New consortium to identify Alzheimer´s genes
[NEWS 2011-02-01] The International Genomics of Alzheimer´s Project (IGAP) is a new global consortium set up to discover and map all Alzheimer´s genes. IGAP is the worlds largest international collaboration on the genetics of Alzheimer´s disease. Representing Sweden will be Associate Professor Caroline Graff and Professor Laura Fratiglioni, both researchers at Karolinska Institutet.
Alzheimer´s disease is a progressive and ultimately fatal neurodegenerative disorder that has no prevention and no cure. The goal of IGAP is to completely understand the part inheritance plays in Alzheimer´s, and to this end it aims to identify all the genes that contribute to the risk of developing the disease.
This research initiative includes four consortia from Europe and the USA, which have built up a shared database containing genetic data from over 40,000 individuals. In the initial phase of the work, more than 20,000 people with Alzheimers and about 20,000 healthy elderly subjects will be compared. As the study progresses, 10,000 additional people with Alzheimers and the same number of healthy elderly subjects will be added to the study.
The first results will be presented this July at the Alzheimer´s Association International Conference on Alzheimer´s Disease (AAICAD) in Paris.
For further information, contact:
Associate Professor Caroline Graff
Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society- Phone:
- +46858583619 or +467338393
- E-mail:
Professor Laura Fratiglioni
Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society- Phone:
- +4686905818 or +46707735818
- E-mail: