IoP research makes Time Magazine's Top 10
22 December 2009
A study by an international collaboration led by Cardiff University and including researchers from the Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London, (IoP KCL) has made Time Magazine’s prestigious Top 10 Medical Breakthroughs list for 2009.
Time Magazine cited research by Simon Lovestone, John Powell, Petra Proitsi and Michelle Lupton who contributed to the collaboration, led by Professor Julie Williams, Cardiff University, on the largest ever Alzheimer's genome study which identified a new set of genes that may contribute to the disorder. Two groups of researchers, working separately, homed in on three genes linked to the late-onset form of the disease, the type that hits people in their 60s or later.
Two of the genes are known to interact with the amyloid-protein plaques that build up in the brain of Alzheimer’s sufferers and will cause nerve-cell death and cognitive problems. The third affects the junction of nerve cells, where various neurochemicals work to relay signals from one nerve cell to another.
Professor Lovestone said: ‘We are delighted Time Magazine chose to highlight this exciting research. Our findings point the way forward for new understanding of Alzheimer’s disease and are the culmination of over a decade of close collaboration between Cardiff University, King's College London and increasingly with many other groups around the world.’
Time Magazine is read by over 4 million people worldwide. Other medical breakthroughs in their annual list include a possible AIDS vaccine, an H1N1 vaccine and the halting of osteoporosis.
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The research was published in October’s Nature Genetics