Brain Resilience
Description: Alzheimer's disease, the most prevalent type of dementia, is amongst the most burdensome disease conditions in Canada and worldwide, with significant personal and societal costs. Nevertheless, effective treatments and mechanisms of timely diagnosis elude us, to the detriment of those living with the disease. Thus, there is an urgent need to develop inexpensive, non-invasive biomarkers, as well as efficient treatments for Alzheimer's disease. As a Tier 1 CRC in Brain Resilience, Dr. De Felice will conduct two projects to tackle these pressing needs. The first project focuses on early Alzheimer's diagnostics. The second project seeks neuroprotective molecules induced by physical exercise. Specifically, Dr. De Felice's objectives are to: 1) Identify early Alzheimer's disease biomarkers: Dr. De Felice proposes to use a highly sensitive method to identify Alzheimer's biomarkers in the blood of patient cohorts. She will further employ an attractive and simple approach to identify disease biomarkers found in nanoparticles released by brain cells. Such nanoparticles originate in the brain and are carried into the circulation. Ideal biomarkers, preferably identifiable by simple blood tests, will facilitate more accurate diagnoses at very early disease stages and predict the effectiveness of different treatments as they become available. 2) Develop neurotherapeutics associated with physical exercise. Dr. De Felice aims to investigate and identify molecules produced by the muscle upon physical exercise that promote brain resilience and counteract neurodegenerative processes. Her group already identified the exercise-induced hormone irisin as a protective molecule against memory impairment in mouse models. Dr. De Felice will test the neuroprotective potential of different approaches that increase irisin, including its increase in nanoparticles. She will further study whether physical exercise boosts other molecules that promote brain resilience and health. This project may lead to the development of neurotherapeutics that reproduce the beneficial actions of exercise in memory. Ultimately, the research program described has the potential to improve clinical care by providing access to early and simple disease diagnosis and to accelerate the development of new drugs. Understanding how physical exercise promotes brain health and resilience will further lead to preventive strategies for cognitive decline in aging.
Amount: CA$1,400,000
Funding type: fellowship
Funder scheme: Canada Research Chairs - CIHR Funded - Tier 1
Start date: 2024-01-01
End date: 2030-12-31
Investigator: Fernanda De Felice
Institution: Queen's University (Kingston, Ontario)
Funded outputs count: 0
Funder award ID: 191543_1
OpenAlex ID: G2261179706