Alzheimer's Disease & Related Dementias (AD/ADRD)

NIA-designated Alzheimer’s Disease Research Centers (ADRCs) serve as a national resource for research on the nature of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and AD-related dementias (ADRD) and the development of more effective approaches to prevention, diagnosis, care, and therapy. They create shared resources that support dementia-relevant research.

The research in the NES is aimed at investigating the interaction among brain pathologies and risk factors; identifying new risk factors for brain aging; developing new hypotheses about AD based on population research; and translating these factors to relevant public health prevention strategies to prevent brain changes leading to dementia.

The overall goal of the Brain Aging and Behavior Section (BABS) is to improve cognitive outcomes with aging.

Peter Rapp , Ph.D., Chief

Dimitrios Kapogiannis , Principal Investigator

Dan Benjamini, Ph.D ., Chief

The Multiscale Imaging and Integrative Biophysics (MiiB) Unit is dedicated to exploring associations between cognitive function, brain microstructure, and chemistry to deepen our understanding of brain aging and Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Our overarching goal is to map aging progression and its relationship with neurodegenerative diseases by developing and deploying innovative MRI techniques that can "drill down into the voxel," allowing for noninvasive characterization of cellular-level features.

Jyoti Misra Sen, M.Sc., Ph.D., Chief

Research in our laboratory focuses on the effects of chronic systemic inflammation in the manifestation of Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases. In particular, we are interested in understanding the role of immune cells in the brain, the gut and in the traditional peripheral compartments in association with the gut-microbiota in the development of age-related chronic systemic inflammation, cellular senescence and neurodegeneration.

The Multimodal Imaging of Neurodegenerative Disease (MIND) Unit uses multimodal neuroimaging, high-throughput proteomic, and genetic approaches to understand how peripheral immune function, infection, and neuroinflammation influence the development and progression of the brain changes underlying Alzheimer's disease and related dementias. In addition to our investigative efforts, the MIND Unit is committed to achieving several key objectives.

Although rapid strides have been made in understanding the basic biology of Alzheimer's disease (AD), this knowledge has not been translated into earlier diagnosis and/or effective treatments for patients. The overarching goal of research in the Clinical and Translational Neuroscience Section (CTNS) is to comprehensively study the biologic basis of AD pathogenesis in humans.

The Hoffman group combines molecular, biochemical and electrophysiological approaches to investigate the roles of dendritic voltage-gated and neurotransmitter-activated channels in regulating neuronal development and synaptic plasticity in the mammalian hippocampus. To achieve this, the lab comprises an interdisciplinary team with expertise in cellular and molecular biology, biochemistry, electrophysiology, fluorescence imaging and computer modeling. These approaches allow us to assay channel function and regulation at the molecular scale in living cells.