ROMA (ITALPRESS) – 2026 opens with good news for Cristian Ripoli – Professor of Physiology of the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery of the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, campus of Rome – and for research on Alzheimer: the researcher is the winner of the 200,000-dollar call made available by the association Airalzh Onlus (Italian Association of Alzheimer’s Research) and the Armenise-Harvard Foundation aimed at researchers who arrived halfway through their career.
The aim of Professor Ripoli’s research activity is to develop engineered proteins that can intervene on synaptic malfunction that characterizes people suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.
“Most therapies currently being tested for Alzheimer’s are aimed at countering the disease’s triggering factors, such as the accumulation of proteins that do not fold properly and form toxic deposits in the brain. We, on the other hand, propose to intervene not on the causes, but on the consequences, i.e. on the vulnerability of synapses and on the loss of neuronal plasticity, responsible for the cognitive deficit. We have inspired the strategies used by engineers to protect us from natural disasters – says Professor Ripoli, grant winner –. Just as we cannot control the onset and force of an earthquake, we cannot predict the onset of Alzheimer’s disease.”.
“However, just as engineers do, we can design more resistant and resilient structures: our goal is therefore to make the synapses stronger, plastic and reactive, able to resist the shock of the disease. To do so we use protein engineering techniques that allow us to insert molecular switches capable of responding to medications already approved and safe. Thanks to this financing we will also have the possibility to develop and test a completely autonomous therapeutic system. We have in fact designed engineered proteins that can act spontaneously when ‘spia’ enzymes signal an early cellular or synaptic suffering. It is a ‘on-demand’ system: care is activated independently only in the sick cell and only in the moment of need, before degeneration takes place.
For three years, the two organizations have been allied to offer a 100,000 USD per year grant for a two-year period in support of the most interesting basic research in the field of neurodegenerative diseases. With a bond compared to traditional bands: you can participate only if you are head of an independent laboratory, in Italy for at least five but not more than 12 years. A choice that allows to direct funding to the activities and discoveries that need to consolidate the results, in an extremely delicate phase in the career of a scientist.
Similarly to all the most prestigious European funding, the ‘Armenise Harvard Airalzh Mid-Career Award’ grant is granted to the outcome of a very scrupulous evaluation process, during which the researcher also has an interview with an expert committee to discuss his aspirations and the criticalities of the project to be financed. “As the Armenise Harvard Foundation, along with Airalzh, we want to bring to the attention of the Government and other organizations that support research this important problem that needs a structural approach.
“The thirty-year experience of the Armenise Harvard Foundation is emblematic: with the Career Development Award (CDA) program we supported the research in Italy of over 30 young scientists who, in turn, have raised funds for over 100 million euros, publishing more than 1000 peer-reviewed paper with an average H-index of 27 and about 4,700 average quotes.” – says Elisabetta Vitali, Executive Director of the Armenise Harvard Foundation –.
“We are proud to support, together with the Armenise Harvard Foundation, the work of Prof. Cristian Ripoli – says Prof. Alessandra Mocali, President of Airalzh Onlus – “The basic research is important for the development of new scientific knowledge that, by force of things, cannot take place quickly. For this reason, it is essential to help those who have long been working hard and hard on research but need funding to achieve concrete results. Our Association, for more than 10 years, is committed by supporting basic and clinical research through the provision of National Research and Grants grants, involving Universities and Research Centres of excellence. To date more than 4 million euros have been invested, thanks to the support of large and small donors, to finance 82 Research grants and 38 Research Projects”.
From 1 February a new Armenise Harvard Airalzh Mid-Career Award for the value of 200 thousand USD will be opened. As with previous editions, it will be possible to access the financing only if you are head of an independent laboratory, in Italy, for at least five but not more than 12 years. The bag will guarantee researchers at the intermediate stage of their career 100 thousand USD per year for two years. The deadline for submission is 15 April 2026.
-Photo Università Cattolica Roma-
(ITALPRESS).
