The 2022 SCOR Young European Researcher Prize for research into Alzheimer’s disease was awarded to neurologist Dr Alberto Benussi, 36, currently Assistant Professor of Neurology at Brescia Hospital (Italy) where he heads the center for cognitive disorders. Professor Alberto Benussi completed his training in Rome (lRCCS in Santa Lucia), and then in London (Queen Square Institute of Neurology). His innovative work focuses on non-invasive brain stimulation methods that may benefit patients suffering from neurodegenerative diseases.

He is currently looking to develop a device that could be used at home to assess the cognitive benefits of long-term stimulation (repeated low-intensity transcranial electrical stimulation).

The award jury, composed of renowned European researchers, was chaired by Professor Giovanni Frisoni, Director of the Memory clinic at Geneva University Hospital. Commenting on the award, André Levy-Lang, Chairman of the SCOR Foundation for Science, said: “Advances in Alzheimer’s disease research focus not only on the nature of the disease and on how to cure it, but also on how to support the people affected by it. The SCOR Foundation for Science is proud to have been supporting this award for so long.”

Alberto Benussi on the French Alzheimer’s Research Foundation (Fondation Recherche Alzheimer) website.

Publications by Professor Alberto Benussi:

• Increasing brain gamma activity improves episodic memory and restores cholinergic dysfunction in Alzheimer’s disease.
  Benussi A, Cantoni V, Grassi M, Brechet L, Michel CM, Datta A, Thomas C, Gazzina S, Cotelli MS, Bianchi M, Premi E, Gadola Y, Cotelli M, Pengo M, Perrone F, Scolaro M, Archetti S, Solje E, Padovani A, Pascual-Leone A, Borroni B.
  Ann Neurol. 2022 Aug;92(2):322-334. doi: 10.1002/ana.26411. Epub 2022 Jun 6. PMID: 35607946
• Transcranial magnetic stimulation distinguishes Alzheimer disease from frontotemporal dementia.
  Benussi A, Di Lorenzo F, Dell'Era V, Cosseddu M, Alberici A, Caratozzolo S, Cotelli MS, Micheli A, Rozzini L, Depari A, Flammini A, Ponzo V, Martorana A, Caltagirone C, Padovani A, Koch G, Borroni B. Neurology.
  22017 Aug 15;89(7):665-672. doi: 10.1212/WNL.0000000000004232. Epub 2017 Jul 26. PMID: 28747446
• Classification Accuracy of Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation for the Diagnosis of Neurodegenerative Dementias.
  Benussi A, Grassi M, Palluzzi F, Koch G, Di Lazzaro V, Nardone R, Cantoni V, Dell'Era V, Premi E, Martorana A, di Lorenzo F, Bonnì S, Ranieri F, Capone F, Musumeci G, Cotelli MS, Padovani A, Borroni B. Ann Neurol.
  2020 Mar;87(3):394-404. doi: 10.1002/ana.25677. Epub 2020 Jan 23. PMID: 31925823
• Common variants in Alzheimer's disease and risk stratification by polygenic risk scores.
  de Rojas I, Moreno-Grau S, Tesi N, Grenier-Boley B, Andrade V, Jansen IE, Pedersen NL, Stringa N, Zettergren A, Hernández I, Montrreal L, Antúnez C, Antonell A, Tankard RM, Bis JC, Sims R, Bellenguez C, Quintela I, González-Perez A, Calero M, Franco-Macías E, Macías J, Blesa R, Cervera-Carles L, Menéndez-González M, Frank-García A, Royo JL, Moreno F, Huerto Vilas R, Baquero M, Diez-Fairen M, Lage C, García-Madrona S, García-González P, Alarcón-Martín E, Valero S, Sotolongo-Grau O, Ullgren A, Naj AC, Lemstra AW, Benaque A, Pérez-Cordón A, Benussi A, Rábano A, Padovani A, Squassina A, de Mendonça A, Arias Pastor A, Kok AAL, Meggy A, Pastor AB, Espinosa A, Corma-Gómez A, Martín Montes A, Sanabria Á, DeStefano AL, Schneider A, Haapasalo A, Kinhult Ståhlbom A, Tybjærg-Hansen A, Hartmann AM, Spottke A, Corbatón-Anchuelo A, Rongve A, Borroni B, Arosio B, Nacmias B, Nordestgaard BG, Kunkle BW, Charbonnier C, Abdelnour C, Masullo C, Martínez Rodríguez C, Muñoz-Fernandez C, Dufouil C, Graff C, Ferreira CB, Chillotti C, Reynolds CA, Fenoglio C, Van Broeckhoven C, Clark C, Pisanu C, Satizabal CL, Holmes C, Buiza-Rueda D, Aarsland D, Rujescu D, Alcolea D, Galimberti D, Wallon D, Seripa …
  Nat Commun. 2021 Jun 7;12(1):3417. doi: 10.1038/s41467-021-22491-8. PMID: 34099642
• Exposure to gamma tACS in Alzheimer's disease: A randomized, double-blind, sham-controlled, crossover, pilot study.
  Benussi A, Cantoni V, Cotelli MS, Cotelli M, Brattini C, Datta A, Thomas C, Santarnecchi E, Pascual-Leone A, Borroni B.
  Brain Stimul. 2021 May-Jun;14(3):531-540. doi: 10.1016/j.brs.2021.03.007. Epub 2021 Mar 21. PMID: 33762220
• Cortical Circuitry and Synaptic Dysfunctions in Alzheimer's Disease and Other Dementias.
  Ranieri F, Benussi A, Cantone M, Ferreri F, Márquez-Ruiz J.
  Neural Plast. 2021 Jul 29;2021:9796576. doi: 10.1155/2021/9796576. eCollection 2021. PMID: 34394342
• Clinical, genetic, and neuroimaging features of Early Onset Alzheimer Disease: the challenges of diagnosis and treatment.
  Alberici A, Benussi A, Premi E, Borroni B, Padovani A.
  Curr Alzheimer Res. 2014;11(10):909-17. doi: 10.2174/1567205011666141107151606. PMID: 25387334
• Differences Between Plasma and Cerebrospinal Fluid p-tau181 and p-tau231 in Early Alzheimer's Disease.
  Pilotto A, Parigi M, Bonzi G, Battaglio B, Ferrari E, Mensi L, Benussi A, Caratozzolo S, Cosseddu M, Turrone R, Archetti S, Ashton NJ, Zetterberg H, Giliani S, Padovani A.
  J Alzheimers Dis. 2022;87(3):991-997. doi: 10.3233/JAD-215646. PMID: 35404280
• Cortical network modularity changes along the course of frontotemporal and Alzheimer's dementing diseases.
  Franciotti R, Moretti DV, Benussi A, Ferri L, Russo M, Carrarini C, Barbone F, Arnaldi D, Falasca NW, Koch G, Cagnin A, Nobili FM, Babiloni C, Borroni B, Padovani A, Onofrj M, Bonanni L; FTD Italian study group-SINDEM.
  Neurobiol Aging. 2022 Feb;110:37-46. doi: 10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2021.10.016. Epub 2021 Nov 1. PMID: 34847523
• Diagnostic Accuracy of the Five-Word Test for Mild Cognitive Impairment Due to Alzheimer's Disease.
  Fornari C, Mori F, Zoppi N, Libri I, Silvestri C, Cosseddu M, Turrone R, Maffi M, Caratozzolo S, Borroni B, Padovani A, Benussi A.
  Neurol Int. 2022 Apr 6;14(2):357-367. doi: 10.3390/neurolint14020029. PMID: 35466210

More publications by Alberto Benussi are available on the National Library of Medicine website.