Patients and families joined faculty, students and trainees on May 15 for Alzheimer Day, an annual event hosted by the Mesulam Center for Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer’s Disease to showcase dementia and aging research conducted throughout Northwestern and bring those discoveries to the community.
Robert Vassar, PhD, the Davee Professor of Alzheimer Research and professor of Neurology and director of the Mesulam Center, welcomed participants to the event and provided an update on center activities.
“We’re focused on our academic excellence and continuing our research on Alzheimer’s and related dementias as fervently as ever,” said Vassar, who is also a professor of Cell and Developmental Biology and scientific director of Behavioral Neurology in the Department of Neurology. “We’re working diligently to understand these devastating diseases and advance treatments that will alleviate the suffering of patients.”
Vassar also gave an update on the center’s recent research publications, including a promising study demonstrating that enhancing the brain’s own immune cells can clear amyloid beta plaques, a hallmark of Alzheimer’s Disease, more effectively.
John Disterhoft, PhD, professor emeritus of Neuroscience, announced the winner of the Marie and Carl Duncan Prize in Memory Disorders. Inaugurated in 2006, the award is presented to recognize accomplishments in clinically relevant arenas of inquiry.
Grace Minogue, a doctoral student in the laboratory of Tamar Gefen, ’15 PhD, assistant professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences in the Division of Psychology, was named a winner for her work investigating how the protein TDP-43 contributes to the abnormal buildup of another protein called tau in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients.
Raisa Monteiro, PhD, a postdoctoral student in the laboratory of Hongxin Dong, MD, PhD, associate professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and professor in The Ken and Ruth Davee Department of Neurology, was also named a winner of the prize. Monteiro’s research focuses on apathy in Alzheimer’s disease.
“We gathered samples from humans who suffer from apathy in Alzheimer’s Disease and did an RNA sequencing analysis to look at their genome levels of the different kinds of markers that are there, and we found a few markers that were increased in humans,” Monteiro said.
By administering anti-inflammatory drugs to mice with Alzheimer’s that displayed apathy about daily living activities like nesting, Monteiro and her colleagues showed that some behaviors could be restored.
“While this is just a preliminary study, we think that this treatment could have a beneficial effect,” she said.
The keynote Mendelson Lecture was delivered by Allan Levey, MD, PhD, director of the Goizueta Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center and chair of the Department of Neurology at Emory University.
Levey detailed his journey as a young investigator in Chicago, where he was mentored by the Mesulam Center’s namesake, Marsel Mesulam, MD, chief of Behavioral Neurology in the Ken and Ruth Davee Department of Neurology.
During his lecture, Levey also gave an overview of advancements in Alzheimer’s research in the last few decades and where the field is headed next.
“There are two major areas that I’ve seen progress: prevention and intervention,” Levey said. “We know this disease starts decades before symptoms begin. How can we transform society, so we’re checking to see if people have pre-clinical stages of disease?”
Following the lecture, a research poster session showcased ongoing research into causes and potential treatments for Alzheimer’s Disease.
A quality-of-life symposium sponsored by the Glen and Wendy Miller Family Foundation concluded the event, highlighting statewide initiatives aimed at creating dementia-friendly communities to support individuals living with dementia and related disorders in their neighborhoods. The panel was moderated by Darby Morhardt, PhD, research professor at the Mesulam Center, and showcased Chicago’s dementia-friendly communities, including Bronzeville, Chinatown and South Loop.
“Building dementia-friendly communities is meaningful in creating a sense of belonging for Illinois families and people living with dementia,” said Raj C. Shah, MD, a professor in the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine at Rush University and a geriatrician at RUSH Alzheimer’s Disease Center. “It’s been a remarkable thing to watch as intrinsically motivated community members do the right thing and to work together.”
