Adriano Aguzzi

Key facts

• Professor at the Institute of Neuropathology, University Hospital Zurich (Swiss national reference center); CJD Foundation grant to investigate GPNMB as a target.
• 2024 grants: Kong (NPDPSC) ADAM8-based gene therapy; Schmitz (Goettingen) tear fluid diagnostic; Schmitt-Ulms (Toronto) small brain-penetrant molecule that reduces PrPC and mouse models of spontaneous prion emergence; Castilla (CIC bioGUNE) dominant-negative protein-based gene therapy; Aguzzi and Caredio (Zurich) GPNMB as therapeutic target; organoids from sporadic CJD donors (RML postdoc).
• The CJD Foundation awarded a 2024 grant to Aguzzi and Caredio at the University of Zurich to investigate GPNMB as a therapeutic target in prion diseases.
• He is an author of the 12 May 2026 Nature Communications paper reporting a Gpnmb-positive phagocytic microglial state linked to cell death in prion-infected mice.
• The earlier preprint (February 2025) reported Gpnmb upregulation from 30 weeks after infection in RML6-infected mice, strongest in the thalamus.
• Group slides from July 2025 describe ex vivo neuroprotection by soluble GPNMB and a planned genome-wide CRISPR activation screen.
• Inga Zerr is a co-author of the Gpnmb microglia paper in a PubMed listing, linking the Zurich and Goettingen groups.

Timeline

1. 2024CJD Foundation grant.
2. 2025Preprint posted.
3. 2026Nature Communications paper.