Knowledge transfer
In cooperation with industrial partners members of the consortium (Buchert and Jahn) have already started to transfer research findings into clinical diagnostic routine. A prominent example of this strategy was the development of a computer decision support system for neurodegenerative diseases (cooperation with Philips Medical Systems) to support clinicians in diagnosing the onset and type of disease using PET scans (Positron Emission Tomography) with the glucose analogue [F-18]fluorodeoxyglucose in patients suspected of having a neurodegenerative disease. The current prototype system detects and differentiates Alzheimer’s disease, lewy-body dementia and frontotemporal dementia. The system might also provide pharmaceutical companies with an objective tool for the development and testing of new drugs for neurodegenerative diseases.
In addition, members of this cluster have identified structural abnormalities in early onset forms of Parkinson’s disease (PD) using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and modern morphometric techniques. These developments take place in a tight cooperation with an industrial partner (Siemens) including the joint supervision of a PhD student (A. Littmann).
An important objective of the cluster is to perform translational research, e.g. study clinical problems, transfer the results into useful principles and implement them in clinical practice. This will be performed by close collaborations between the clinical and preclinical partners within the cluster. Apart from the Department of Neurology (Gerloff) and Neuropediatrics (Isbrandt) the cluster is already closely integrated with major clinical disciplines such as Neuroradiology (Fiehler) and Psychiatry (Jahn).
In relation to neurodegeneration, this interdisciplinary approach will help identify early markers of disease, possible diagnostic tools including neuroimaging, and new therapeutic approaches via identification of key metabolic pathways and screening of compound libraries to rectify degeneration on a cellular level.
In the future, new insights into learning and memory can also be used to develop new school teaching principles in general, and for children and adults with cognitive dysfunctions. This is already the topic of an ongoing BMBF grant “Teach – Learn research with a neuroscientific perspective” (Knecht). The cluster will therefore also develop collaborations with the faculty of Education, Psychology and Human Movement at Hamburg University.
