UCI MIND faculty member Dr. Mathew Blurton-Jones was awarded a $500,000 grant from Orange County Community Foundation to test 1200+ FDA-approved compounds for effectiveness in Alzheimer's disease treatment. His lab seeks to find the top 20 genes and drugs that safely prevent brain damage caused by microglia, which are critical immune cells in the brain that 'prune' unnecessary neuronal connections, or synapses. In the brains of people with Alzheimer's disease, damage can be caused by microglia 'overpruning' synapses, leading to loss of necessary connections. UCI News reports that Dr. Blurton-Jones and his team are "grateful to be the recipients of this…
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Dr. Ira Lott with research participant in UCI MIND Down Syndrome Program UCI MIND faculty member, Dr. Ira Lott, is one of the world's leading experts in unraveling the link between Down syndrome and Alzheimer's disease (Learn more in the Winter 2016 issue of MIND Matters). His team has been selected as a Center of Excellence for the new Down Syndrome Clinical Trial Network (DS-CTN) launched by LuMIND, a Down syndrome research foundation. As part of this important network, Dr. Lott and his team will receive funding to conduct clinical trials of promising therapies for participants with Down syndrome, at…
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Karen Bleier/AFP/Getty Images In a letter released on Tuesday, October 23, retired supreme court justice Sandra Day O'Connor announced a diagnosis of probable Alzheimer's dementia, and that she will begin stepping down from public life. O'Connor, the first woman to serve on the Supreme Court, was a devoted caregiver to her husband John after his Alzheimer's diagnosis in 2005. NPR reports the reaction of Chief Justice John Roberts: "I was saddened to learn that Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, like many Americans, faces the challenge of dementia. But I was not at all surprised that she used the occasion of sharing that…
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As we gather for our annual conference, today, September 21st, is World Alzheimer's Day. Maria Shriver penned a powerful op-ed with the support of UCI MIND Director Dr. Joshua Grill to inspire us to join together to overcome Alzheimer's disease. To read Maria Shriver's challenge, click here >
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This Friday, September 21 marks the 29th Annual SoCal Alzheimer’s Disease Research Conference at the Irvine Marriott Hotel. Chair of Statistics and UCI MIND faculty member, Dr. Daniel Gillen, discusses this year’s topic of Alzheimer’s disease clinical trials with KUCI Radio - click here to listen to the podcast >. Dr. Gillen is one of several esteemed researchers who will present on Friday. There’s still time to register! Click here >, call 949.757.3720 x 3733, or purchase Day-Of tickets at the Registration booth.
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This week Alzforum posted coverage from the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference, including UCI MIND Director Dr. Joshua Grill's presentation of data from The A4 Study (Anti-Amyloid Treatment in Asymptomatic Alzheimer's Disease Study). In The A4 Study, a secondary prevention trial of late-onset Alzheimer's disease, people with elevated amyloid had higher levels of memory complaints than those without elevated amyloid. To read the full article, click here >
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Orange Coast Magazine just named our upcoming research conference in the "20 Can’t-Miss Health Events in O.C. To Keep You Healthy!" Don't miss your chance to attend Trials Today, Treatments Tomorrow, Sept. 21 at the Irvine Marriott. Tickets: http://bit.ly/alzconference or call 949.757.3720 x 3733. "Alzheimer’s affects more than 84,000 people in Orange County. This conference, hosted by the UC Irvine Institute for Memory Impairments and Neurological Disorders (UCI MIND) and Alzheimer’s Orange County, will bring world-renowned experts to Irvine to discuss progress in the battle against Alzheimer’s." -- Orange Coast Magazine
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Contributed by Joshua Grill, PhD This week’s 60 Minutes did an excellent job of illustrating, in 13 minutes, the 10-year progression of Alzheimer’s disease and its impact on patients and their caregivers. In addition to the unrelenting progression of the disease, the piece showed viewers the toll the disease takes on care providers, including the physical, financial, and emotional burdens. On average, the cost of caring for a person with Alzheimer’s disease is estimated to exceed $300,000 total. And caregivers are at increased risk for physical and mental ailments, resulting from the stress of their role and the fact that…
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UCI MIND Director Dr. Joshua Grill wrote an article for the Daily Pilot about the need for Alzheimer's clinical trial research participants in Orange County. Read an excerpt below, and click here for the full article > "Here in Orange County, we are home to the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, the UC Irvine Institute for Memory Impairments and Neurological Disorders (UCI MIND). And we are making progress. There will be one essential key to needed advances, however. You. We need more people to participate in research, especially clinical trials of promising treatments. Clinical trial participants in Alzheimer’s research, much like…
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Photo credit: Zack Wittman for The New York Times The New York Times recently covered a new clinical trial effort Eli Lilly is undertaking, the TRAILBLAZER-ALZ clinical research study. The study, which UCI MIND investigators are participating in, aims to enroll 375 people with early Alzheimer's disease. To learn more about the TRAILBLAZER-ALZ study, click here, or contact us at research@mind.uci.edu or call 949.824.0008.
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