Per Andrén and Greta Hultqvist granted SEK 3.6 million from the Swedish Brain Foundation

Neurodegenerative diseases are currently the fastest growing cause of death globally. Today, an estimated 44 million people are living with Alzheimer's disease and another 10 million with Parkinson's disease – and already in 2050 the WHO estimates that the number of people affected by dementia will have tripled. To reverse the curve, frontline research is needed, and the Swedish Brain Foundation has now allocated SEK 2 million to Per Andrén, Professor of Mass Spectrometry Imaging, for his project Neurochemical Changes in Parkinson's Disease and L-DOPA induced dyskinesia.

“Parkinson's disease is caused by gradual loss of dopamine-producing nerve cells in the brain. It is treated by adding pharmaceutical drug L-DOPA to the brain where it is converted to dopamine. This can in the long-term cause L-DOPA-induced dyskinesia, involuntary movements, which sometimes become more disabling than the disease itself. Therefore, we will use Mass Spectrometric Imaging, Spatial Transcriptomics and Proteomics with the aim to determine whether L-DOPA has effects on the brain that require new pharmacological strategies. The Swedish Brain Foundation has provided important support to our research for more than ten years, and we sincerely hope that our results will add new pieces of the puzzle in the development of future and improved treatments,” states Per Andrén at his laboratory in Uppsala's Biomedical Center.

Greta Hultqvist, working with a focus on protein drug design, is awarded 1.6 million SEK for her project Increased degradation of amyloid beta as a treatment strategy for Alzheimer's disease. Greta Hultqvist previously received funding from the Swedish Brain Foundation in 2024, and with this additional grant, spanning the next two years, she hopes to open new scientific doors.

“Our project builds on a protein transporter that we developed to take peptide hormones past the blood-brain barrier, and which we are now applying for gene therapy showing potential to slow the development of Alzheimer's disease. So far, our results are highly promising, and that the Swedish Brain Foundation now awards us continued funding both confirms their confidence in our work and gives us important space to explore this path from a long-term perspective,” states Greta Hultqvist, Associate Professor at the Department of Pharmacy.

In the 2025 call, the Swedish Brain Foundation registered 458 applications, of which 112 projects are now granted a total of SEK 152.8 million, making it the Swedish Brain Foundation's largest award to date and an important contribution to the work to answer some of the many challenges surrounding our human brain.

“Science has taken important steps forward, yet many questions remain. Thanks to our donors, we can enable research that can take knowledge further and make a much needed difference, both here and now and in the longer term,” says Hanna Lidén, Acting Secretary General of the Swedish Brain Foundation.

Text: Magnus Alsne, photo: Mikael Wallerstedt a o