Professor Dr Adriano Aguzzi

Research Priorities: Neuropathology, prions, bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, neurodegenerative diseases, Alzheimer’s
Adriano Aguzzi is an Italian-Swiss physician and neuropathologist. He investigates the molecular basis of prion diseases – rare progressive diseases such as bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) and Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease. His work has identified the key steps in the pathogenesis of prion diseases. Adriano Aguzzi also studies the basic mechanisms that lead to the creation of neurodegenerative diseases and thus deepens our understanding of them.
Adriano Aguzzi specialised in neuroscience and immunology. His research combines transgenetics with molecular and immunological techniques. His work has identified the decisive steps in the pathogenesis of prion diseases, revealed the cells and molecules involved in prion neuroinvasion (prions being abnormally folded proteins), and elucidated the cellular mechanisms that lead to brain damage in the case of these diseases.
In addition, Adriano Aguzzi investigates the basic mechanisms of neurodegeneration and, in particular, the mechanisms that lead to the creation of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia. By combining fluorochrome chemistry and molecular genetics he develops 3D atlases of pathology and morphology of various cell types that are involved in brain neurodegeneration.
Another important aspect of his research concerns the interplay between the nervous system and the immune system in order to better understand how these systems cooperate and mutually influence each other. Adriano Aguzzi studies how protein aggregates, as they occur in Alzheimer’s and other diseases, arise in the brain and what role the immune system plays in this. He analyses the molecular mechanisms that lead to this aggregation and their effects on neuronal health.