DRONE - Drug Repurposing fOr Neurological disEases

The project aims to develop new and effective treatments for the neurological diseases Parkinson's disease (PD), multiple sclerosis (MS), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and Alzheimer's disease (AD).

Figur som viser medisiner som kan gi ny behandling for nevrologisk sykdom
Photo: https://www.facebook.com/z.rmnwsk

Affiliation

About the research project

The researchers will analyze data from the Norwegian health registries, including the Prescription Register and Patient Register, using an innovative drug repurposing approach based on the history of prescriptions for the entire Norwegian population during last 16 years. The newly developed methodology will help identify drug candidates for new treatment for the diseases. These candidates will be then validated in experimental studies (both in vitro and in vivo) in collaboration with the excellent researchers at Harvard University in Boston, USA

Apart from securing its own funding via Michael J. Fox foundation (external link) and NRC (external link) (The Research Council of Norway), DRONE is also part of the initiative on the treatment of neurological disease, NeuroSysMed (external link) (Norway's first research center for clinical treatment in neurology) at Haukeland University Hospital / UiB.

About

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) (external link)

is a group of rare neurological diseases that mainly involve the nerve cells (neurons) responsible for controlling voluntary muscle movement. Voluntary muscles produce movements like chewing, walking, and talking. The disease is progressive, meaning the symptoms get worse over time. Currently, there is no cure for ALS and no effective treatment to halt, or reverse, the progression of the disease.

Parkinson's disease (external link)

is a brain disorder that leads to shaking, stiffness, and difficulty with walking, balance, and coordination. Parkinson's symptoms usually begin gradually and get worse over time. As the disease progresses, people may have difficulty walking and talking. They may also have mental and behavioral changes, sleep problems, depression, memory difficulties, and fatigue.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) (external link)

is a chronic disease affecting the central nervous system (the brain and spinal cord).MS occurs when the immune system attacks nerve fibers and myelin sheathing (a fatty substance which surrounds/insulates healthy nerve fibers) in the brain and spinal cord. This attack causes inflammation, which destroys nerve cell processes and myelin – altering electrical messages in the brain.
MS is unpredictable and affects each patient differently – some individuals may be mildly affected, while others may lose their ability to write, speak or walk. There are several courses of multiple sclerosis that have been described

Alzheimer’s disease (external link) 

is an irreversible, progressive brain disorder that slowly destroys memory and thinking skills, and, eventually, the ability to carry out the simplest tasks. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common cause of dementia among older adults. Dementia is the loss of cognitive functioning—thinking, remembering, and reasoning—and behavioral abilities to such an extent that it interferes with a person’s daily life and activities. Dementia ranges in severity from the mildest stage, when it is just beginning to affect a person’s functioning, to the most severe stage, when the person must depend completely on others for basic activities of daily living

Publications

Publications

Association of Medication Use and 8-Year Mortality Risk in Patients With Parkinson Disease. Drug-Wide Trial Emulation Tuominen JA, Riise T, Romanowska J, Flores-Torres MH, Cortese M, Scherzer CR, Bjornevik K, Igland J.Neurology. 2025 Aug 12;105(3):e213783.
It Is Time for Drug Repurposing in Parkinson Disease Editorial July 11, 2025.  Neurology 2025 Aug 12;105(3):e213972

Childbirth delivery mode and the risk of multiple sclerosis: a prospective population-based study. Kapali A, Daltveit AK, Myhr KM, Bjornevik K, Baldin E, Pugliatti M, Riise T, Cortese M.J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 2023 Dec 14;95(1):8-13.

Association Between Use of Any of the Drugs Prescribed in Norway and the Subsequent Risk of Parkinson Disease: A Drug-wide Association Study. Romanowska J, Bjornevik K, Cortese M, Tuominen JA, Solheim M, Abolpour Mofrad A, Igland J, Scherzer CR, Riise T.Neurology. 2023 Nov 21;101(21):e2068-e2077.

Beta2-adrenoreceptor agonists and long-term risk of Parkinson's disease. Tuominen JA, Bjørnevik K, Romanowska J, Solheim MH, Grydeland TB, Cortese M, Scherzer CR, Riise T, Igland J.Parkinsonism Relat Disord. 2023 May;110:105389. 

Abuse and revictimization in adulthood in multiple sclerosis: a cross-sectional study during pregnancy. Eid K, Torkildsen Ø, Aarseth J, Celius EG, Cortese M, Holmøy T, Kapali A, Myhr KM, Torkildsen CF, Wergeland S, Gilhus NE, Bjørk MH.J Neurol. 2022 Nov;269(11):5901-5909.

News
  1. Congratulations to Julia Tuominen for NOFEs prize for Paper of the year 2025! 🎉
  2. Professor Alberto Ascherio will be awarded honorary doctorate at a ceremony to be held in the University Aula on May 24th🎉 His collaboration with the University of Bergen began many years ago when Ascherio was introduced to Professor Trond Riise, and the two began exploring the causes of MS. Connection to Bergen has strengthened over time, largely thanks to Kjetil Bjørnevik and Marianna Cortese
  3. Dagbladet (Norwegian newspaper) has interviewed Julia Romanowska: "Study: Linking Parkinson's to drug use."
  4. New article with Julia Romanowska first author i Neurology: Association Between Use of Any of the Drugs Prescribed in Norway and the Subsequent Risk of Parkinson Disease: A Drug-wide Association Study
  5. NEW article from PhD Candidate Akash Kapali: Childbirth delivery mode and the risk of multiple sclerosis: a prospective population-based study
  6. Master's student Muhammad Eid passed his master's exam on June 14! DRONE congratulates Muhammad!
  7. NEW article from PhD Candidate Julia Axiina Tuominen: Beta2-adrenoreceptor agonists and long-term risk of Parkinson's disease
  8. DRONE group had a one-day long seminar at Augustin Hotel 17th November 2022
  9. DRONE welcome Muhammad Eid, MSc Global Health student at The University of Bergen!
  10. Asieh Abolpour Mofrad will defend her dissertation on 15.11.2021 for the PhD degree at the University of Bergen with the dissertation "Clique-Based Neural Associative Memories".
  11. September 16th 2021 14:00-14:45: Trial lecture - PhD Asieh Abolpour Mofrad
  12. August 2021: Asieh Abolpour Mofrad has started in DRONE - welcome!
  13. April 2021: Hopefully a DRONE seminar will be arranged at Solstrand 26-27 May!
  14. March 2021: We are looking forward to Asieh Abolpour Mofrad starting with us in August as a postdoctoral fellow!
  15. Sept. 2020: Welcome to two new PhD students, Julia Tuominen and Akash Kapali!
  16. Sept. 2020: We have received extra funding from ALS patients’ association (Alltid Litt Sterkere)! This will help us dedicate a full PhD-position to research on this disease.
Presentations

People

Project manager

Jannicke Igland Prosjektleder

Project members

Anne Kjersti Daltveit Professor

Trond Riise Emeritus

Anders Engeland Professor

Akash Kapali Stipendiat

Julia Romanowska Senioringeniør

Julia Tuominen Forsker

Magne Solheim Overingeniør

Administration

Kari Juul Adviser

Collaborators

Marianna Cortese Seniorforsker

Kjetil Lavland Bjørnevik Førsteamanuensis

Clemens Scherzer Professor

Kjell-Morten Myhr Professor