Skip to main content
Category

Commentary

MIND Matters | Quarterly Newsletter | Fall 2024

By Carousel Slider, Commentary, Community Events, COVID-19, In the News, Participants
Message from the Director Alzheimer’s disease research is a year-round activity.  Our fall newsletter finishes telling the story of our investigators’ busy summer, including playing active roles at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in Philadelphia (p1). That conference was replete with presentations that drew major headlines (p 3), and some of the researchers who drew such headlines joined us at our 35th Annual Southern California Alzheimer’s Disease Research Conference (p6). This conference, co-sponsored with the Alzheimer’s Association and Alzheimer’s Orange County, traditionally features visiting faculty as well as our UCI talent, and this year was no exception. Our investigators remain…
Read More

On the NYT article “What Drugmakers Did Not Tell Volunteers in Alzheimer’s Trials”

By Carousel Slider, Commentary, In the News, Participants
An article in the New York Times is the latest to highlight the safety risks associated with recently approved new treatments for Alzheimer’s disease, lecanemab and donanemab. Being a carrier of the e4 genotype for the apolipoprotein (APOE) gene, is a known risk factor for the most serious side effects of these medications—swelling and bleeding in the brain collectively known as Amyloid Related Imaging Abnormalities (ARIA). The article highlights that in some of the earlier studies of these drugs, participants were not given the opportunity to learn their APOE genotypes. The field has historically been reluctant to disclose APOE results…
Read More

MIND Matters | Quarterly Newsletter | Summer 2024

By Carousel Slider, Commentary, Community Events, COVID-19, In the News, Participants
Message from the Director Dear Friends of UCI MIND, This summer, we lost our founder, Dr. Carl Cotman. Under Dr. Cotman’s leadership, UCI became an independent ADRC in 2000. He recruited many of UCI’s most prominent researchers and leaders, such as David Cribbs, Claudia Kawas, and Frank LaFerla. He also lured UCI researchers into collaborative work on dementia, such as Andrea Tenner, Ira Lott, and Marcelo Wood. He launched the Southern California Alzheimer’s Disease Research Conference, now in its 35th year; secured the Neurobiology of Aging NIH training grant, now in its 41st year; and established the UCI ADRC brain…
Read More

Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month: Honoring Our Commitment to Alzheimer’s Research in Hispanic and Latino Communities

By Carousel Slider, Commentary, In the News
This Hispanic Heritage Month, we proudly recognize the invaluable contributions of our faculty, staff, community partners, and supporters who are dedicated to addressing Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias in the Hispanic and Latino communities. Our mission to advance Alzheimer’s research is strengthened by the passion and collaboration of those working on the front lines to ensure more inclusive research and care. At the forefront of these efforts is our Hispanic Community Advisory Board, led by Dr. Christian Salazar. The Board is instrumental in guiding us on best practices for building strong connections with the more than 1 million Hispanic and…
Read More

AlzForum provides update on MODEL-AD at UCI

By Carousel Slider, Commentary, In the News
AlzForum, the popular online publication for Alzheimer's researchers, published a summary of recent advances from the MODEL-AD teams and highlighted the work of the principal investigators at UCI, Drs. Kim Green, Andrea Tenner, and Frank LaFerla.  The article also called attention to innovative research in the Green Lab, including work by postdoctoral scholar, Dr. Claire Butler and graduate student Kristine Tran.   To read the article, click here.
Read More

Listening to patients unable to communicate

By Carousel Slider, Commentary, In the News
The New York Times recently covered a remarkable study published in the New England Journal of Medicine. The study performed clinical and imaging assessments of 353 adults deemed to be in a minimally conscious or persistent vegetative state. These individuals, who had experienced severe brain injury, stroke, or hypoxia after cardiac arrest were unable to respond to any verbal command. Remarkably, 25% of the patients, when assessed with MRI or EEG, demonstrated an ability to respond to commands with their brain. That is, when they were asked to imagine themselves doing something, their brain response was the same as a normal adult's…
Read More

Keeping sleep in mind: poor sleep and dementia risk

By Carousel Slider, Commentary, In the News
A recent article in the New York Times, How Poor Sleep Affects Your Risk of Dementia, summarizes some recent findings showing both excessively short and long sleep, as well as sleep disorders such as sleep apnea, insomnia, and rapid-eye movement (REM) behavior disorder, may be linked with risk for Alzheimer’s disease (AD) or other forms of dementia. Our recent findings from multiple studies at UCI are consistent with this interpretation. For example, in our most recent study , in collaboration with Alzheimer Biomarkers Consortium — Down Syndrome (ABC-DS) and UCI MIND investigators, we found symptoms of insomnia were more prevalent…
Read More

MIND Matters | Quarterly Newsletter | Spring 2024

By Carousel Slider, Commentary, Community Events, COVID-19, In the News, Participants
Message from the Director   Dear Friends of UCI MIND, Please enjoy the latest issue of MIND Matters from UCI MIND. In this Spring issue, we highlight a number of exciting updates about the impact UCI MIND investigators are having in the field. On the cover, post-doctoral fellow Dr. Claire Butler highlights progress made by the collaborative MODEL-AD group, including a publication she led. Another post-doctoral fellow, Dr. Jessica Noche, highlights an exciting collaboration in which UCI MIND investigators are playing a leading role on the Ann S. Bowers Women’s Brain Health Initiative (page 4). We also highlight several awards…
Read More

FDA Approves Donanemab

By Carousel Slider, Commentary, In the News
Today, the US Food and Drug Administration granted full clinical approval to Eli Lilly to market donanemab, brand name KISUNLA, for the treatment of early Alzheimer’s disease, including Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) or mild dementia. Donanemab is a monoclonal antibody against the beta-amyloid protein that accumulates in the brain of people with Alzheimer’s disease. This represents the second ever full approval for a drug that directly targets the biology of Alzheimer’s disease. Image by Andrew Harnik/AP Donanemab was shown in a Phase 2 and then in a Phase 3 trial to have a significant impact on brain amyloid burden. In…
Read More

LA Times article highlights ARIA

By Carousel Slider, Commentary, In the News
A June 17 article in the Los Angeles Times highlighted an important safety risk associated with the new class of medications recently approved for treating Alzheimer’s disease. The drugs are anti-amyloid monoclonal antibodies and include aducanumab, donanemab, and lecanemab. Of these, only lecanemab has achieved full FDA approval at the time of writing. The side effects are collectively known as amyloid-related imaging abnormalities, or ARIA, and are potential side effects for each of these drugs, though with differential frequencies observed across the clinical trials of these medications. The specific drug side effects include what are often referred to as bleeding…
Read More

FDA Advisory Panel meeting held to consider potential approval of donanemab

By Carousel Slider, Commentary, In the News
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Today, the FDA convened its Peripheral and Central Nervous System Drugs Advisory Committee to review the data from pivotal clinical trials of donanemab, a monoclonal antibody against the beta amyloid protein that accumulates in the brain of people with Alzheimer’s disease. One of these trials was conducted at UCI MIND. The efficacy of donanemab in treating early Alzheimer’s disease in people with Mild Cognitive Impairment and mild dementia due to Alzheimer’s disease is largely agreed to have been demonstrated. The bulk of the discussion at the meeting emphasized other aspects, such as the safety…
Read More

From data to decision-making: the role of machine learning and digital twins in Alzheimer’s Disease

By Carousel Slider, Commentary, In the News
For patients experiencing cognitive decline due to Alzheimer’s Disease (AD), choosing the most appropriate treatment course at the right time is of great importance. A key element to these decisions is the careful consideration of the available scientific evidence, particularly from randomized clinical trials (RCTs) such as the recent lecanemab trial. Translating RCT results into patient-level decisions, however, can be challenging. This is because trial results tell us about the outcomes of groups rather than individuals. A doctor must judge how similar their patient is to the groups studied in trials. For AD, where patients vary widely in clinical presentations…
Read More

FDA delays decision on donanemab

By Carousel Slider, Commentary, In the News
The FDA today announced that it will convene an advisory panel to review the data submitted to support potential approval of donanemab, a monoclonal antibody against the beta amyloid protein that demonstrated efficacy in early Alzheimer’s disease in a recent Phase 3 clinical trial. A positive decision to approve donanemab had been expected before the end of this month. Though data for donanemab’s ability to lower brain amyloid levels are convincing, the FDA had opted not to grant accelerated approval to the drug, citing limited safety data. This contrasted the agency’s decisions for two other amyloid-lowering drugs, aducanumab and lecanemab…
Read More

MIND Matters | Quarterly Newsletter | Winter 2024

By Carousel Slider, Commentary, Community Events, COVID-19, In the News, Participants
Message from the Director Dear Friends of UCI MIND, Happy New Year! We hope that 2024 is off to a positive start for you. As we embark upon a new year, UCI MIND and the field of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD) research are abuzz with excitement about progress made and opportunities to further advance our field.  At the end of 2023, we held our annual signature fundraising event, the December to Remember Gala. We honored Lauren Miller Rogen and Seth Rogen, the founders of Hilarity for Charity (HFC) and our partners in a program to mentor and inspire…
Read More

Is Preclinical Alzheimer’s Disease a Business Product?

By Carousel Slider, Commentary
Amyloid PET scan The LA Times recently published a fairly negative appraisal of the construct of preclinical Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The article described the recent effort by an international committee to update diagnostic criteria that date back to 1984, updated in 2011 and again in 2018. The most recent updates have been presented at meetings and published online and have indeed been the source of debate and disagreement in the field. But the LA Times article goes quite a bit further, essentially asking if one particular aspect of the criteria—the definition of preclinical AD—exists mainly to benefit pharmaceutical and medical…
Read More

UCI MIND faculty named one of the top inspirational Black women in medicine

By Carousel Slider, Commentary, In the News
UCI MIND faculty member and professor in the School of Public Health,  Karen D. Lincoln, PhD, MSW, MA, FGSA, is featured in Authority Magazine as being one of the top inspirational Black women in medicine. Read the full interview here To learn more about Dr. Lincoln's research to address health disparities in Black communities, visit her faculty profile or her website: Advocates for African American Elders Dr. Karen D. Lincoln  
Read More

MIND Matters | Quarterly Newsletter | Winter 2023

By Commentary, Community Events, COVID-19, In the News, Participants
Message from the Director Dear Friends of UCI MIND, Advances in the field of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) research and the contributions of UCI MIND investigators remain tremendously exciting. Two new drugs have been approved by the FDA (page 3). These approvals are believed by many to represent the dawn of a new age in AD research and treatment. Both drugs received accelerated approval and we await a decision from the FDA about “full approval” for lecanemab. If received, full approval could cause the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to revisit their previous coverage decision about anti-amyloid antibody therapies. These…
Read More

A4 Study Releases Negative Results

By Carousel Slider, Commentary, In the News
The topline results for the Anti-Amyloid treatment in Asymptomatic Alzheimer’s disease (A4) study were released today (https://a4study.org). Unfortunately, the drug being investigated, solanezumab, failed to demonstrate a benefit in slowing memory changes in a population of individuals age 65-to-85 who met criteria for preclinical Alzheimer’s disease. Preclinical Alzheimer’s is a relatively new construct. It includes people who are older and have normal memory performance, but in whom biological tests suggest that the risk for Alzheimer’s disease dementia is high. The A4 study was among the first ever preclinical AD trials, boldly blazing a trail that has now been followed by…
Read More

No change in coverage yet for monoclonal antibody treatments for Alzheimer’s disease

By Carousel Slider, Commentary, In the News
On February 17, 2023, a bipartisan group of Senators sent the Secretary of Health and Human Services, Javier Baccera, and the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, a letter requesting that CMS reconsider their decision to require Coverage with Evidence Determination (CED) that was levied after the accelerated approval of aducanumab. The letter followed a similar request from the Alzheimer’s Association, made in December 2022. The CED decision significantly limited access to aducanumab and other monoclonal antibodies (should they be approved), requiring that coverage would be granted only if Medicare beneficiaries were enrolled in…
Read More

The family of Bruce Willis shared that he has FTD, what’s that?

By Carousel Slider, Commentary, In the News
Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) is a form of dementia that typically affects individuals in their 50s and 60s. It is therefore, commonly referred to as young onset dementia. Clinically, FTD can present in two ways; some patients present with behavioral impairment and are referred to as behavioral variant FTD (bvFTD). The other main presentation involves language decline and is called primary progressive aphasia (PPA). Both conditions start insidiously and accurate diagnosis can be a challenge, especially at early stages of the disease. In bvFTD, patients can present with apathy, lack of empathy, increased appetite, preference for sweet tooth, new onset of…
Read More

FDA decides not to grant accelerated approval to donanemab

By Carousel Slider, Commentary, In the News
In a somewhat surprising move, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has declined to grant accelerated approval to Eli Lilly’s donanemab Read the full press release from Eli Lilly here Like aducanumab and lecanemab, which were previously granted accelerated approval by the FDA, donanemab is a monoclonal antibody treatment against the beta amyloid protein that accumulates in the brain of a person with Alzheimer’s disease. Eli Lilly published very promising results for donanemab in 2021, which included demonstration that donanemab could lower amyloid levels in the brain of people with mild cognitive impairment and mild dementia (the basis for…
Read More

FDA grants accelerated approval to lecanemab

By Carousel Slider, Commentary, In the News
January 6, 2023 – Today, as expected, the US Food and Drug Administration granted accelerated approval to lecanemab, a monoclonal antibody against the beta amyloid protein that accumulates in the brain of people with Alzheimer’s disease. Lecanemab was approved on the basis of the treatment’s demonstrated effect of lowering levels of brain amyloid, as measured by a type of brain scan known as positron emission tomography (PET) imaging. Lecanemab is now approved for the treatment of patients with mild cognitive impairment or mild dementia, and should be used in patients in whom that same amyloid PET brain scan (or measures…
Read More

Alzheimer’s research in people with Down syndrome benefits all

By Carousel Slider, Commentary, In the News
Elizabeth Head, PhD UCI MIND Faculty Member Elizabeth Head, PhD was featured in the Akron Beacon Journal: I recently interviewed Dr. Elizabeth Head, a neuropathology core co-investigator at the Alzheimer's Disease Research Center at University of California, Irvine. While she collaborates with researchers studying Alzheimer's in the general population, her research is focused specifically on the Down syndrome population. Her team and others are conducting longitudinal studies, in which volunteers with Down syndrome participate for many years, discovering relevant data that are the building blocks for future treatments. Read the full article here >
Read More

Two New Stabs at Vaccinating People Against Pathologic Tau

By Carousel Slider, Commentary, In the News
Bells and Whistles. ACI-35.030 includes a phospho-tau peptide anchored to a liposomal bilayer, along with two adjuvants and a non-target T cell epitope to rally B cells to churn out antibodies against phospho-tau. The work of our faculty, researchers, and collaborators was highlighted in a recent Alzforum article on anti-tau vaccines. AC Immune updates Phase 1b/2 comparison of two anti-#tau vaccines. A liposomal vaccine prompted #antibody response against phospho-tau. Preclinical data bode well for another tau vaccine; first trial slated for next year. Read more >
Read More

Dare We Say Consensus Achieved: Lecanemab Slows the Disease

By Carousel Slider, Commentary, In the News
UCI MIND Director Joshua Grill, PhD is featured in and comments on Alzforum's report on "convincing and noteworthy" lecanemab results. The slightly larger effect on ADLs caught the interest of some scientists, since these can feel most important to participants. “ indicates that patients and families could benefit from slowing of observable functional worsening,” Joshua Grill of the University of California, Irvine, wrote to Alzforum (full comments below). Read his commentary here > Read the full article here > Diverging Trajectories. People on lecanemab worsened more slowly on the CDR-SB than did people on placebo, resulting in a quarter less progression…
Read More

MIND Matters | Quarterly Newsletter | Fall 2022

By Commentary, Community Events, COVID-19, In the News, Participants
Message from the Director Dear Friends of UCI MIND, As the fall MIND Matters newsletter goes to print, many of us are preparing to travel to San Francisco for the annual Clinical Trials in Alzheimer’s Disease (CTAD) meeting, where we will hear important results from recently completed Phase 3 clinical trials of potential new therapies for Alzheimer’s disease (AD). This includes trials of lecanemab (page 1) as well as other treatments. The topline results for lecanemab announced by the trial sponsors are exciting and suggest that lecanemab may slow the progression of AD. The availability of treatments to slow the…
Read More

This 100-Year-Old Woman Has 2 Secrets for a Long Life

By Carousel Slider, Commentary, In the News
Eat This, Not That! "According to a study performed by UCI MIND and presented at the American Association for the Advancement of Science, there's a connection between longevity and drinking a moderate amount of alcohol. (Let's stress the "moderate.") The research involved individuals 90+ years of age. In this particular study, participants who drank approximately two glasses of wine or beer were linked to an 18% decreased risk of early mortality. So sipping in moderation can be a good thing!" Learn more here >  Learn about The 90+ Study here >
Read More

Controversial Alzheimer’s drug approval sparks surprising impact

By Carousel Slider, Commentary, In the News
“Alzheimer’s is the most important medical condition society faces and we need an army of citizen volunteers to participate in drug trials,” said UCI MIND’s Joshua Grill, with study leader Marina Ritchie. UCI MIND When the U.S. Food and Drug Administration gave controversial accelerated approval to the first Alzheimer’s drug in nearly 20 years, it had a surprising impact on attitudes about research into the disease. A survey by University of California, Irvine neuroscientists has found news coverage of the FDA’s decision made the public less willing to volunteer for Alzheimer’s pharmaceutical trials. The study was conducted by the UCI…
Read More

CTAD Abuzz

By Commentary, In the News
Contributed by Joshua Grill, PhD On the opening night of the Clinical Trials for Alzheimer’s Disease (CTAD) meeting, a packed room was abuzz with excitement. The evening included five presentations related to the Phase 3 CLARITY-AD trial of lecanemab, a monoclonal antibody against the beta amyloid protein that builds up in the brain of a person with Alzheimer’s disease. The excitement and anticipation were palpable, since the sponsor of the trial, Eisai, had announced in September that the results were positive. The presentations were accompanied by the full publication of the results in the New England Journal of Medicine and coverage…
Read More

Are there new safety concerns for Lecanemab?

By Commentary, In the News
Contributed by Joshua Grill, PhD and David Sultzer, MD An article in ScienceInsider, a news outlet published by Science magazine, reports on an unpublished case of a person who died after treatment with the monoclonal antibody lecanemab. There are two hallmarks of Alzheimer’s dementia: amyloid-beta protein deposits known as plaques, and tangles of a protein called tau, but several potential antibody therapies target just amyloid. KATERYNA KON/SCIENCE SOURCE Lecanemab is a promising investigational treatment, seemingly poised for FDA approval as a disease-modifying treatment for Alzheimer’s disease. Topline results were announced in September that indicated lecanemab had been shown to slow progression of…
Read More

Untreated Sleep Apnea May Increase Dementia Risk

By Carousel Slider, Commentary, In the News
Healthline - “There is a lot of evidence that links sleep apnea to Alzheimer’s disease risk,” added Bryce Mander, Ph.D, assistant professor, Psychiatry & Human Behavior, School of Medicine at the University of California, Irvine. “But there is limited data on the beneficial effects of sleep apnea treatment on risk for dementia.” He continued: “This study offers proof of concept evidence that treating sleep apnea may reduce Alzheimer’s disease risk. also offers potential novel molecular targets for future study for those where positive airway pressure treatment is not feasible.” Read more here >  
Read More

The Case for Disclosing Biomarker Results to Alzheimer’s Research Participants

By Carousel Slider, Commentary, Community Events, In the News
UCI MIND Director Joshua Grill, PhD and Jason Karlawish, PhD, Co-Director of the Penn Memory Center were featured in a recent podcast episode for the Wisconsin Alzheimer's Disease Research Center: The Case for Disclosing Biomarker Results to Alzheimer's Research Participants. Listen here > Did you know that UCI MIND has its own podcast specifically for caregivers called, Spotlight on Care? Listen to "Keeping the Holidays and Celebrations Happy, Healthy and Safe, with Dr. Miriam Galindo" and tell us what you think.
Read More

Topline results announced for Phase 3 trial of gantenerumab

By Commentary, In the News
Contributed by Joshua Grill, PhD On November 14, Roche announced negative topline results for their GRADUATE program testing gantenerumab, a monoclonal antibody against the beta amyloid protein that accumulates in the brain of people with Alzheimer’s disease. The program included two phase 3 trials (GRADUATE 1 and GRADUATE 2). As with other recent trials, the studies included patients with “early Alzheimer’s disease,” including people with Mild Cognitive Impairment and mild dementia. The trials were large and lengthy, with 1965 participants (across the two studies) who were followed for 27 months. According to the press release, participants randomized to gantenerumab demonstrated…
Read More

The Latest on Alzheimer’s Disease: What Researchers Are Learning About the Disease

By Carousel Slider, Commentary, In the News
"Researchers are working hard to find a cure to Alzheimer's disease … Through their efforts, new research and studies have proven helpful in ways to prevent the disease and even possible treatments. We learn about these findings from our panel of medical experts …. We also discuss The 90+ Study, which studies people over the age of ninety, how they live to that age, and whether their minds show any signs of decline. … Guests: Dr. Ahmad Sajjadi, Cognitive Neurologist, Associate Professor of Neurology and Pathology, University of California, Irvine…." Learn more here >
Read More

The #1 Thing You Can Do to Lower Your Dementia Risk

By Carousel Slider, Commentary, In the News
Eat This, Not That! - Nov. 1, 2022 'An increase in dementia cases is alarming, especially since there's no cure and Dr. Michael Yassa, neurobiologist and director of the Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory at the University of California, Irvine shares why there's an uptick. "Remember that the biggest risk factor is age, and we are an aging population. Advances in medical care have managed to extend our lifespan beyond anything we could have ever imagined a hundred or two hundred years ago. So the prevalence of dementia is increasing because we have more and more people…
Read More

New treatments will have possible risks, along with potential benefits

By Commentary, In the News
Contributed by Joshua Grill, PhD and David Sultzer, MD A recent article in STAT highlights potential safety risks for anti-amyloid therapies, the frequent subject of postings in the UCI MIND blog. The focus of the article is on one patient who died after taking the anti-amyloid antibody lecanemab, a drug that was recently announced to have positive results in a Phase 3 clinical trial and is the treatment being tested in the AHEAD Study ongoing at UCI MIND and elsewhere. The patient experienced bleeding in the brain. APSTOCK As described in the article, the case was complicated but potentially important.…
Read More

MIND Matters | Quarterly Newsletter | Summer 2022

By Commentary, Community Events, COVID-19, In the News, Participants
Message from the Director Dear Friends of UCI MIND, We hope that you had a summer full of sun, fun, and good health. As you can see in this issue of MIND Matters, it has been a busy summer here at UCI MIND. Our investigators played a prominent role at the annual Alzheimer’s Association International Conference (AAIC), a focus of this issue (p 1, 3, 6, and 7). We’re very proud of our own Maria Corrada, ScD, who played a role in planning this important meeting (p 1 and 7), as well as the many researchers who presented their work.…
Read More

Recent grant success

By Carousel Slider, Commentary, In the News
University of California, Irvine Chancellor Howard Gillman states: "Our faculty continues to do a tremendous job of winning research grants, the lifeblood of our research efforts. In just the last couple of months...our renowned Institute for Memory Impairments and Neurological Disorders, known as UCI MIND, received a grant of $47 million from the National Institute on Aging; an interdisciplinary UCI team will receive $10 million from the National Institutes of Health...Clearly, the future of science at UCI is very bright indeed." The UCI research team is directed by (seated, from left) Frank LaFerla, Andrea Tenner and Kim Green. Other investigators…
Read More

2022 Buddy Walk

By Commentary, Community Events
The CHOC Children's Neuroscience Institute and Alzheimer Biomarkers Consortium — Down Syndrome (ABC-DS) have teamed up to sponsor the 2022 Buddy Walk hosted by the Down Syndrome Association of Orange County (DSAOC). Funds raised for the walk support the programs and services DSAOC provides to their constituents. The event will be held on Sunday, Nov 6th starting at 11:00 am at the Santa Ana Zoo (admission included with registration)! In support of DSAOC, Eric Doran, MS, of UCI has created The CHOC/UCI Down Syndrome Program Team.  Please consider supporting this event by:  Joining our team (using the highlighted link or QR code above) Making a gift Sharing the event with…
Read More

Summer 2022 Edition of MIND Matters is out!

By Commentary, Community Events, In the News
The newest edition of MIND Matters is now available to view digitally and will arrive in mailboxes soon! This issue is a special edition on Alzheimer's Association International Conference (AAIC) and covers: UCI MIND converges upon San Diego for AAIC Buzzworthy Brain News Evening on the Peninsula Michael Chang Foundation A December to Remember is back! In-person! Bright MINDs Shine at AAIC Spotlight on 90+ Learn more here > Donate to UCI MIND here > 
Read More

UCI MIND Faculty Responds to AlzForum Article: How Will Alzheimer’s Trials, Treatment Change in 2023 and Beyond?

By Carousel Slider, Commentary, In the News
Responding to an article written in AlzForum on the future of Alzheimer's treatment and research from October 7th, Joshua Grill, PhD, from UCI MIND, and his colleague, Jason Karlawish, MD, from the University of Pennsylvania, write: Josh Grill, Professor, Psychiatry & Human Behaviorphoto: Steve Zylius/UCI "Anticipation that FDA will grant full approval of lecanemab (or another disease-modifying treatment) invites an exciting but challenging thought exercise: How will such treatments change research and practice for Alzheimer’s disease (AD)? We’ve considered some of the issues. Our top line point is that a new disease-slowing treatment is unlikely to make use of placebo…
Read More

The need for more diversity in Alzheimer’s research

By Commentary, In the News
Contributed by Christian Salazar, PhD, MPH, Hye-Won Shin, PhD, and Joshua Grill, PhD Recent papers in JAMA Network Open and JAMA Neurology further our understanding of potential differences among self-reported racial and ethnic groups in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) biomarkers. The two new papers add to a growing literature that suggest AD biomarkers may work differently in people of different races. Perhaps the most consistent finding so far is that people who self-report as Black may have lower levels of phosphorylated tau in the cerebrospinal fluid and now (in the paper from colleagues at Emory University) in the plasma. As noted by…
Read More

Electronic medical records cannot deliver results with compassion

By Commentary, In the News
Contributed by Joshua Grill, PhD An article in the October 3 New York Times highlights recent developments in providing patients legal access to their medical records. Brought about by the 21St Century Cures Act, this effort aims to remove barriers to citizens having access to their own health data. Implementation of the 21St Century Cures Act essentially mandates that medical test results be made available through electronic health records in near real time, giving patients access almost immediately to their health information without context. This is producing challenges for clinicians and their practices. Photo credit: The New York Times Some…
Read More

UCI MIND Partners with HFC for “10th Birthday Extravaganza”

By Commentary, Community Events, In the News
On Saturday, October 1st, UCI MIND participated in the HFC “10th Birthday Extravaganza,”  hosted by Lauren Miller Rogen and Seth Rogen. The event raised critical dollars for HFC’s caregiver respite and education programs. This includes HFC’s funding of the UCI MIND Research And Mentorship Program with the School of Medicine and several of the trainees were able to attend this star-studded evening in Los Angeles. The night of laughter and music also gave UCI MIND the opportunity to talk about our research, share who we are with the community, and allowed attendees (including Mr. Rogen) the opportunity to hold a human brain. We thank…
Read More

Testing effective treatments as potential preventions

By Commentary, In the News, Participants
Contributed by Joshua Grill, PhD Since Wednesday’s announcement by Eisai and Biogen of positive topline Phase 3 results for their treatment lecanemab in early Alzheimer’s disease, the field has been markedly aligned. Most agree that we need to see the data but that this seems to be a clear win and an important step in a positive direction. Some debates have begun, and more will happen, about the size and meaning of the win—that is, the size of the drug’s disease-slowing effects and the clinical meaningfulness. These debates will be extremely important but will take time. Joshua Grill, PhD Combined…
Read More

Eisai and Biogen announce positive Phase 3 results for lecanemab

By Commentary, In the News
Contributed by Joshua Grill, PhD Today, Eisai and Biogen announced that the topline results of their Phase 3 trial, known as CLARITY, were positive. CLARITY was a placebo-controlled double-blind study of the monoclonal antibody against the amyloid beta protein lecanemab in patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment or mild dementia due to Alzheimer’s disease. Lecanemab has been shown previously to reduce amyloid burden in the brain of patients with symptomatic Alzheimer’s disease. According to today’s press release, lecanemab was effective in slowing decline measured with the Clinical Dementia Rating Scale (CDR), compared to placebo. This scale has been suggested by the…
Read More

Watch out, Alzheimer’s! Big new grant at UCI, new drug trial at Hoag coming for you

By Carousel Slider, Commentary, In the News
UC Irvine, a longtime hub of Alzheimer’s investigation, has been awarded a $47 million grant from the National Institute on Aging to support a team developing next-generation mouse models for studying late-onset Alzheimer’s. … “It’s an incredibly exciting time, and there’s a lot of promise,” said Joshua Grill, director of UCI’s Institute for Memory Impairments and Neurological Disorders. … The project’s next phase will be co-directed by Frank LaFerla, dean of the School of Biological Sciences; Andrea Tenner, a Distinguished Professor of molecular biology and biochemistry; and Kim Green, a professor of neurobiology and behavior. To learn more, click here >
Read More

UCI Alzheimer’s project wins $47 million grant from National Institute on Aging

By Carousel Slider, Commentary, In the News
Scientists will develop mouse models to help unravel most common form of disease The UCI research team is directed by (seated, from left) Frank LaFerla, Andrea Tenner and Kim Green. Other investigators include (standing, from left) Marcelo Wood, Arthur Lander, Grant MacGregor, Ian Smith, Vivek Swarup, Craig Stark, Andre Obenaus and Ali Mortazavi. UCI School of Biological Sciences What began with a $70,000 philanthropic gift 12 years ago has grown into the recipient of a $47 million National Institute on Aging grant for Alzheimer’s disease research at the University of California, Irvine. The funds will be parceled out over five…
Read More