Laura Fratiglioni is the Director of the Aging Research Center (ARC) and currently employed as a professor at the Karolinska Institutet. She is a medical doctor, specialized in both neurology and epidemiology. She has scientific, clinical and pedagogic commitments.

Under her supervision, 13 PhD students and four postdocs have completed their studies since 1996. She is currently the main tutor of 2 PhD students, and co-tutor of 2 students. She regularly serves as a reviewer for various clinical and epidemiological journals. Since 1996, as principal investigator, she has regularly received grants from the major research councils in Sweden. She has received several awards including the Karolinska Institutet - Distinguished Professor Award, the Sohlberg's Nordic Prize in Gerontology, and the Karolinska Institutet Folksams prize in epidemiologic research.

She is the principal investigator for the SNAC-Kungsholmen population study, the scientific coordinator for the Kungsholmen Project on Aging and Dementia, and co-investigator for the project “Harmony: a twin study on dementia”. Her scientific production has led to 264 articles in peer-reviewed journals, 13 book chapters, and 7 reports. As of January 2011 she has 10027 citations; h-index= 58.

MAJOR ACHIEVEMENTS

1. Together with a multidisciplinary team of senior researchers, Laura initiated a new center at KI on aging research (ARC; www.ki-su-arc.se), where she acted first as a co-director (2000-2006), and since 2007 as director. In 2007, she was awarded a 10 year grant for the center from The Swedish Council for Working Life and Social Research (FAS; 10 million per year).
2. In 2008 in collaboration with other centers at KI and the Universities of Lund and Umeå, Laura started a National Graduate School for Aging Research, which supports an educational program with a biological, psychological and socio-demographic profile. Preparations for a larger scale multidisciplinary interaction at the national level is ongoing.
3. Laura is active in several national and international networks. In Sweden, she participates as a core leader in the Swedish Brain Power, a network of dementia researchers promoting interdisciplinary collaboration.

MAJOR SCIENTIFIC CONTRIBUTIONS
Laura Fratiglioni and her group are involved in the following lines of research:

1. Risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias, including genetic, biological and environmental factors;
2. Natural history of the dementias;
3. Mild cognitive impairment and early detection of AD and VaD; and
4. Multimorbidity and disability in the elderly.

Her major contributions to the field of the epidemiology of aging are in the following areas:

• Primary prevention of Alzheimer´s disease. Approximately 24 million people around the world have dementia with the number projected to double every 20 years, of these patients with dementia 60% live in developing countries, with the proportion being predicted to rise to more than 70% by 2040. Laura and her colleagues have provided strong evidence supporting the role of the genetic background in all dementia subtypes and suggesting possible preventive strategies. Vascular factors, such as midlife hypertension, diabetes and cerebrovascular disease all contribute significantly to the development of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. Active engagement in mental, physical, and social activities may postpone the onset of dementia by providing a cognitive reserve.
  
  
• Secondary prevention of dementia. Cognitive deficits can be observed up to ten years before a dementia diagnosis is made with a sharp decline being more evident in the final three years. Laura and her colleagues have validated the use of such early cognitive deficits as a predictive tool for incipient dementia in the general population but to date none of the proposed definitions has shown itself to be a sufficiently good predictor at the community level. This is mainly due to the fact that cognitive impairment is a common condition in the elderly population and has multiple causes. Anxiety symptoms may be a reliable predictor of progression to dementia.
  
  
• Disability, multimorbidity and longevity. More than 50% of people over 75+ years of age are affected by multimorbidity. Low education increases the risk of multimorbidity, suggesting that unhealthy behaviours linked to educational level or SES early in life may still play a role in the health status of the very old. Disability and mortality are strongly related to multimorbidity, but a clear genetic influence in longevity is still present with different effects in men and women.

Fratiglioni L, Wang H-X, Ericsson K, Maytan M, Winblad B. Influence of social network on occurrence of dementia: a community-based longitudinal study. Lancet 2000; 355: 1315-1319.

Bäckman L, Small B, Fratiglioni L. Stability of the preclinical episodic memory deficit in Alzheimer’s disease. Brain 2001; 124: 96-102

Palmer K, Bäckman L, Winblad B, Fratiglioni L. Detection of Alzheimer’s disease and dementia in the preclinical phase: population-based cohort study. BMJ 2003; 326: 245 (website version at: bmj.com)

Fratiglioni L, Paillard-Borg S, Winblad B. An active and socially integrated lifestyle in late life might protect against dementia. Lancet Neurol 2004; 3: 343-353

Ferri CP, Prince M, Brayne C, Brodaty H, Fratiglioni L, Ganguli M, Hall K, Hasegawa K, Hendrie H, Huang Y, Jorm A, Mathers C, Menezes PR, Rimmer E, Scazufca M. Global prevalence of dementia: a Delphi consensus study. Lancet 2005; 366: 2112-2117.

Qiu C, Winblad B, Fratiglioni L. The age-dependent relation of blood pressure to cognitive function and dementia. Lancet Neurol 2005; 4: 487-499

Atti AR, Palmer K, Volpato S, ZulianiG, Winblad B, Fratiglioni L. Anaemia increases the risk of dementia in cognitively intact elderly. Neurobiol Aging 2006; 27(2): 278-284.

Gatz M, Reynolds CA, Fratiglioni L, Johansson B, Berg S, Fiske A, Pedersen NL. The role of genes and environments for explaining Alzheimer’s disease. Arch Gen Psychiatry 2006; 63:168-174.

Qiu C, Winblad B, Marengoni M, Fastbom J, Fratiglioni L. Heart failure and the risk of Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.. Arch Intern Med 2006;166:1003-08.

Atti AR, Katie Palmer K, Volpato S, Winblad B, De Ronchi D, Fratiglioni L. Late-life body mass index and dementia incidence: Nine-year follow-up from the Kungsholmen Project. J Am Geriatr Soc 2008; 56: 111-116.

Caracciolo B, Palmer K, Monastero R, Bäckman L, Winblad B, Fratiglioni L. Occurrence of cognitive impairment and dementia in the community: a 9-year long prospective study. Neurology 2008; 70(19 Pt 2):1778-85.

Marengoni A, Karp A, Winblad B, Fratiglioni L. Prevalence of chronic diseases and multimorbidity in the old population: differential distribution by age, gender and socio-economic status. Am J Pub Health 2008; 98(7):1198-200.

Marengoni A, Winblad B, Fratiglioni L. Response letter to: “Effect of In Utero and Early-Life Conditions on Adult Health and Disease” by Gluckman et al. NEJM 2008; Oct 2;359(14):1523.

Rosvall L, Rizzuto D, Wang HX, Winblad B, Graff C, Fratiglioni L . APOE related mortality: Effect of dementia, cardiovascular disease and gender. Neurobiol Aging 2009; 30(10):1545-51.

Wang HX, Karp A, Herlitz A, Crowe M, Kårenholt I, Winblad B, Fratiglioni L. Personality and lifestyle in relation to dementia incidence. Neurology 2009; 72(3): 253-259.

Marengoni A, Qiu C, Winblad B, Fratiglioni L. Atrial fibrillation, stroke and dementia in the very old: A population-based study. Neurobiol Aging. 2009 Sep 2. [Epub ahead of print]

Xu W, Caracciolo B, Wang HX, Winblad B, Bäckman L; Qiu C, Fratiglioni L. Accelerated progression from Mild Cognitive Impairment to dementia in people with diabetes. Diabetes 2010 Aug 16 [Epub ahead of print].

Caracciolo B, Bäckman L, Monastero R, Winblad B, Fratiglioni L. The symptom of low mood in the prodromal stage of mild cognitive impairment and dementia: a cohort study of a community dwelling elderly population. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 2011 Jan 6. [Epub ahead of print]

Xu W, Atti AR, Gatz M, Pedersen NL, Johansson B, Fratiglioni L. Midlife overweight and obesity increase late-life dementia risk: a population-based twin study. Neurology (in press).