The SPPIN’s “Biophysics of the Brain” team wins the Claude Pompidou Prize for research into neurodegenerative disease

For its 13th edition, the Claude Pompidou Prize, worth €100,000, recognized the work of the “Biophysics of the Brain” team at the CNRS-SPPIN, Saints-Pères Paris Institute for the Neurosciences at Université Paris Cité, led by Martin Oheim.

The hypothesis of an enteric origin of Parkinson’s disease, first proposed in the early 2000s, has since been supported by numerous observations. Pathogens are thought to cross the intestinal barrier and come into contact with neurons in the nervous system of the intestine, often described as a second brain.

Dr. Oheim and his team have successfully developed a method for 3D imaging of the intestinal wall without prior labeling, using a fast two-photon microscope and tissue transparency techniques developed and patented by their laboratory. They have thus developed a technique that will enable the detection of neurodegenerative diseases (especially Parkinson’s) from colonoscopies.

The Foundation’s Prize now gives them the means to acquire a new-generation laser, enabling three-dimensional imaging of the intestinal nervous system through the observation of endogenous fluorescence and contrast generated by a complex optical process. The Prize will also enable the purchase of a powerful computer for image calculation and reconstruction, and an upgrade of the data storage and backup infrastructure.

Detailed analysis of alterations in the intestinal wall will now make it possible, in a way that has never been done before, to gather valuable information on the early signs of disease and contribute to its diagnosis.

At a ceremony to be held soon, the Foundation will warmly congratulate the winners and thank its donors for their loyal generosity.