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Dementia Research Center IRCCS Mondino Foundation-University of Pavia-IUSS
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The scientific collaboration between the Neurological Foundation C. Mondino and the University School of Advanced Studies IUSS lays on two main research axes.
The prevention and treatment of memory deficits and other cognitive disorders and the diagnosis of rare dementias.
The importance of prevention for the maintenance of brain health is widely recognized as a core theme of Lifestyle Medicine, and is supported by strong scientific evidence.
A personalized intervention plan is based on a comprehensive multidisciplinary evaluation, which enables the identification of prevention pathways with the greatest chance of success. Prevention is accompanied by the earliest possible diagnosis of cognitive disorders, which requires the application of scientific and technological methods continuously evolving (neuropsychology, neuroimaging, neurophysiology, laboratory investigations).
On the basis of the results of such investigations (biomarkers of pathology) it is possible to formulate a "precision" treatment plan for the early stages of the disease and "individualized" treatment plans for the different needs of the patient in the various stages of the disease. Research in this area is developed in networks with national and international partners through projects for the development of innovative systems for multimodal data analysis based on machine-learning techniques and tools for the evaluation and monitoring of cognitive functioning through smartphone/iPhone apps and user-friendly telemedicine platforms, as well as interventional projects on the neurobiological correlates of exercise and nutrition.

Research in the field of rare cognitive diseases is based on the establishment of a specialized center on diseases that usually have specific genetic bases: early onset dementia (e.g. early onset Alzheimer's disease), atypical dementias (in particular primary progressive aphasia and frontotemporal degeneration). In this case, the research is based on the identification of cognitive-behavioral markers with attention to a more precise characterization of the cognitive phenotype in order to better address the research of the underlying genetic correlate. The existing collaborative projects involve the main dementia centers at national and international level. 
The Neurological C. Mondino Foundation owns all the technological resources needed for advanced research activities in dementia, from the basic level (genetics, pharmacology, neurochemistry), to neurophysiology (high density EEG, transcranial magnetic and electrical stimulation), to neuroimaging (high field magnetic resonance imaging). In addition, an IT platform dedicated to data collection and advanced statistical analysis is under development.
The research of the Dementia Research Center IRCCS Mondino Foundation-University of Pavia-IUSS  focuses into 4 main projects available at the following link.

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Stefano Cappa (Full Professor IUSS, Neurology MED/26; Head of Dementia Clinical Research)
Eleonora Catricalà (Associate Professor IUSS, Psychobiology and Physiological Psychology M-PSI/02)
Chiara Cerami (Senior Researcher IUSS, Neurology MED/26)
Francesca Conca (PhD Student IUSS in Neuroscience and Philosophy of Mind)
Chiara Crespi (Post-doc Research Fellow, Mondino Foundation IRCCS)
Valentina Esposito (Scholarship Holder, Mondino Foundation IRCCS)
Neurologists, neuropsychologists, neuroradiologists, neurophysiologists and biostatisticians (Mondino Foundation IRCCS and University of Pavia)

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  • Rete Italiana IRCCS delle Neuroscienze e della Neuroriabilitazione e Istituti Virtuali Nazionali 
  • IRCCS Fatebenefratelli, Brescia, Italy
  • Division of Neuroscience, IRCCS San Raffaele Research Institute, Milan, Italy
  • IRCCS Istituto Neurologico Besta, Milan, Italy
  • Memory and Aging Center, University of California San Francisco, US
  • Clinical Neuroscience at St George's University Hospitals, London, UK
  • Cambridge Neuroscience Unit, University of Cambridge, UK
  • Laboratory of Neuroimaging of Aging, Department of Psychiatry, Geneva University Hospitals