Alzheimer Research Award won by MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology scientist
Benjamin Ryskeldi-Falcon, of the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, has won the Alzheimer Research Award 2022 for outstanding work in the field of neurodegenerative disease.
Benjamin, a group leader in the LMB’s Neurobiology Division, won the award for basic research from the Hans and Ilse Breuer Foundation.
It recognises his work on the abnormal assembly of proteins that underlies the most prevalent neurodegenerative diseases.
He shares the award with Susanne Röhr from the Institute of Social Medicine, Occupational Medicine and Public Health (ISAP) at the University of Leipzig in Germany, who was rewarded for healthcare research.
Benjamin said: “I am honoured to receive the Alzheimer Research Award. I would like to thank and share this honour with my colleagues and collaborators. Support from the Hans and Ilse Breuer Foundation will help with our ongoing efforts to understand the molecular mechanisms that cause neurodegenerative diseases.”
He started his research group in 2019 after completing PhD and postdoctoral studies with Michel Goedert, researching the assembly of tau protein and, working with Sjors Scheres, using electron cryo-microscopy (cryo-EM) to determine structures of assembled tau from patient brains.
His group is now focussed on better understanding the assembly of the protein TDP-43, which underlies motor neuron disease and frontotemporal dementia, as well as playing a role in Alzheimer’s disease.
His group’s insights led to a structural breakthrough in our understanding of the assembly of TDP-43 protein in motor neuron disease and frontotemporal dementia.
Using cryo-EM, Benjamin and collaborators determined the high-resolution structures of assembled TDP-43 in different brain regions of individuals with these common conditions, revealing filaments with a previously unseen double-spiral shaped fold.
The work is hugely significant in developing future diagnostic tests and therapies.
The Hans and Ilse Breuer Foundation, founded in 2000, aims to improve the lives of dementia sufferers and their relatives.
It has projects to support care and therapy needs, and promoted fundamental research into the causes, diagnosis and treatment of neurodegenerative diseases.
A spokesperson said: “The Hans and Ilse Breuer Foundation is proud to support such a gifted young scientist, who is performing cutting-edge research by determining the three-dimensional structure of protein deposits characteristic for several neurodegenerative disorders.
“His work will help to understand disease mechanisms and may also provide the basis for the development of disease-modifying strategies.”
Benjamin, who previously won the 2019 Rising Star Award from Alzheimer’s Research UK, is the first recipient of the award as a current member of the LMB.
LMB alumnus Eva-Maria Mandelkow was the award winner in 2007.
