Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease Research at the Clínic

Several clinical research projects involving prion diseases and other neurodegenerative diseases are being conducted at Hospital Clínic de Barcelona. They are carried out as part of the Alzheimer's and Other Cognitive Disorders Group at the August Pi i Sunyer Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBAPS), led by Dr Raquel Sánchez-Valle.  

Project financed by the Dr Josep Baselga Fund for research into prion diseases:

This fund was generated by altruistic donations in memory of the eminent oncologist Dr Josep Baselga, who passed away in 2021 due to sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.  

This 5-year research project will clinically characterise longitudinal changes in symptomatic and asymptomatc individuals using neuroimaging and biochemical biomarkers. These changes occur over time in the brains of people who have a mutation that causes a genetic prion disease. The aim is to understand how the brain alterations caused by the disease begin, and how they progress.  

Biological studies (RNA, epigenetic and biochemical studies) will also be performed using previously collected samples available in our laboratory. The aim of all this is to increase knowledge of these diseases and provide tools that allow drug studies to be carried out on medications that may be able to change their course.  

For this we need volunteers from families with genetic prion diseases such as Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD), Gerstmann–Sträussler–Scheinker syndrome (GSS), and Familial Fatal Insomnia (FFI). Patients in the early stages of the disease who wish to participate in this type of study are also needed. If you wish to do so, please contact us via the website or by email at alzheimer@clinic.cat.  

We are extremely grateful to all donors for their contributions to this study. We hope it will advance our understanding of these diseases and pave the way for innovative therapies.