Senior Group Leader, German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Germany
Eva-Maria Mandelkow and her husband, Eckhard, are a powerhouse research team—Eva is a medical doctor and Eckhard is a physicist—and together this background enables the pair to look at Alzheimer’s disease from different perspectives. The Mandelkow’s best-known work is on the role of tau protein in the development of Alzheimer’s disease, which they have been studying since 1989.
“The most inspiring aspect (of our work) is the opportunity to discover novel features of how brain cells work, achieved by a team of researchers from diverse backgrounds, qualifications and nationalities, working together on common goals.
“The support of Cure Alzheimer’s Fund has been crucial in several respects: (1) the possibility of obtaining research support with a minimum of bureaucracy and time delay, enabling one to tackle new research projects quickly; (2) the flexibility of use of funding, depending on outcomes of the research; and (3) the accelerated exchange of information on new results or methods between researchers.”