Two international grants have been awarded to Univ.-Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Alberto Catanese, Director of the Institute of Neuroanatomy and a member of the research focus Translational Neuroscience at Uniklinik RWTH Aachen. These awards underscore the international visibility of Aachen’s amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) research and enable new approaches to the development of urgently needed therapies.
ALS is a progressive neurodegenerative disease in which nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord die off. The disease leads to progressive muscle paralysis and is currently incurable. This makes international research initiatives all the more important, as they provide new insights into the disease mechanisms and drive the development of innovative therapeutic approaches.
The first grant is supported by the My Name’5 Doddie Foundation, an internationally renowned foundation dedicated to advancing ALS research. Together with scientists from the University of Dundee (United Kingdom) and the HUN-REN Research Center for Natural Sciences (Hungary), Prof. Catanese’s team will investigate novel JNK inhibitors as potential therapeutic approaches for ALS. The goal of the project is to gain new insights into the underlying disease mechanisms and to develop innovative treatment strategies.
Prof. Catanese received another award as part of the Longitude Prize on ALS. From numerous applications from around the world, only 20 international consortia were selected for the Discovery Award phase. The initiative is currently considered the world’s largest research initiative that specifically uses artificial intelligence (AI) methods to accelerate the development of new therapies for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. The TUM_ALIGN_ALS consortium is among the selected teams. It brings together researchers from Germany, Australia, Italy, and Canada and is led by Prof. Lingor. Aachen is represented alongside partners from Ulm, Melbourne, Milan, and Canada. The consortium uses state-of-the-art AI methods to analyze genetic, molecular, and clinical datasets and identify new therapeutic targets for ALS.
With these two grants, the Institute of Neuroanatomy at RWTH Aachen University Hospital is further expanding its international network and making an important contribution to global efforts to sustainably improve the treatment of ALS.
