No therapies have been found to significantly slow, reverse or cure Alzheimer’s disease. Meaningful advances in the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease cannot be made without building a strong foundation of basic science that explains its root causes.
To address these challenge, Brain Institute executive director and former dean of Pitt’s School of Medicine Arthur S. Levine, MD, founded the Assault on Alzheimer’s program, which aims to inspire talented scientists and launch new research approaches to discover how the dementia starts and progresses.
According to the Alzheimer’s Association, an estimated 5 million Americans 65 years and older are living with the disease, and that number is expected to nearly triple by 2050. Total costs in 2020 for all individuals with Alzheimer’s or other dementias are estimated at $305 billion, not including unpaid caregiving. In 2019, caregivers of people with Alzheimer’s or other dementias provided an estimated 18.6 billion hours of unpaid care, worth about $244 billion.
The University of Pittsburgh is home to the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, which treats patients as well as hosts a variety of clinical research trials.
Brain Institute researchers complement and enhance such efforts by examining the dementia’s cellular and molecular root causes and uncovering how the disease alters the brain as it progresses. With such discoveries, it will be possible to develop effective treatments, cures or prevention strategies that save lives and forestall heartbreak.
People
The Assault on Alzheimer’s effort brings together talented scientists with different approaches and the same commitment to studying the disease.
Resources
- PET/CT animal research imaging capabilities
- 9.4 Tesla MR scanner
- Nanozoomer
- Two-photon microscopy
- Confocal microscopy
- Preclinical Phenotyping Core
- Innovative human-relevant animal models of disease
News
In Nature Medicine, Tharick Pascoal and his team show that astrocytes have an important role in Alzheimer’s disease progression. Learn More
How do patients and families react to an Alzheimer's diagnosis?
Jennifer Lingler leads a $2.1 million NIH-funded study on the psychological and social impact of learning that you or a family member with memory problems has biomarkers for Alzheimer’s disease. Learn More
Friday, February 17, 2023
WoodNext awards $14M to study links between dementia and heart disease
One research group will identify specific proteins that drive neurodegeneration and develop an algorithm to predict risk of dementia based on genetic and clinical parameters. Learn More
Wednesday, December 28, 2022
New blood test detects brain-derived tau linked to Alzheimer’s
Thomas Karikari reports in Brain that the biomarker outperforms current blood tests in the hunt for a diagnostic method for Alzheimer's-specific neurodegeneration without expensive imaging. Learn More
Thursday, December 8, 2022
Genetic vulnerability to ADHD signals later risk of Alzheimer’s
Tharick Pascoal and colleagues found higher polygenic risk scores for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder can predict cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s brain pathophysiology in the elderly. Learn More
Wednesday, October 19, 2022
PNAS: Molecular 'biases' might be exploitable for an Alzheimer's med
Amantha Thathiah's group targets proteins called G protein-coupled receptors, which can modify their activity based on signals received from their environment. Learn More
July 21, 2022
Study challenges dogma behind Alzheimer’s drug trials
Tharick Pascoal reports in Nature Communications that HDAC inhibitors—now in clinical testing against mild Alzheimer’s disease—might be harming rather than helping patients. Learn More
April 29, 2022
Can melatonin help prevent neuron damage associated with dementia?
Robert Friedlander and Amantha Thathiah will use a $200K grant from the Clear Thoughts Foundation to study whether melatonin treatment can increase the survival of brain cells in Alzheimer’s disease Learn More
October 8, 2021
Pitt awarded $40M NIH grant to compare tau tracers for detecting Alzheimer'sT
Tharick Pascoal and colleagues aim to build a scale to align scans that use different tracers, so clinicians can make more informed treatment decisions. Learn More
September 16, 2021
August 26, 2021
Nature Medicine: Brain tissue inflammation drives Alzheimer’s disease
Lead author Tharick Pascoal, MD, PhD, and colleagues show that activation of microglial cells is key to the spread of pathologically misfolded proteins in the brain. Learn More
September 24, 2020
Silva to study blood-brain barrier dysfunction in dementia model
Afonso Silva's team has a $2.6M million grant to investigate the effects of protein aggregation around cerebral blood vessels in a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease. Learn More
Contact
For more information about research and collaboration opportunities, contact Brain Institute Program Director Anita Srikameswaran at AnitaSrikam@pitt.edu.
For more information about making a gift to support the Assault on Alzheimer's effort, contact Sharon Perelman, Brain Institute Chief Strategy Officer, by phone (412-445-9400) or email (SPerelman@pitt.edu).