Detect the disease before the first symptom appears
Lourenço's research focuses on identifying biomarkers that can detect Alzheimer's before symptoms appear, addressing a critical gap where diagnosis currently occurs only at advanced disease stages. Brazil faces significant Alzheimer burden with ~2 million estimated cases and 30,000 annual deaths; the prize highlights quality neuroscience research emerging from Brazilian institutions despite funding constraints.
- Mychael Lourenço, UFRJ neuroscientist, wins ALBA-Roche Prize for Excellence in Neuroscience Research in March 2026
- Approximately 40 million people worldwide have Alzheimer's diagnosis; Brazil estimates 2 million cases with 30,000 annual deaths
- Prize ceremony scheduled for July 10 in Barcelona; jury included scientists from 10 countries across four continents
- Lourenço's lab pursues three research lines: beta-amyloid protein dysfunction, exercise-induced hormone effects, and blood biomarker identification
UFRJ researcher Mychael Lourenço receives ALBA-Roche Prize for Excellence in Neuroscience Research, recognizing his work on early detection and treatment of brain diseases including Alzheimer's.
Mychael Lourenço, a neuroscientist at Rio de Janeiro's Federal University, has spent his career chasing a problem that grows more urgent each year: by the time doctors diagnose Alzheimer's disease, the damage is already severe. The disease steals memory and independence from roughly 40 million people worldwide. In Brazil alone, an estimated 2 million carry the diagnosis, and about 30,000 die from it annually—though the true number is likely higher, hidden in gaps where people lack access to diagnosis. In March, Lourenço received the ALBA-Roche Prize for Excellence in Neuroscience Research, an international honor that recognizes mid-career scientists who have made exceptional contributions despite the odds they face.
The prize itself is still young—this is only its third year—but it carries weight. A jury drawn from Germany, Switzerland, Sweden, South Africa, Portugal, Brazil, China, the United States, India, and the United Kingdom selected Lourenço from a field of accomplished researchers. The ceremony will take place on July 10 in Barcelona. For Lourenço, the recognition stings with particular meaning: the previous two winners had both been European. "This time," he said, "the prize came to Brazil." But what moved him most was what the award represented—validation of his team's work, conducted in a laboratory without independent funding, operating within the constraints of a university system that has faced repeated budget cuts.
Lourenço's lab, which he established at the Institute of Medical Biochemistry Leopoldo de Meis at UFRJ, pursues research along three main lines that caught the jury's attention. The first examines how beta-amyloid peptides disrupt the brain's ability to produce essential proteins—a process researchers call proteostasis dysfunction. The second investigates how physical exercise triggers the release of a hormone called FNDC/irisin, which strengthens the connections between neurons and makes them more resilient. The third focuses on identifying markers in the blood—substances like plasma carnitine—that might signal the disease's presence before symptoms emerge.
This last avenue represents the frontier Lourenço believes matters most. Currently, Alzheimer's diagnosis arrives only after significant neurological damage has occurred, when treatment options are limited to drugs that slow decline rather than reverse it. Lourenço draws a parallel to cancer: a tumor caught early offers far better odds than one discovered in advanced stages. His lab works to detect Alzheimer's before the first symptom appears, hunting for biomarkers—measurable substances in the body that could serve as early warning signs. A colleague at his institute, Fernanda De Felice, has made progress on this front, identifying a protein called p-tau 217 that shows promise as a reliable marker to distinguish healthy people from those with the disease, at least in Brazilian populations.
But Lourenço's vision extends beyond laboratory discovery. He recognizes that Alzheimer's prevention cannot be reduced to finding the right drug. The disease emerges from a tangle of factors: genetics, sun exposure, physical activity, diet, and socioeconomic circumstances. Brazil's genetic makeup is distinct from populations in Europe and North America where most Alzheimer's research has been conducted. Who among Brazilians develops the disease, and why? These questions remain largely unanswered. His lab operates on multiple fronts simultaneously—pursuing early detection through biomarkers, developing compounds that might eventually become medicines, and launching public health campaigns aimed at protecting the brain. The work unfolds in conditions far from ideal, constrained by funding shortages and institutional uncertainty. Yet it is precisely this work, conducted with limited resources but undimmed ambition, that the international prize has now recognized. What comes next is the harder part: translating recognition into resources, and resources into treatments that might one day change the trajectory of a disease that now claims thousands of Brazilian lives each year.
Citas Notables
The prize evidences the originality, independence, and neuroscience research of professionals in early or mid-career who already show potential to improve understanding of brain disease mechanisms, and it recognizes work done under non-ideal conditions, with funding shortages and university budget cuts.— Mychael Lourenço
We work to detect the disease before even the first symptoms appear, making an analogy to cancer—when caught early, patients have better chances.— Mychael Lourenço
La Conversación del Hearth Otra perspectiva de la historia
Why does it matter that this prize went to Brazil specifically, rather than just to a good scientist?
Because it signals that rigorous neuroscience isn't happening only in wealthy labs with unlimited funding. Lourenço's team works without independent resources, within a system that's been cutting budgets. The prize says: this work counts, even under these conditions.
You mentioned he's been studying Alzheimer's since his undergraduate years. What keeps someone focused on one disease for that long?
Probably the same thing that keeps any scientist going—the gap between what we know and what we need to know. Right now, diagnosis comes too late. That's not a small problem. That's millions of people.
The lab is pursuing both early detection and cure simultaneously. Isn't that spreading resources too thin?
It might seem that way, but they're connected. You can't develop a cure if you don't understand the disease's mechanisms. And early detection only matters if you have something to do with that information. Both paths feed each other.
He mentioned Brazil's genetic makeup is distinct. Why does that matter for Alzheimer's research?
Because most of what we know about Alzheimer's comes from European and North American populations. A Brazilian with Alzheimer's might have different risk factors, different biomarkers, different responses to treatment. If you only study one population, you miss the others.
The numbers are sobering—2 million cases, 30,000 deaths annually. But he said those might be undercounts.
Yes. Many Brazilians don't have access to diagnosis. They might have symptoms, might be declining cognitively, but never see a neurologist. So the official count is almost certainly low. The real burden is heavier than the statistics show.
What does it mean that he's opening new research fronts now, after winning the prize?
It means the recognition is being treated as a platform, not a finish line. The prize validates what he's already doing, but it also gives him credibility to pursue the harder questions—the ones about prevention, about who in Brazil gets sick and why.