Neurodegenerative diseases are mechanistically complex and present a clinical challenge. During the last decades, a variety of pathophysiological mechanisms as well as clinical features have become common to different NDs, such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and Parkinson’s disease (PD), prompting the need for studying them in an integrative fashion. However, many of the existed postgraduation courses focus to specific neurodegenerative diseases. Thus, this course “Pathogenesis of Neurodegenerative Diseases” explores the commonalities between conditions, with a neurodegenerative profile, that are normally considered separately.

The first part of the course will be dedicated to common, overlapping mechanisms found in several neurodegenerative conditions such as imbalance proteostasis (e.g. protein degradation/aggregation), inflammation, RNA dyshomeostasis (e.g. Stress granules), metabolic stress (e.g. mitochondria failure/oxidative stress), cell-to-cell communication/disease propagation (e.g. exosomes), (Wallerian) degeneration and lipid signalling/metabolism. The second part of the course will include clinical and neuropathological presentations followed by current/innovative therapeutic interventions for specific diseases/clinical entities – such as AD, PD, polyglutamine (poly Q) diseases, multiple sclerosis, neuropathic pain, prion diseases.

Aiming to bridge across fields of neurodegenerative pathologies, this course will bring together faculty with expertise in molecular, pathological and clinical standpoints of neurodegeneration related to prion, Tau and Abeta (AD), a-synuclein (PD), ataxin-3 (MJD), huntingtin (HD) and other proteins. Faculty members from USA and Europe with heterogeneous backgrounds will cover all basic and clinical themes to be presented. A significant amount of time has been therefore scheduled to maximize interactions between participants and faculty. Emphasizing on the triplet “Mechanisms-Clinical Pathology-Therapeutic Interventions”, and based on the current research interest on commonalities among neurodegenerative pathologies, this course is intended to MD/PhD students, Master and PhD students, post-doc researchers, residents and physicians with interest in neurodegenerative disorders and their clinical & molecular commonalities.


This course does not provide credentials for the exercise of medicine for those without appropriate training, recognition and registered at the "Ordem dos Médicos".​