Valle Palomo receives a CaixaImpulse Health Innovation grant from the “la Caixa” Foundation
23.09.2025
- With the support of CaixaImpulse Innovation, researcher Valle Palomo is developing a blood test to detect ALS in its early stages.
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Madrid, September 23rd, 2025. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a devastating disease that rapidly weakens muscles and causes loss of movement. ALS is known to be associated with changes in certain proteins, but until now it has been challenging to measure these molecular signals in patients. Most current tests focus on how much muscle strength has already been lost or which movements have disappeared, but this typically happens after significant damage has already occurred. What is truly needed is a way to detect and monitor the disease much earlier, giving people the chance to receive help sooner and increasing the likelihood that treatments will be effective.
The team led by Valle Palomo at IMDEA Nanoscience has now found a simple way to use a small blood sample to look for these early ALS-related changes. This method could provide an answer about whether someone has the disease, even in its initial stages, helping doctors decide sooner what care and support each patient needs, select better treatment options, and track how the disease evolves over time. The goal is for this test to be available in clinics, so that anyone showing early ALS symptoms can obtain a fast and reliable answer—offering hope and a broader range of options for the future.
The project “A TDP-43 sensor for the diagnosis of neurodegenerative diseases” by Valle Palomo has received funding from the CaixaImpulse Health Innovation Call of the “la Caixa” Foundation. CaixaImpulse Innovation supports innovative biomedical projects by helping them validate their assets, define their exploitation and valorization strategies, and bring them closer to market. The program is structured in three phases to better address the needs of projects according to their nature and maturity. Dr. Palomo’s project is currently in Phase 2, designed to support projects that have already identified and characterized one or more assets, but that require further validation and development, while outlining the prototype design through validation of the intended use. In this way, CaixaImpulse Innovation helps transfer scientific knowledge to society and fosters the creation of products, services, and companies in the life sciences field.
IMDEA Nanociencia Institute is a young interdisciplinary research Centre in Madrid (Spain) dedicated to the exploration of nanoscience and the development of applications of nanotechnology in connection with innovative industries.
More information:
Contact:
Dr. Valle Palomo
valle.palomo (at) imdea.org
Biosensors in Neuroscience Group
https://nanociencia.imdea.org/biosensorsinneuroscience/home
IMDEA Nanociencia Dissemination and Communication Office
divulgacion.nanociencia [at]imdea.org
Source: IMDEA Nanociencia.