Hirnliga-Forschungspreis 2025 for Patrick Öckl

Ulm (Germany), January 28, 2026. The Hirnliga e.V. awards the Hirnliga-Forschungspreis 2025 to PD Dr. Patrick Öckl, a research group leader at DZNE's Ulm site and at the Department of Neurology at Ulm University Hospital. The award is endowed with 10,000 euros and recognizes outstanding scientific work that provides new insights into the clinical research of neurocognitive disorders, with a particular focus on Alzheimer’s disease. 

Öckl was honored for his work on the role of the protein beta-synuclein as a potential blood biomarker in sporadic and genetic forms of Alzheimer’s disease. His research is based on data from the biomaterial repository at the Neurological University Clinic in Ulm and the international DIAN-Forschungsverbundes (Dominantly Inherited Alzheimer Network). While a rise in beta-synuclein was first described in sporadic Alzheimer’s disease cases, DIAN focuses on patients with inherited Alzheimer’s disease and their family members. Using DIAN data, DZNE researcher Öckl was able to show that blood levels of beta-synuclein increase at an early stage of the disease. Beta-synuclein is a protein that is primarily found at synapses, the contact points between neurons. Changes in its concentration in the blood indicate that synaptic damage begins very early in the disease process — well before the first dementia symptoms, such as memory impairment or other clinical signs, become apparent. 

These findings are relevant for several reasons. First, they provide new insights into the biological mechanisms underlying Alzheimer’s disease. Second, they highlight the potential of this blood biomarker to enable early and minimally invasive assessment of suspected Alzheimer’s disease in the future, as well as to determine the status of Alzheimer’s. In addition, the marker could be useful for reliably monitoring the effects of future therapies aimed at slowing synaptic loss and, consequently, disease progression. “In the future, we will likely have a whole range of biomarkers available to assess the status of Alzheimer’s disease. I can well imagine that beta-synuclein will play a role in this repertoire,” says Öckl. 

Further information on the award-winning research can be found here

To the press release of Ulm University Hospital (in German)