Mid-January marks the annual tradition of We Back Pat week throughout the Southeastern Conference and women's basketball across the country. While we remember the legacy of legendary Tennessee women's basketball coach Pat Summitt, we also bring awareness to Alzheimer's Disease – the diagnosis she succumbed to in 2016.
During this 12th occasion, we're highlighting the research efforts of the 14 SEC institutions in the space of Alzheimer's and dementia – as we engage in a collaborative approach to advancing in the fight against the disease.
Alabama
Social work and computer science researchers at the University of Alabama are leading a project funded by the National Institute on Aging to further develop a touch-screen technology to improve communication between dementia patients and their caregivers. The work builds on a multi-function app designed to improve communication between physicians providing dementia care and caregivers.
Work in a biology lab at the University of Alabama has shown tiny worms can replicate genetic causes of Alzheimer’s disease, expanding the breadth of preclinical models for the disease. Supported by a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Collaborative Innovation Award, the work builds on UA’s pioneering role in using the microscopic worms inexpensive and rapid testing for a range of neurological diseases, and show humanized worms can be generated to emulate conditions seen in humans with genetic variation in a certain protein common in Alzheimer’s.
The Merrymac-McKinley Foundation supports researchers at the University of Alabama exploring neuroprotective therapy to activate and restore neural function for Alzheimer’s disease by using plant extracts and synthetic nanoparticles. The team searches for natural compounds with neuroprotective qualities and tests their efficacy using nanotechnology screening. The goal is to identify promising candidates for therapies.
Psychology researchers at The University of Alabama are leading a study that tests the notion that increased risk for dementia impacts the brain in convergent hub regions and seeks to identify novel risk factors and protective factors for cognition and brain function. The study is part of a larger lab effort to understand and identify biomarkers of preclinical Alzheimer’s disease intervention.
Arkansas
A research lab headed by Shannon Servoss, associate professor of chemical engineering and director of undergraduate research, focuses on the use of peptoids for treatment of neurological disease. As a potential treatment for Alzheimer's disease, she and her team have designed a peptoid that helps regulate the spread of amyloid beta, which is the main ingredient of the plaque that is found in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s and is believed to be one of the primary causes of the disease. Their studies show that the peptoid greatly reduces aggregation, and also decreases inflammation due to exposure to amyloid beta.
Auburn
Researchers at Auburn University’s Harrison School of Pharmacy are recruiting subjects for a research study on a potential treatment for those with cognitive impairment conditions such as Alzheimer’s and dementia. The treatment uses a compound found naturally in extra-virgin olive oil that could improve those types of conditions.
Led by Dr. Amal Kaddoumi, professor in HSOP’s Department of Drug Discovery and Development, the research centers around oleocanthal, a molecule that appears naturally in extra-virgin olive oil and is a novel preventative treatment for these diseases.
Florida
Growing up in the foothills of the Bavarian Alps, Stefan Prokop imagined he would follow in the footsteps of his father, a homicide detective. Prokop’s interest in analyzing evidence and solving mysteries led him to forensic pathology and, during medical school, into the lab of a prominent researcher in Alzheimer’s disease.
Twenty years later, Prokop stands beneath fluorescent lights in a UF Health lab, a donated brain on the stainless-steel table before him and four medical residents leaning in to see. Now director of the UF Neuromedicine Human Brain and Tissue Bank, Prokop describes telltale signs of Alzheimer’s, such as shrinkage in the frontal lobe and other regions, as he dissects the brain.
A leader in the field of neuropathology, Prokop is among dozens of investigators at the University of Florida hunting for the keys to Alzheimer’s disease, a progressively disabling disorder that afflicts more than 6 million Americans over age 65. That number is projected to grow to 12.7 million by 2050, according to the Alzheimer’s Association. In Florida alone, about 580,000 people currently live with Alzheimer’s, and in just the next five years that number is expected to grow to 720,000.
Georgia
The University of Georgia is advancing research in brain health and neurodegenerative disorders, including Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s research, through the creation of a new research center for brain science and a faculty cluster hiring initiative to recruit interdisciplinary researchers in areas such as neuroscience, epigenetics and bioinformatics.
Tiffany Washington, associate professor and interim director of the UGA School of Social Work’s Ph.D. Program, recently received a 2021 Research Grant Award from the Alzheimer’s Association, providing $150,000 over three years to help improve the quality of life for people living with Alzheimer’s and their caregivers.
The funding will focus on the development of a student-delivered virtual respite program to support family caregivers. The Alzheimer’s Association is the largest nonprofit funder of Alzheimer’s research in the world. The Association is currently investing over $250 million in more than 730 active projects in 39 countries spanning six continents.
Researchers at the University of Georgia’s Regenerative Bioscience Center have used MRI technology to analyze brain activity in swine models to provide insights into the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of Alzheimer's and other neurological disorders.
UGA alumna Cori Bargmann co-chaired planning for the Obama administration's BRAIN (Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies) initiative. The aim of the initiative was to revolutionize understanding of the human mind and uncover new ways to treat, prevent and cure brain disorders like Alzheimer’s.
Kentucky
The University of Kentucky (UK) is home to the Sanders-Brown Center on Aging, one of the first 10 Alzheimer’s Disease Research Centers (ADRCs) funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in 1985. Sanders-Brown has been continuously funded since the designation was launched and has emerged as one of the nation's leading centers on aging.
The infrastructure provided by the ADRC grant, including cores with specialized equipment and expertise, junior scholar support for the next generation of researchers to tackle this devastating problem, seed support for development of new ideas, identification of biomarkers that would predict the disease course and severity, and broad-based access to neuropathology tissue banks has enabled the center to have a global impact.
LSU
In a multi-institution partnership, the LSU School of Social Work (LSU SSW) is pursuing a 5-year, $3.73 million initiative to improve the quality of life for Louisiana residents and families living with Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders, or ADRD. Since its inception in 2014, this federal grant program has approved 92 proposals. The LSU School of Social Work is one of only three social work programs nationally to receive this funding recognition.
Funded by the federal Health Resources and Services Administration, the program titled, Louisiana Geriatrics Workforce Enhancement Program, or LA-GWEP: Improving the Quality of Integrated Primary Care among Persons with Dementia and Caregivers, is committed to enhancing dementia-friendly integrated practice in Louisiana primary care settings; and by doing so, it aims to improve health and wellbeing for Louisianans with ADRD diagnoses and their caregivers. LA-GWEP will offer ADRD and dementia care experts to provide curriculum and experiential training, including the state-certified Dementia Training for Health Professionals program, to medical, nursing and social work practitioners, and to academic faculty and students within these disciplines across south Louisiana.
Ole Miss
The Memory Impairment and Neurodegenerative Dementia (MIND) Center at the University of Mississippi Medical Center is a leader in the search to crack the code of Alzheimer's disease. The MIND Center leads a collaborative study of Alzheimer's risk factors. With access to more than 30 years of data, the MIND Center combines pioneering research, brain imaging and genetic technologies to make discoveries about Alzheimer's, which affects 5 million Americans and more than 40 million people worldwide.)
In August 2021, the MIND Center published a study in Neurology showing that blood tests could be an easier, cheaper way to predict risk of developing dementia than more invasive methods.
The MIND Center is preparing to launch some major studies related to Alzheimer’s Disease in 2022. One is the MIND Center-Mayo Clinic Study of Aging, which will explore the factors that contribute to brain aging and dementia; identify better methods to diagnose and prevent Alzheimer’s disease; and understand the interaction between brain and physical function, such as gait and balance, and how to protect those abilities as we age.
Mississippi State
Faculty, staff and agents in Mississippi State University Extension are leading the educational program Gray for a Day, available in all of the state’s 82 counties to schools, community groups, organizations and individuals. The evidence-based, cutting edge, accessible simulation experience uses an empathy-based approach to help youth and adults understand age-related sensory and functional challenges of older adults, including those with Alzheimer’s and dementia.
Missouri
Both of Andrew Kiselica’s grandfathers developed dementia when he was in graduate school. As Kiselica was going through neuropsychology training in graduate school, he saw his mother’s father become unable to walk or speak due to severe dementia. The University of Missouri researcher said that personal experience has motivated his work to identify and prevent neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s.
Now an assistant professor of health psychology, Kiselica recently finished a study that has resulted in procedures for defining the preclinical stages of Alzheimer’s disease. Since there are no current treatments to reverse the course of Alzheimer’s, this finding can help drug developers identify who could potentially benefit from a future Alzheimer’s treatment before symptoms of cognitive decline start to arise.
Characterized by a buildup of amyloid plaques in the brain, Alzheimer’s is an irreversible disease that leads to memory loss and a decrease in cognitive function. More than 5 million Americans suffer with the brain condition, which is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States. While the causes of Alzheimer’s are not fully understood, scientists believe genetic, lifestyle and environmental factors are involved in the disease’s development.
Now, researchers at the University of Missouri have found that the decline of reproductive hormones due to ovary removal, which is a model of menopause, can reduce cognitive function and potentially play a role in the development of Alzheimer’s disease in women. The findings could help explain why women make up nearly two-thirds of people in the United States with Alzheimer’s disease, although gender is just one of many contributing factors.
South Carolina
South Carolina Professor Melissa Ann Moss’s research focuses on the involvement of protein aggregation in Alzheimer’s disease. One hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease is the senile plaques that accumulate in the brain where they are associated with neuronal loss and in the cerebrovasculature where they may perpetuate stoke. These plaques are composed primarily of the amyloid β-protein (Aβ). Aβ aggregates into fibrils that deposit to yield plaques. Consequently, inhibition of Aβ aggregation has emerged as one therapeutic approach for Alzheimer’s disease.
The focus of the research is to understand this aggregation process and to identify and characterize inhibitors that attenuate Aβ aggregation. Furthermore, the team seeks to determine how various Aβ aggregation products affect both neuronal and vascular cells. Correlating changes in Ab aggregation with cellular effects will assist research efforts to design effective therapeutic agents for Alzheimer’s disease therapy.
Tennessee
The University of Tennessee is creating artificial intelligence to help slow dementia progression. Detection, Care, and Treatment of Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementia is an initiative that brings together researchers and clinicians across the state of Tennessee to conduct research on Alzheimer’s and related dementia. The team is led by Dr. Xiaopeng Zhao in UT’s Tickle College of Engineering who is serving as project director. Research projects include: (1) social robots; (2) mindfulness training; and (3) short-term memory evaluation.
Joel Anderson, professor in UT’s College of Nursing, is researching strategies to reduce caregiver strain and improve the quality of life for the caregiver and their family member with dementia. According to the Alzheimer’s Association, nearly 60 percent of these caregivers rate their emotional stress level as high or very high and almost 40 percent of family caregivers experience depression. Roughly a quarter of the caregivers are millennials, caring for both a family member with dementia and their own children while also working full time. Although Dr. Anderson is still in the analysis stage of this study, he is intrigued with the widespread use of social media as a support mechanism for caregivers of people with dementia.
Dr. Xiaopeng Zhao received a grant from Alzheimer’s Tennessee to conduct research related to giving the brain a “computer workout” to slow the rate of cognitive impairment.
Texas A&M
Texas A&M’s College of Dentistry, in collaboration with the Center for Brain Health, recently investigated the possible link between sleep apnea and the risk of Alzheimer’s disease. In a pilot study published in Geriatrics, researchers analyzed the sleep patterns of participants over the course of a month. Emmet Schneiderman, professor of biomedical sciences at the College of Dentistry and co-author of the study, learned that the maximum breathing rate during uninterrupted sleep can distinguish healthy people from those with cognitive impairment or Alzheimer’s.
Researchers from Texas A&M’s College of Medicine found that 10 weeks of metformin treatment on animal models, starting in late middle age, was sufficient to maintain better cognitive and memory function in old age, thus helping prevent age-related cognitive problems. The results of the study, published in the journal Aging Cell, show potential evidence for metformin to be used as an anti-aging drug in the non-diabetic population.
Shuiwang Ji, associate professor in the College of Engineering at Texas A&M, is a principal investigator on a $6 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to develop artificial intelligence-driven methods to automate the process of finding subtle telltale signs of Alzheimer’s disease in neuroimaging data.
Vanderbilt
During the course of more than two years—from summer 2017 through fall 2019—52 healthy volunteers checked into the Vanderbilt Institute for Clinical and Translational Research at Vanderbilt University Medical Center to participate in a clinical trial. There they each swallowed a single capsule and underwent three-and-a-half days of around-the-clock blood tests, EKGs and other close medical monitoring, including cognitive testing. The volunteers who were not randomly assigned to receive a placebo were the first humans to ingest VU319, an investigational drug product developed by Vanderbilt researchers to target one of medicine’s most bedeviling challenges: improving memory loss in people with Alzheimer’s disease.
Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center have discovered a nanoparticle released from cells, called a “supermere,” which contains enzymes, proteins and RNA associated with multiple cancers, cardiovascular disease, Alzheimer’s disease and even COVID-19.
The discovery, reported in Nature Cell Biology, is a significant advance in understanding the role extracellular vesicles and nanoparticles play in shuttling important chemical “messages” between cells, both in health and disease.
A new $2.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health is enabling Vanderbilt University chemist Renã A.S. Robinson to expand her research on racial disparities in Alzheimer’s and other diseases. Robinson, an associate professor of chemistry and Dorothy J. Wingfield Phillips Chancellor Faculty Fellow, is the co-principal investigator on the R01 grant, which is designed to develop and test recruiting materials aimed at encouraging older African Americans to participate in Alzheimer’s research.
An electrical and computer engineering professor has received a $2.6 million NIH grant to improve the understanding of structural changes in the brains of people who have Alzheimer’s Disease.
The goal is to identify opportunities for early intervention by developing more effective interventional strategies.
Bennett Landman, who chairs the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, leads the four-year project.