Kevin Beier, PhD, Assistant Professor, Physiology & Biophysics School of Medicine Drs. Kevin Beier and Elizabeth Head, both faculty members of UCI MIND, along with co-investigators Drs. Liz Chrastil and Jing Zhang have been awarded a 4 year NIH grant to study how hyperexcitability in neurons in a unique brain region (the retrospenial cortex thought to be a candidate site where AD pathology begins) contributes to the development of behavioral deficits in 3 mouse models of AD and what the molecular mechanisms are that underlie this effect. To translate their results to AD in people, they will assess the molecular…

 Ahmad Sajjadi, MD, PhD (right) UCI MIND is in the spotlight again with the announcement of large collaborative NIA grant to study LATE.  Read the article in the UC Irvine News

This week NPR published an article describing the reactions of three scientists who learned and subsequently shared their APOE genetic results.  What makes this story unique is the way these highly informed people responded to learning their results and their convergent paths of using this knowledge to help advance Alzheimer’s research. The three scientists discovered at various points in their life that they were homozygous for the e4 allele of the apolipoprotein E (APOE) gene. APOE codes for a protein that functions primarily to move cholesterol around the body.   The e4 allele of the APOE gene is also the strongest…

Lourdes Gonzalez holding a tissue sample (photo by Steve Zylius) Postmortem neuropathological examination of brain tissue is considered the gold standard for understanding many neurological diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD). Although fluid and imaging biomarkers provide scientists and clinicians with valuable insights into the diseases of the brain, these measures are standardized with brain autopsy to give researchers direct evidence needed to confirm diagnoses, study disease processes, and develop future treatments. Neuropathological examination can only be made through the generous gift of brain donation. A new resource website is being launched for brain tissue repositories to help…

Dr. Vivek Swarup has been awarded an Alzheimer's Association Research Grant to study oligodendrocyte dysfunction in Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Dr. Swarup writes that Alzheimer’s disease has long been thought of as a problem of nerve cells, but new evidence shows that support cells called oligodendrocytes (OLs) may also play a direct role in driving the disease. These cells help insulate and protect nerves, but in Alzheimer’s, they appear to malfunction and may even produce harmful amyloid plaques. Our project will test how changes in a key regulator of OL affect its function and Alzheimer’s progression. By targeting OL dysfunction, we…

The Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) has appointed Dr. Karen Lincoln, a faculty member at UCI MIND, as a co-chair of its Environmental Justice Advisory Council (EJAC). This council is dedicated to protecting California communities that face disproportionate exposure to toxic substances. To read more about Dr. Lincoln’s appointment, click here.

UCI News highlighted a newly published study by Drs. Ricardo Santana (pictured left) and Gregory Brewer (pictured right)in the journal, GeroScience, in which they identified a combination of natural compounds that clear away harmful proteins associated with Alzheimer's disease. To read the UCI news article, click here.

Left to right: Elizabeth Andrews and Dr. Elizabeth Head UCI News highlighted a newly published study in Alzheimer's and Dementia led by Elizabeth Andrews, a PhD candidate in Dr. Elizabeth Head’s Lab, showing that women with Down syndrome may develop Alzheimer's disease more rapidly than men. To read the UCI news article, click here.

At the recent Alzheimer’s Association International Conference (AAIC), thousands of posters were presented by investigators from around the world. The Alzheimer's Association International Society to Advance Alzheimer's Research and Treatment (ISTAART) is a network of scientists, clinicians and dementia professionals who maintain Professional Interest Areas (PIAs). At AAIC, the leadership of the various PIAs selected trainees’ (graduate students and post-docs) poster for a competition in which the evaluation criteria was scientific impact. Remarkably, 3 UCI MIND trainees were selected. Paul Gaona-Partida (mentor Daniel Gillen) was selected for the Diversity and Disparities PIA for his poster “Assessing syndromic diagnosis and amyloid…

Lisi Flores-Aguilar, PhD, a postdoctoral scholar in the Head Lab, was awarded with the Postdoctoral Best Poster Award for the Down Syndrome and Alzheimer's Disease Professional Interest Area (PIA) at this year's Alzheimer’s Association International Conference (AAIC). Her poster "Resilience to Alzheimer's disease in individuals with Down Syndrome” conveyed novel findings of her research. As a postdoctoral fellow in the lab of  Dr. Elizabeth Head, Dr. Lisi Flores-Aguilar studies cerebrovascular contributions to Alzheimer's diseases in individuals with Down syndrome using digital pathology.