Prestigious grant to Parkinson’s disease researchers at Skåne University Hospital

Oskar Hansson, Consultant at Skåne University Hospital. Image: Kennet Ruona/Lund University.
Researchers at Skåne University Hospital and Lund University have been granted almost USD 0.7 million from the Michael J Fox Foundation to develop the world’s first imaging agent, capable of accurately detecting and monitoring progression of Parkinson’s disease.

Oskar Hansson, Consultant at Skåne University Hospital and Professor of Neurology at Lund University, receives a grant of approximately USD 3.2 million together with the Swiss biopharmaceutical company AC Immune. Of this, USD 0.7 million goes to Oskar Hansson and his research team at Skåne University and Lund University.

Through this grant, the researchers will develop an imaging agent to visualise the toxic key protein alpha-synuclein in the brains of living people with Parkinson’s disease.

”If we succeed in developing a correct way of visualise the key protein, it would be a great breakthrough for neurology research”, Oskar Hansson says.

About 20,000 people in Sweden are living with Parkinson’s disease. Globally, about 10 million people are living with the disease.

Read more in these press releases from the Michael J Fox Foundation and AC Immune:

Michael J. Fox Foundation: Winners of the “Ken Griffin Alpha-synuclein Imaging Competition” to Develop Game-Changing Tool for Parkinson’s Research

AC Immune: AC Immune Wins Prestigious Award to Develop a “Game-Changing” Parkinson’s Diagnostic Tool