Vassar Named Next Director Of The Mesulam Center
Vassar, a renowned expert in Alzheimers disease, joined Feinberg in 2001. He earned his doctorate from the University of Chicago in 1992 and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in molecular neuroscience at Columbia University in 1996. As his mother was diagnosed with Alzheimers disease, he has devoted his career to finding a treatment. He is deeply committed to advancing the clinical and basic science in the field of progressive dementias.
I am honored to become the next Director of the Mesulam Center and to begin our work on achieving the next clinical and basic science summits, wherever the science takes us, Vassar said. The Center has many talented investigators and I look forward to working with each of these wonderful people.
Vassar studies the molecular and cellular mechanisms of Alzheimers disease, with the goal of contributing to effective disease-modifying therapies. In 1999 he identified BACE1, an enzyme that makes beta-amyloid, a protein that builds up in the brains of Alzheimers patients and leads to the death of brain cells. He continued his work on BACE1 at Feinberg, laying the groundwork for BACE1 inhibition as a new therapeutic strategy as a result, BACE1-inhibitor drugs have been tested in clinical trials. He is also studying the links between inflammation, protein deposits, and risk factor genes that contribute to Alzheimers disease.
Outreach And Recruitment Core
The Outreach and Recruitment Core is led by Drs. Laura Baker and Goldie Byrd. It is the liaison between the Wake Forest ADRC and the community. The Core actively establishes relationships with the community to recruit participants for ADRC studies and provide education and resources for the public. The Outreach Core is recruiting a racially diverse group of research participants, including cognitively normal adults, individuals with mild cognitive impairment at higher and lower risk for cognitive decline and dementia due to metabolic and vascular factors, and adults with Alzheimers disease dementia.
The Outreach and Recruitment Core is implementing a program to improve community practices for detection, progression, treatment and prevention of Alzheimers disease. The Core works to educate the public and community healthcare professionals about early detection, risk modification, prevention and treatment of mild cognitive impairment, Alzheimers disease and related disorders, and to encourage routine clinical screening and treatment practices targeting metabolic and vascular risk modification.
Center For Healthy Aging
Founded in 2006, the Center for Healthy Aging Longevity Study is the first research program of its kind in Arizona that explores the cognitive, social, medical, physical and psychological contributors to healthy aging. This study includes valuable information from older adults throughout Arizona who are aging well and have avoided memory and thinking diseases, complementing our research on people affected by memory and movement disorders. This non-invasive observational study is openly enrolling people 50 years of age and older.
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Brain Health Training Program
The Brain Health Training Program represents a comprehensive and integrated vision for the regions research and clinical efforts around dementia, AD, and brain health. The rapid growth of Alzheimers disease and related disorders diagnoses and accompanying federal research funding increases are driving the need to recruit and rapidly train a new generation of investigators who will accelerate ADRD research efforts. The BHTP provides a long-term foundation to sustain and grow a robust education and training effort to develop the next generation of scientists, clinicians, and other frontline health care workers fighting the disease.
From our weekly Journal Club and Collaborative research Workgroup, JayCReW, to didactic offerings, to informal one-on-one mentoring and hands-on projects, trainees will develop skills that will benefit them throughout their careers.
The BHTP consists of parallel and cohesive tracks for undergraduate, graduate and post-doctoral students:
The BHTP has identified core competencies at each level of training based on expert analysis and the CTSA system. See Core Training Activities for BHTP Graduate Scholars and Fellows information.
Alzheimers Disease Treatment Special Notice
On September 27, 2022, the overall results of the large global phase 3 trial of lecanemab were released. This trial was carried out at sites throughout the Unites States and globally, in patients with early Alzheimers disease . This drug is delivered intravenously and removes Alzheimers plaques from the brain. The results of this study are a landmark: it is the first drug proven to slow the course of Alzheimers disease. This drug, lecanemab, is now under consideration by the US Food and Drug Administration for approval but is not yet approved or available commercially at this time.
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Alzheimers Disease Research Center
The Alzheimers Disease Research Center, part of NYU Langones Center for Cognitive Neurology, is one of 30 Alzheimers disease research centers in the United States supported by the National Institute on Aging . As an NIA-supported research facility, our aims are to advance current knowledge and understanding of brain aging and Alzheimers disease to expand the number of scientists working in the fields of aging and Alzheimers disease research and to work toward better treatment options and care for those living with memory impairment. Our ultimate goal is to share these findings with healthcare providers, researchers, and the general public to enhance the care of those affected by Alzheimers disease and related dementia.
Since 1973, our program has been at the forefront of research on memory problems attributed to normal aging, as well as a pioneer in the diagnosis, causes, and treatment of Alzheimers disease and related disorders. Our centers findings have added to the understanding of the effects of aging on the brain and the biology of Alzheimers disease. We have developed many of the scales and measures used throughout the world, tested new medications and novel procedures for brain imaging, and studied cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers.
A few of our most notable accomplishments include the following:
Outreach Recruitment And Education Core
The outreach, recruitment, and education core provides training and education about Alzheimers disease, mild cognitive impairment , and changes in memory associated with normal aging to the elderly, their family members, healthcare professionals, social service providers, and research scientists. We disseminate information about memory loss and Alzheimers disease both formally, through lectures in the community and seminars at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, and informally, through telephone and personal interactions. These activities help us to recruit new research subjects for the Alzheimers Disease Research Center and retain existing participants.
Associate Core Leader: Karyn D. Marsh, PhD
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Center For Alzheimer’s Disease Research
Bridging clinical and foundational research to catalyze discovery into neurodegeneration and speed the race to treatments.
Brown Universitys Center for Alzheimers Disease Research is committed to advancing early detection and individualized treatment for Alzheimers disease and related dementias.
Alzheimers disease is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States. Significant investment and advancements in knowledge and discovery have bolstered Browns strength in Alzheimers disease and neurodegeneration research. The Center for Alzheimers Disease Research integrates the expertise of Browns Robert J. and Nancy D. Carney Institute for Brain Science and the Division of Biology and Medicine.
Housed within the Carney Institute, the Center for Alzheimers Disease Research catalyzes collaborations across basic and clinical research groups toward uncovering when, where and how Alzheimers disease first arises to advance the pace toward treatment. Our research projects integrate knowledge across biological systems in humans, including behavioral, neural, vascular and immune.
How Alzheimers Disease Research Centers Advance Research
ADRCs conduct research spanning from the causes of and risk factors for Alzheimers and related dementias to potential treatments to managing symptoms and helping families cope. Following are highlights of center activities:
Much of the important progress in Alzheimers research in the United States during the past 35 years stems from research conducted at or with the help of resources provided by the ADRCs. For example, center researchers have:
- Conducted a significant amount of the research on the processes behind amyloid plaque and tau tangle formation in the brain, which are hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease.
- Characterized abnormal proteins associated with several different neurodegenerative diseases.
- Evaluated cognitive changes associated with normal aging and the transitions from early difficulties thinking and remembering to dementia.
- Identified factors that contribute to changes in cognitive abilities, such as social and physical activity.
- Related changes in brain structure to the clinical stages of Alzheimer’s using information gathered from participants during cognitive tests and assessments, brain imaging scans, and autopsies of donated brains.
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Data Management And Statistical Core
The Data Management and Statistical Core is led by Dr. Mark Espeland and Dr. Iris Leng. The mission of the DMSC Core is to provide outstanding data management, biomedical computing and analytical collaboration to ADRC investigators and affiliates and to provide high-quality standardized research data. The DMSC Core collaborates with other Cores on the dissemination of Wake Forest ADRC study findings and the engagement of diverse cohorts.
The DMSC Core maintains state-of-the-art resources for data management, study management and reporting to ensure the highest data quality and study integrity and to increase the efficiency and impact of ADRC research. We will leverage our leadership in the coordination of major studies of dementia and cognitive decline with large numbers of adults with high-risk metabolic and vascular disease profiles. This synergy permits the efficient development of studies to assess both potential mechanisms affecting the risk of Alzheimers disease and the clinical impact of promising therapeutic strategies.
Data Management And Statistics Core
The data management and statistics core performs data management and analysis for all the cores of the Alzheimers Disease Research Center and for affiliated individual research projects. We maintain a centralized database and offer consultation and hands-on help in experimental design and statistical analysis to all collaborating investigators. The centralization of these functions makes it possible for each of the research projects to benefit from more sophisticated and flexible statistical and computer tools than would normally be available for any single project and fosters sharing of data among investigators at the Alzheimers Disease Research Center.
Associate Core Leader: Alok Vedvyas, MS, MSJ
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Mesulam To Transfer Leadership Of The Mesulam Center
Mesulam has made important contributions to the understanding of neural structure, defining neurotransmitter pathways and how deterioration in these pathways contributes to dementia. Discoveries Mesulam made about primary progressive aphasia in the 1980s have brought clarity to some of the mysteries of dementia and have also provided a tool for scientists to understand how language is mapped in the human brain.
Marsel has built a nexus of Alzheimers research at Feinberg, generating exceptional clinical and scientific research, building a stellar national reputation, and providing much-needed hope for the millions affected by this disease, saidEric G. Neilson, MD, vice president for Medical Affairs and Lewis Landsberg Dean at Feinberg. We are grateful for his many years of dedication, and we know Bob will continue to advance Feinbergs intellectual eminence in the field of Alzheimers research.
Mesulams contributions to Alzheimers research have been widely celebrated. In 2010, he received the Bengt Winblad Lifetime Achievement from the Alzheimers Association, and in 2014, the Potamkin Prize from the American Academy of Neurology. He has authored or co-authored more than 200 peer-reviewed papers during his career.
Why Women May Be More Susceptible To Alzheimers Disease
CLEVELANDCaseWestern Reserve University researchers associated with the CADRC TranslationalTherapeutics Core have identified a mechanism in brain tissue that may explainwhy women are more vulnerable to Alzheimers diseasea finding that they saycould help lead to new medicines to treat AD.
Specifically, the researchersfound that the female brain shows higher expression of a certain enzymecompared to males, resulting in greater accumulation of a protein called tau.The tau protein is responsible for the formation of toxic protein clumps insidebrain nerve cells of Alzheimers disease patients.
The enzyme, known asubiquitin-specific peptidase 11 , is X-linked, meaning it is found ingenes on the X chromosome, one of the two sex chromosomes in each cell.
We are particularly excitedabout this finding because it provides a basis for the development of newneuroprotective medicines, said David Kang, the Howard T. Karsner Professor inPathology at the Case Western Reserve School of Medicine and co-senior authorof a study published today in the journal Cell. This study also sets aframework for identifying other X-linked factors that could confer increasedsusceptibility to tauopathy in women.
Read the full story here
Read here for Q& A with the researchers
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Clinical Research Study Participation
Voluntary participation in clinical research studies is needed to help researchers find better treatments and possibly a cure for Alzheimers disease. There are many reasons to participate in a clinical research study. Participants may want to help others who may be at risk for Alzheimers disease or to learn more about their memory and health. Clinical study participants receive a thorough cognitive assessment and followup over time. Participants also learn about interventions for the prevention and treatment of Alzheimers disease that are being tested in clinical studies. We are seeking all kinds of volunteers to participate in our research studies, including people who are concerned about their memory, are at risk of developing memory problems or have family members with memory problems, as well as people from different ethnic and racial backgrounds.
Reaching A Diverse Community
The University of Miami is a major Clinical Core site for the 1Florida ADRC due to our expertise in: recruiting African American and under-represented populations , UMs expertise in creating novel cognitive stress paradigms sensitive to early biomarkers of Alzheimers Disease , expertise in vascular and other comorbidities in the elderly , our expertise in psychiatric disorders in Alzheimers disease and related disorders , and our excellent CTSA and other training programs .
Early detection of Alzheimers disease and related dementias has become a national priority particularly in diverse ethnic and racial groups who often are underrepresented in clinical trials and research. As part of the grant, our researchers are conducting a multicultural observational study of underrepresented populations, including Black and Hispanic older adults. This ensures what we learn and how we prevent, diagnose, and treat Alzheimers disease is based on a multicultural population and can be applied to all older Americans.
Were seeking to understand the aging brain before symptoms occur. Our researchers check participants for early memory changes using a novel cognitive stress test developed by 1Florida ADRC leaders Drs. David Loewenstein and Rosie Curiel Cid at the University of Miami Miller School. The test can discover changes before traditional cognitive testing can detect them. We perform comprehensive testing and follow up with participants annually.
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The History Of Alzheimers Disease Research Centers
Congress authorized the establishment of the first centers, known then as Alzheimers Disease Centers, through NIH funding in the mid-1980s. Over the years, the centers’ program has expanded to support the nations increased efforts to address Alzheimers and related dementias.
The main objectives of the ADRCs program are to:
- Conduct cutting-edge basic, clinical, and translational research and provide resources and infrastructure to support national and international goals in Alzheimers and dementia research
- Train the next generation of researchers in an environment that supports interactions across scientific disciplines
- Provide information to the public about research findings, access to support services, and opportunities to participate in research
Alzheimer’s Disease Research Centers
The National Institute on Aging funds 33 Alzheimer’s Disease Research Centers at major medical institutions across the United States. Researchers at these Centers are working to translate research advances into improved diagnosis and care for people with Alzheimer’s disease, as well as working to find a treatment or way to prevent Alzheimer’s and other types of dementia. In addition, NIA funds four Exploratory ADRCs that are designed to expand and diversify research and education opportunities to new areas of the country, new populations, and new areas of science and approaches to research.
For people and families affected by Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias, the ADRCs offer:
- Help with obtaining diagnosis and medical management
- Information about Alzheimer’s and related dementias, services, and resources
- Opportunities for volunteers to participate in clinical trials and studies and research registries
- Support groups and other special programs for volunteers and their families
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Mesulam Announces He Is Stepping Down Vassar Named Director
After 28 years of outstanding leadership, M. Marsel Mesulam, MD, the Ruth Dunbar Davee Professor of Neuroscience in the Ken and Ruth Davee Department of Neurology, an international authority on primary progressive aphasia , has announced that he will be stepping down as director of the Mesulam Center for Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimers Disease, effective January 1st. He will remain on the faculty to continue his research.
Mesulam will be succeeded by Robert Vassar, PhD, the Davee Professor of Alzheimer Research and professor of Neurology and of Cell and Developmental Biology, and scientific director of Behavioral Neurology in the Department of Neurology. He is also the Director of the NIH-funded Northwestern Alzheimers Disease Research Center.
Family & Community Services
The Family and Community Services team is dedicated to meeting the unique needs of those affected with memory and movement disorders, ensuring they can navigate the demands of everyday life. We work collaboratively with medical specialists, patients and caregivers to ensure those affected have access to a variety of enhanced education, resources and support services, including individual, family and group counseling programs. Our compassionate patient-focused approach is a vital part of maximizing the quality of life for people living with a chronic, progressive disease.
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Cleveland Alzheimers Disease Research Center
The Cleveland Alzheimers Disease Research Center is a research program led by Case Western Reserve University , Cleveland Clinic , University Hospitals , the Louis Stokes VA, and MetroHealth. The CADRC is a center without walls as it is not a specific building or place. Instead, the CADRC includes top scientists and doctors from the Cleveland area, working together to learn more about Alzheimers disease and Related Dementias . The goal of the CADRC is to help find treatments to improve the lives of patients and their families. The CADRC enrolls people with brain disorders like Alzheimers disease, Lewy Body Dementia, or Atypical dementia. We also enroll people without memory problems. Our CADRC clinical sites run memory tests, lab tests, and other brain tests such as MRI scans. The CADRC raises awareness of ADRD and involves people in the community.
Give us a call at 1-833-311-2372 for more information!
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