Fifty million people worldwide are living with Alzheimer's disease and other dementias. In the United States alone, Alzheimer's disease is the sixth leading cause of death, and it is the only cause of death in the top 10 nationally with no known cure. Brown University's Center for Alzheimer's Disease Research catalyzes collaborations across basic and clinical research groups to uncover how Alzheimer's disease first arises to advance the pace toward treatment.
The center bridges foundational research and clinical studies and fosters collaborative thinking across multiple disciplines, such as neuroscience, aging, public health and computation. Nearly 60 principal investigators at Brown and its affiliated hospitals received a total of more than $40 million in federal funding for Alzheimer’s research in 2020 alone, earning Brown its top 20 ranking for research on the disease. Brown-affiliated researchers are currently involved in 17 clinical trials of Alzheimer’s treatments, including at Rhode Island Hospital.
In recognition of Alzheimer’s Awareness Month, we highlight below existing research projects making an impact on Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.
- Dr. Stephen Salloway, associate director of the Center for Alzheimer's Disease Research and director of the Memory and Aging Program at Butler Hospital, and Rena Wing, a Brown professor of psychiatry and human behavior associated with the Miriam Hospital, are principal investigators of the U.S. POINTER study, a landmark clinical trial to evaluate the effect of lifestyle interventions, such as vigorous exercise, Mediterranean diet, heart health and brain training on the risk for cognitive decline.
- Vince Mor, Florence Pirce Grant University Professor and professor of health services, policy and practice, is leading a nationwide effort to improve health care and quality of life for people living with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias, as well as their caregivers.
- Hwamee Oh, assistant professor of psychiatry and human behavior and of cognitive, linguistic and psychological sciences, is leading a team of researchers developing novel cognitive and neuroimaging markers of preclinical Alzheimer’s disease.
- Professors Stephen Buka and William Heindel are studying risk factors for Alzheimer’s and cognitive decline for 720 members of a 1960 birth cohort, whose participants are now in their 60s. They are conducting neuropsychological testing, analyzing blood biomarkers and collecting MRI data to understand neurocognitive mechanisms underlying the risk for Alzheimer's disease among older adults.
- John Sedivy, director of Brown’s Center for the Biology of Aging, published a discovery in the journal Nature showing that nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors used to treat HIV decreased age-related inflammation. The study led to a major grant from the Alzheimer’s Association to study this therapeutic in early Alzheimer’s disease, and to a biotech startup to develop new drugs targeting this mechanism.
- Ashley Webb, Richard and Edna Salomon Assistant Professor of Molecular Biology, Cell Biology and Biochemistry, is developing a platform to study aging in the hypothalamus brain region, the seat of control for critical processes such as sleep, temperature regulation, eating and metabolism, which can become dysregulated with aging. Webb’s group is working to generate hypothalamic brain cells from human cells, which for the first time will allow researchers to generate rare types of human neurons that are physiologically aged.
- A multidisciplinary team — which includes professors Alexander Fleischmann (neuroscience), Petra Klinge (neurosurgery), Thomas Serre (cognitive, linguistic and psychological sciences and computer science) and Danny Warshay (entrepreneurship) — is leading research that aims to identify molecular biomarkers for the diagnosis of normal pressure hydrocephalus, a neurodegenerative disorder that causes prominent cognitive and motor symptoms and eventually leads to dementia.
- Researchers at Rhode Island Hospital and Brown led by Lori Daiello, associate professor of neurology and of health services, policy and practice, are conducting a study that uses an innovative brain MRI protocol to investigate the role of blood-brain barrier dysfunction and inflammatory markers in predicting delirium and cognitive impairment following major surgeries.