Francesco Russo

Exploring the direct and inverse comorbidities in dementia and related diseases using laboratory tests and clinical features

Dementia is a condition characterised by loss of memory and cognitive functions. It affects the daily life of patients and there are no available treatments. Around 50 million people worldwide are living with dementia and this number is expected to rise to 131 million by 2050. Early prevention is crucial if we shall succeed in decreasing the global prevalence. Dementia is associated with many other diseases later in life.

Understanding the inner biological pathways behind these other diseases and the relationship with dementia represent an incredible opportunity to gain insight into this condition. We aim to explore the link between dementia and associated diseases using lab test results for thousands of patients and discover patients having similar lab test results. This will improve the classification of dementia and we may be able to provide better healthcare for these patients, especially in the early treatment of their associated diseases.

Mentors

Basic Mentor: Professor Søren Brunak, Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Protein Research (CPR), University of Copenhagen

Clinical Mentor: Professor Ruth Frikke-Schmidt, Department of Clinical Biochemistry, Rigshospitalet