The Tecnifar Pharmaceutical Industry, SA Awards €7,500 Research Grant to Study Epigenetic Mechanisms of the Ketogenic Diet in Refractory Epilepsy Treatment
The Tecnifar Pharmaceutical Industry, SA has awarded a €7,500 research grant to the project titled “Epigenetic Mechanisms of the Ketogenic Diet in Treating Adults with Refractory Epilepsy: Analysis of DNA Methylation Patterns.” This project is led by neurologist Raquel Samões from Hospital Santo António and a researcher at UMIB, ICBAS-UPorto.
This one-year project will be developed in partnership between the neurology department and the Immunogenetics Laboratory of ICBAS-UP, within the UMIB framework. The grant was awarded during the Douro Epilepsy Course, held last November in Porto.
The project aims to investigate the epigenetic mechanisms underlying the antiepileptic effects of the ketogenic diet. The research team seeks to identify biomarkers that may assist in monitoring treatment efficacy and predicting patients’ responses to the ketogenic diet, contributing to more effective and personalized treatments.
This initiative is expected to mark an important step forward in developing new therapeutic approaches for controlling epileptic seizures.