Benjamartin

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  Dr. Ricardo B. Maccioni

Ricardo Maccioni pioneering the pathway to control Alzheimer´s disease

Dr. Ricardo Maccioni is one of the best-known names in neuroscience in the world. He is Full Professor of Neurology and Neurosciences at the University of Chile, Director of the Neuroscience Lab and Scientific Director of the International Center for Biomedicine. His lab is on the forefront of discovering the causes and the approaches toward the cure of Alzheimer’s Disease. In 1978, he co-discovered tau protein, investigated during more than two decades its links with this disease, and later in 1997 his lab described the mechanisms underlying tau hyperphosphorylations. This was followed by his discoveries on how altered tau protein unfold and turns into a pathological protein with the capacity to self-aggregate into tau oligomers and other supramolecular structures in this disease. In the middle 2000´s he and coauthors made a major breakthrough after discovering how brain neuroinflammatory events finally lead to tau modifications, and postulated the neuroimmunomodulation theory to explain Alzheimer´s pathogenesis.

Based on these and other major achievements, the Danna Alliance for Brain Initiatives incorporated Dr. Maccioni among the neuroscience leaders in the world. His major discoveries such as the action of iron and oxidative stress in Alzheimer´s disease, innovative biomarkers for this disease as well as his studies on the actions of nutraceutical compounds in Alzheimer´s treatment have been the subject of some of the most influential public media in the world. His lab discovered the link between behavioral disorders and Alzheimer’s disease, published in the Journal of Alzheimer´s Disease, as well as innovative peripheral tau biomarkers for early detection of Alzheimer´s disease.

A major accomplishment derives from his outstanding ability and willingness to translate his complex research discoveries into novel technologies and several products in the benefit of many people´s health. Certainly he is a real leader in modern Translational Medicine. He published several books on research milestones in Alzheimer, and more than 200 papers in this field, and works incessantly toward the major goal of curing Alzheimer´s disease.