Scientific Representative of Alzheimer Europe.
Charles Scerri received his PhD degree in 2004 from the University of Dundee in Scotland where he studied the involvement of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors in Alzheimer’s disease. He is currently a senior academic and group leader of the Alzheimer’s disease research group at the Department of Pathology, University of Malta. His major research interests include neuropharmacology in Alzheimer’s disease, societal impact of dementia, dementia policy and healthcare workforce development. He is the co-founder and general secretary of the Malta Dementia Society, honorary secretary of Alzheimer Europe and member of the Mediterranean Alzheimer Alliance. He is also a member of the EU Joint Progamme for Neurodegenerative Diseases Scientific Advisory Board and Early Detection and Timely Intervention in Dementia Group (INTERDEM). In 2009, he was appointed to Chair the Malta Dementia Strategy Group with the aim of devising a series of recommendations that would provide a strategic framework in order to deliver quality improvements in the management and care of dementia in the Maltese islands. In July of 2013, he was appointed as the National Focal Point on Dementia to advise the Maltese government on measurements that need to be adopted to make dementia a national healthcare priority. He has served on numerous organisational committees for international conferences on dementia and invited to deliver various lectures abroad.
Scientific Publications
- Scerri C, Stewart CA, Breen K, Balfour, DJK. The effects of chronic nicotine on spatial learning and bromodeoxyuridine incorportation into the dentate gyrus of the rat. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 2006;184:540-546.
- Gauci AJ, Caruana M, Giese A, Scerri C, Vassallo N. Identification of polyphenolic compounds and black tea extract as potent inhibitors of lipid membrane destabilization by Abeta42 aggregates. J Alzheimers Dis 2011;27:767-779.
- Innes A, Abela S, Scerri C. The organisation of dementia care by families in Malta: The experiences of family caregivers. Dementia 2011;10:165-184.
- Scerri C (2012). Challenges of developing a dementia strategy: The case of Malta. In Anthea Innes, Fiona Kelly and Louise McCabe (Editors) Key issues in evolving dementia care: International theory-based policy and practice. London;Jessica Kingsley:150-172.
- Caruana M, Neuner J, Hogen T, Schmidt F, Kamp F, Scerri C, Giese A, Vassallo N. Polyphenolic compounds are novel neuroprotective agents against lipid membrane damage by alpha-synuclein in vitro. Biochim Biophys Acta 2012;1818:2502-2510.
- Scerri C, Stewart C, Balfour DJK, Breen K. Nicotine modifies in vivo and in vitro rat hippocampal amyloid precursor protein processing in young but not old rats. Neurosci Lett 2012;514:22-26.
- Vassallo N, Scerri C. Mediterranean diet and dementia of the Alzheimer type. Curr Aging Sci. 2013;6:150-62.
- Caruana-Pulpan O, Scerri C. Practices in diagnosis, disclosure and pharmacotherapeutic management of dementia by general practitioners – a national survey. Aging Ment Health 2013;July 22:Epub ahead of print.