Health under the microscope

My research will focus on identifying and discovering biomarkers for healthy cognitive ageing. I will be studying blood samples of people who participated in the NU-AGE study, where the effects of adhering to a Mediterranean diet on cognitive ageing were studied. Using atomic force microscopy-infrared spectroscopy (AFM-IR) and optical photothermal infrared spectroscopy (OPTIR), I will analyze if and how the chemical state of the blood samples changed between the start and end of the clinical trial, focusing on the quantification of the presence of early amyloid species within the biofluids. With this approach, I will assess at the molecular level whether a one-year adherence to a Mediterranean diet and vitamin D supplementation can counteract age-related physiological changes, such as protein aggregation, and identify biomarkers for healthy cognitive ageing.