner received a prize of € 5000. Lawrence Rajendran from the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics in Dresden, Rosa Rademakers from the Molecular Genetics Department at the University of Antwerp, and Martin Herzig from the Department of Neuropathology at the University of Basle were honoured in recognition of their outstanding scientific achievements within the EU-funded APOPIS (Abnormal proteins in the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases) research project.

APOPIS is an integrated project funded by the European Union under the Sixth Framework Programme. It was started in January 2004 and unites 39 participating groups from 32 European institutions in 12 countries. The project will run until December 2006.

Lawrence Rajendran, a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Kai Simons in Dresden was recognised for his elegant work to elucidate the intracellular processing of β-amyloid, the major component of senile plaques, the invariant hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease.

Rosa Rademakers, postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Christine van Broeckhoven, received the prize for her work on the genomic architecture of the gene locus harbouring the tau gene, which may have implications for the understanding of genetic contributions to several forms of dementias.

Martin Herzig, a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Mathias Jucker was honoured for his studies using different transgenic mouse models to shed light on the molecular basis of vascular amyloid deposition leading to cerebral hemorrhage.

“Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Disease continue to pose a tremendous challenge for the biomedical research community because despite years of effort there are still no effective treatment options available to stop disease progression,” commented Dr Bernd Sommer, Director of CNS Research at Boehringer Ingelheim. “We are therefore delighted to sponsor research projects that may lead us to a better understanding of the underlying disease mechanisms. We hope that this will help accelerate the discovery of novel treatment concepts and ultimately ease the life of those suffering from such devastating conditions.”

According to Prof. Franz Adlkofer of the Munich-based VERUM Foundation, the organizer and coordinator of the APOPIS project, another goal of the APOPIS project is to bring together outstanding European research groups in the area of neurodegenerative diseases. “I am deeply convinced that the tight cooperation between these groups within the APOPIS consortium is far superior to the scattered, individual research endeavours, the way research has usually been done in this field in Europe,” said Adlkofer. “Not only does such an approach appear to be the only way to effectively compete with researchers in this area in the US and in Japan; it is also a necessary prerequisite to achieve scientific breakthroughs for which there is an urgent need in our societies.”

About Boehringer Ingelheim
The Boehringer Ingelheim group is one of the world’s 20 leading pharmaceutical companies. Headquartered in Ingelheim, Germany, it operates globally with 152 affiliates in 45 countries and more than 34 000 employees. Since it was founded in 1885, the family-owned company has been committed to researching, developing, manufacturing and marketing novel products of high therapeutic value for human and veterinary medicine. In 2003, Boehringer Ingelheim posted net sales of € 7.4 billion while spending more than one fifth of net sales in its largest business segment Prescription Medicines on research and development. Research and development are conducted in several R&D centers worldwide. One of the therapeutic areas focuses on diseases of the central nervous system.

About VERUM
VERUM - Foundation for Behaviour and Environment, based in Munich, Germany, is a non-profit scientific organisation that promotes research into the effects of behaviour and the environment on human health. Projects supported and/or managed by VERUM are mainly aimed at investigating the physiological and pathological processes of ageing at molecular, cellular and functional levels, in particular processes influenced by lifestyle and the environment. The main focus is directed at the various causes of age-related changes in specific systems, e.g. the central nervous system or the immune system, and on the effects of such changes on human health and longevity. VERUM is dedicated to further scientific knowledge in these areas and to create a sound basis for preventive medical measures. Since 1992 VERUM has been managing and supporting research projects with a overall budget of more than €15 millions in Germany, other European countries and in the US, including two projects - REFLEX and DIADEM - funded by the EU Commission within the 5^th Framework Program (FP5). Within the APOPIS consortium VERUM will be the responsible co-ordinator of the EU-funded integrated project.

About the EU’s 6^th Framework Programme (FP6)
At the Lisbon summit in March 2000, EU governments called for a better use of European research efforts through the creation of an internal market for science and technology - a ‘European Research Area’ (ERA). The 6^th Framework Programme, FP6, which runs from 2003 until 2006, is the financial instrument to help make the ERA a reality. With an overall budget of € 17.5 billion FP6 is the world’s largest science funding programme.

Related links: APOPIS website Website of the 7th International AD/PD Conference 2005 Website of the EU R&D Information Service CORDIS