The project 'Retinal neurodegeneration in type 2 diabetes as biomarker for Alzheimer´s disease', led by Dr. Cristina Hernández, researcher from the Diabetes and Metabolism group at Vall d’Hebron Institute of Research (VHIR), has been awarded with the EFSD/Lilly Mental Health and Diabetes 2013 Programme grant by the "http://www.europeandiabetesfoundation.org/" European Foundation for the Study of Diabetes (EFSD). The project, funded with 248,000 euros, will be carried out in collaboration with the Alzheimer’s research group, led by Dr. Mercè Boada. Patients with diabetes have a greater risk of Alzheimer’s disease. However, researchers don’t have the tools for determining which patients are more likely to develop this devastating neurodegenerative disease.The tissue of the eye’s retina is very similar to the brain, for that reason, VHIR researchers work with the hypothesis that the neurodegeneration progress advances simultaneously in both locations. In that sense, doctors could detect early stages of Alzheimer’s with just an examination of the retina.The aim of the study is to determine whether the neurodegeneration degree of the retina, measured by non-invasive techniques such as electroretinography and Optical coherence tomography, can identify the patients with diabetes more likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease. The participants of the study will be patients from the Endocrinology Service at Vall d’Hebron University Hospital and the "http://www.fundacioace.com/cat/index.php?idioma=cat" ACE Foundation, which is a research center for the treatment of Alzheimer’s, also led by Dr. Mercè Boada.