Leslie Thompson, PhD, Chancellor's Professor of Psychiatry & Human Behavior, Neurobiology & Behavior (Photo credit: Steve Zylius/UCI) UCI News, January 30, 2019 - "Leslie Thompson of the Sue & Bill Gross Stem Cell Research Center and UCI MIND has been awarded $6 million by the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine to continue her CIRM-supported efforts to create stem cell treatments for Huntington’s disease. The funding will allow the Thompson lab to conduct the late-stage testing needed to apply to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for permission to start a clinical trial in people. The therapy involves transplanting stem cells…
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Eric Doran, Manager of UCI MIND’s Down Syndrome Program, has partnered with his longtime friend and playwright, Steven Oberman, to tell the true story of Dr. John Langdon Down, the man who first described Down syndrome. We interviewed Mr. Doran to learn more about the vision behind this new play, Blurred at the Edges, set to run in March of 2019 at the Diversionary Theatre in San Diego. Eric Doran, MS What is the vision behind Blurred at the Edges? Down syndrome is named after Dr. John Langdon Down, a British physician who first described the condition in 1866. Most…
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Contributed by Joshua Grill, PhD, Director of UCI MIND Colleagues at the UCSF Memory and Aging Center published a timely critique in JAMA on a concerning and increasing practice in the United States. “Pseudomedicine” is a practice whereby qualified healthcare professionals prescribe supplements or other therapies that are not covered by insurance, and therefore require cash payments, for personal financial gain. Pseudomedicine is especially problematic among older patients and family members concerned about memory loss and desperate for effective therapies to slow or stop the progression of Alzheimer’s disease. Other examples of pseudomedicine include recommendations for brain healthy diet plans…
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Carl Cotman, PhD A study was recently published in the journal Neurology about physical activity's relation to Alzheimer's disease and cognition in older adults. NPR asked UCI MIND founding director Dr. Carl Cotman to comment on this impressive study, noting that exercise might "'offset the ill effects of brain degeneration.' He adds that lifestyle interventions such as an increase in physical activity and movement can be powerful even in the presence of disease." Click here to read the article > Dr. Cotman is leading a national clinical trial of exercise at UCI MIND. The trial aims to evaluate whether 18 months…
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Bryce Mander, PhD Colleagues at Washington University School of Medicine published novel findings on the correlation between tau tangles, a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease pathology, and sleep quality in people who were cognitively normal or who had mild cognitive impairment. On ALZFORUM, UCI MIND faculty member, Dr. Bryce Mander commented, “This is an important paper because it shows for the first time how tau is related to sleep deficits. That’s going to be important in advancing our understanding of how Alzheimer’s disease pathology affects sleep.” Dr. Mander, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry & Human Behavior at UCI, has published several important findings on…
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Washington Post article highlights need for Latino representation in Alzheimer's clinical studies Contributed by Christian Salazar, PhD, UCI MIND Associate Project Scientist Andres Martin lost his dad to a rare form of early-onset Alzheimer’s. He hopes a cure is found before his daughter, Alexis, grows up. (Sarah L. Voisin/The Washington Post) A rare form of Alzheimer's disease, caused by a gene mutation first discovered among people living in Jalisco, Mexico, develops at much earlier age than typical cases of Alzheimer’s disease. Andres Martin, a 31-year old Marine, has this 'Jalisco mutation', and is committed to raising awareness that the fight…
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Dr. Ira Lott, Director of the UCI MIND Down Syndrome Program, discussed the connection between Down syndrome and Alzheimer’s disease with the Orange County Business Journal this week. Dr. Lott and his team conduct critical research studies with volunteer participants to improve understanding of brain aging and dementia in Down syndrome. Click here to read the article > To learn more about studies in Down syndrome and Alzheimer’s disease, click here >
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Contributed by Joshua Grill, PhD, Director of UCI MIND In a new study, colleagues at the Alzheimer's Disease Research Center at Washington University have found that levels of the cerebrospinal fluid protein tau, one of the hallmark pathologies in Alzheimer’s disease (AD), is lower in African Americans compared to Whites. This was true both for older participants who did and did not have memory problems. The study is not the first to find such differences between African Americans and Caucasians and it has important implications to a number of important areas of AD research. First, there is a growing movement…
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IRVINE, Calif. (Dec. 11, 2018) – UCI MIND, the University of California, Irvine’s Institute for Memory Impairments and Neurological Disorders, Orange County’s only state and federally designated Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center (ADRC), hosted its 9th annual A December to Remember Gala on Saturday, December 1 at the Balboa Bay Resort in Newport Beach. UCI MIND raised a record-shattering $370,000 through underwriting, ticket sales and donations from the attendees. “UCI MIND would not be at the forefront of Alzheimer’s disease research without the strong community behind us,” notes Dr. Joshua Grill, Director of UCI MIND. “We are forever grateful for the…
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Vivek Swarup, PhD, Assistant Professor of Neurobiology & Behavior UCI MIND faculty member, Dr. Vivek Swarup, and colleagues at UCLA, Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. in Japan, Emory University School of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, and the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, published novel findings yesterday in Nature Medicine on two major groups of genes associated with Alzheimer’s disease and frontotemporal dementia and unraveled a novel microRNA, miR-203, as a master regulator of neuronal death. In human cell cultures containing AD-associated mutations, the researchers showed that certain experimental drugs altered the loss of brain cells associated with neurodegenerative disease. Dr. Swarup says, “I’m hopeful these important findings…
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