2021

Leslie Vazquez-Rangel, a fourth-year undergraduate at UCI was recently selected to participate in the prestigious Minority Access to Research Careers (MARC) Program, an NIH funded training grant that is awarded to only 640 students across the US each year. The program will allow a select few PhD-bound honors students like Leslie to engage in meaningful research under the guidance of world-renowned professors.  Leslie will spend the next year working with Dr. Elizabeth Head, a professor in the Department of Pathology to study the link between Down syndrome and Alzheimer’s disease. To learn more about Leslie and the incredible research being done in Dr. Head’s lab, visit https://sites.mind.uci.edu/headlab

Contributed by Hamsi Radhakrishnan Organ transplant recipients are significantly less likely to develop dementia compared to the general population; perhaps because the drugs they take to suppress their immune system to prevent donor organ rejection could also be curbing neuroinflammation. To assess whether these drugs could be repurposed as dementia-preventing medication in middle-aged adults, we studied the effects one year treatment with the FDA-approved immunosuppressant Tacrolimus had on the beagle brain. Using advanced diffusion MRI, we found that tacrolimus protected against aging-related microstructural changes that are often associated with cognitive decline, specifically in the hippocampus, parahippocampal cortex, prefrontal cortex and…

Bob and Marlene Lippman in their home. “Bob had a very strong intellect,” Ms. Lippman said. “It is hard that that part of him is being attacked.”Credit...Jackie Molloy for The New York Times The single most consistent barrier to progress in Alzheimer’s disease treatment development is low rates of participation in research. To learn about clinical trials at UCI MIND, visit https://www.mind.uci.edu/research-studies/participate/. To enroll in the C2C Registry and give researchers permission to let you know about new studies for which you might be eligible, visit c2c.uci.edu.

Contributed by Stefania Forner, PhD Most cases of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) are late-onset and occur sporadically; however, the majority of AD animal models are based on rare genetic mutations, making them good models of the less common familial AD, which accounts for 1% of all cases. As treatments effective in these mouse models have proven ineffective in humans, there is a clear need to develop new models that better represent the more common, late-onset sporadic form of AD. With this in mind, my colleagues and I at UCI MIND used a different approach in a recent study published in Nature…

UC Irvine’s very own Carol Choi has been named among the 74th Assembly District 2021 Women of Distinction by Assemblywoman Cottie Petrie-Norris. The annual recognition occurs each March in honor of Women’s History Month to recognize women “who have shown extraordinary work, mentorship and leadership.” For those who are privileged to know and work with Carol Choi, this honor comes as no surprise. Carol embodies leadership through service on several committees at UC Irvine, including as a University Trustee. Additionally, Carol serves as Board Chair of the Korean American Alumni Chapter of the Alumni Association whose Founding President, Alexander Kim,…

UCI MIND Director Dr. Josh Grill takes some deep dives into promising findings in clinical trials for medications treating Alzheimer's disease. Listen to the latest episode of KUCI's podcast, Ask A Leader here >

Contributed by the Women's Alzheimer's Movement At a campaign stop last fall, then VP, now President Joe Biden said, “If we do not find an answer to Alzheimer’s, then in the next 19 years, every single solitary bed that exists in the United States of America now will be occupied by an Alzheimer’s patient.” The time to act is now, and we are ready!