Elite Research Prize for ground-breaking research into Parkinson’s

Our brain makes us who we are and it is still one of the greatest mysteries known to science. Every day, clinical professor and senior hospital physician Per Borghammer thinks both about and with the brain, so that we can all learn more about Parkinson’s disease.

His research group was, amongst other things, the first in the world to demonstrate that fragments of Parkinson’s protein can be found in the intestine up to 20 years before a Parkinson’s diagnosis is made. They have helped to demonstrate that surgical incision of the vagus nerve, which connects the brain and gut, can reduce the risk of Parkinson’s disease by 50 percent.

Through these findings and some of the most advanced scanning studies in the world, Per Borghammer and his research group have had a crucial impact on our understanding Parkinson’s by explaining it as a two-part disease, which in all likelihood occurs in the intestine for some patients, and inside the brain for others. This is important knowledge with regards to detecting Parkinson’s disease at an earlier stage.

His research is also important in relation to the future treatment and prevention of brain diseases. Recently, several clinical trials of antibody treatment have shown that it is possible to halt the development of Alzheimer’s disease, and it is believed that these findings can also be applied to Parkinson’s.

Every year, the Ministry of Higher Education and Research awards the Elite Research Prize to five internationally outstanding researchers who, across a broad field, contribute crucial new knowledge about ourselves and the world around us.

This article is based on press material from the Ministry of Higher Education and Science.

Contact

Per Borghammer DMSc, clinical professor, and senior hospital physician
Aarhus University, Department of Clinical Medicine and
Aarhus University Hospital - Nuclear Medicine and PET
Mobile: +45 2826 1039

E-mail: borghammer@clin.au.dk