KATU News: “We all have to do more because this is about the most important medical problem we face as a society today," said Dr. Josh Grill, a member of the AHEAD Study leadership team and director of the UC Irvine Institute for Memory Impairments and Neurological Disorders. Grill said his AHEAD Study team is testing a new investigational treatment, examining whether they can slow slow or stop the earliest brain changes due to Alzheimer's disease in people with a higher risk of developing the disease later in life. The team is seeking volunteers on its website: https://www.aheadstudy.org/ "All research…
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Join UCI MIND Director Joshua Grill, PhD & Neurologist Gaby Thai, MD Thursday, June 24 @ 12 PM PT for a discussion on the FDA's recent decision on aducanumab, Aduhelm! Bring your Qs Thursday to: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/188018221232375/posts/4358845157482973/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLxt0zIG6vY
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Contributed by Daniel Gillen, PhD Earlier today, the FDA granted approval of Biogen Inc’s aducanumab, to be sold under the brand name Aduhelm, to treat the underlying cause of AD. As I wrote back in November of 2020, multiple issues in the clinical program for aducanumab make objective assessment of the clinical efficacy of the drug difficult. I was not alone as the FDA advisory committee also noted them. The first obvious issue is that the two parallel Phase 3 trials, called studies 301 and 302, that this approval is based on were discrepant in their results. Generally speaking, FDA…
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Contributed by Joshua Grill, PhD Today, June 7, the US Food and Drug Administration approved aducanumab, a monoclonal antibody against beta amyloid, the protein that builds up in the brain of a person with Alzheimer’s disease. It has been more than 15 years since the last approval of an Alzheimer’s drug. Unlike the previously approved therapies, aducanumab directly targets the biological changes in the brain caused by Alzheimer’s disease. The data that the FDA used to decide to approve aducanumab were controversial, resulting from three clinical trials – one Phase 1B trial and two large Phase 3 trials. The controversy…
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MarketWatch As we age, our already limited attention span shrinks even more. So it takes extra discipline for seniors to stay curious. … Craig Stark, , a memory researcher at University of California, Irvine, urges people who want to stay mentally sharp to “feed your brain novel information.” Curiosity can provide the impetus to gather that new information.
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How are loneliness, isolation and elder abuse connected and what role has the COVID-19 pandemic played? The OC Aging Services Collaborative invites you learn the answer at the upcoming #WorldElderAbuseAwarenessDay webinar. Learn more here: http://bit.ly/WEAAD2021
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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…
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Message from the Director Dear Friends of UCI MIND, Spring has sprung and there is much to look forward to. COVID-19 infections remain low in Orange County. We are grateful to our colleagues from UCI Health who have done an incredible job of caring for people during the pandemic and navigating us toward an end through well-organized vaccination programs. We are planning resumption of our pre-pandemic research activities. The campus has reduced restrictions on in-person research while maintaining essential safety parameters. There is a collective sense of eagerness to “catch-up” on work delayed by the pandemic. This will include UCI…
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UCI MIND Faculty Member Christine Gall, PhD, a neuroscientist and professor of anatomy and neurobiology at UC Irvine’s School of Medicine, explains that our brains contain specialized cells, or neurons, that are responsible for sending and receiving information. Much like a circuit board in a computer, our brains create networks of neurons that transmit electrical activity when we engage in just about anything. These charges, AKA synapses, are critical for learning and memory.
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JOIN US FOR A FREE VIRTUAL CONFERENCE: "Alzheimer's from all angles" About the Conference Join Alzheimer’s Orange County and UCI MIND for the 32nd Annual Southern California Alzheimer’s Disease Research Conference. This free, half-day, virtual conference will cover a wide range of topics concerning Alzheimer’s disease, from updates on research, to treatments, diagnostics, risk factors, and genetic resilience. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on brain health will also be discussed. Friday, September 10, 2021, 8AM-12PM PT Free and open to the public Livestreamed on Facebook and YouTube Who Should Attend? Healthcare Providers Senior and Social Service Providers Researchers Students…
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