The Mix: UAB Expert Speaks at Neuroscience 2012 of experimental drug therapies for Parkinson's disease

October 15, 2012 -  Patients with Parkinson's die at twice the rate of those without the disease.

For these reasons, researchers have been urgently seeking for years to understand Parkinson's to the point where they can begin to design drugs that go beyond symptom relief to counter the inflammation and nerve cell death at the disease's root. Read More...

Li Wins Aging Award

July 11, 2012—The UAB Center for Aging has awarded Zhiyong Li a $2,000 Scholarship for the 2012-2013 academic year.  Li's proposal “Effect of Partial Tau Reduction in Aged Mice: Tau Reduction as Treatment for Alzheimers Disease," was favorably reviewed by the committee and deemed worthy of support.

Join us in congratulating Li!

Li is a graduate student in the lab of Dr. Erik Roberson, Assistant Professor in the Department of Neurology.

First Annual CNET Retreat
February 27, 2012—The First Annual CNET Retreat took place in February 2012.  As the first of many future retreats, the inaugural meeting was a huge success. The morning focus was on neuroinflammation in neurodegeneration while the afternoon focused on translating neurodegeneration research to the clinic. In addition to the 14 speakers that gave excellent presentations, another 23 research posters were presented. The meeting gave an opportunity to advanced graduate students and post-docs to refine their presentation skills and meet with experts in the field, both within UAB, and world-wide renowned experts outside of UAB.

The meeting was also instrumental in visualizing a proposal in Parkinson's disease research that was recently sent to the NIH for review in the summer of 2012.

The meeting was organized by Andrew West, poster presentations by Talene Yacoubian, and Katherine Belue coordinated logistics. See full conference agenda.

 ReWired: Neuroscience Article - B-Metro Magazine
November 27, 2011—UAB neurologists and neurosurgeons discuss the human brain as the final frontier.

Marson to be president-elect of NAN
November 24, 2011—Dan Marson, Ph.D., J.D., professor of neurology and director of UAB’s Division of Neuropsychology, is the 2012 president-elect for the National Academy of Neuropsychology.

Board Appoints Standaert To Endowed Neurology Chair
November 7, 2011—The University of Alabama System Board of Trustees appointed David G. Standaert, M.D., Ph.D., to the John N. Whitaker Endowed Chair in Neurology in the UAB School of Medicine during its meeting Nov. 3, 2011. Standaert joined UAB in 2006.

UAB Inaugural Member of New NIH Neuroscience Research Network
October 6, 2011—The University of Alabama at Birmingham has been named one of 25 inaugural members of NeuroNEXT, a neuroscience research consortium created to rapidly advance new treatments for neurological disorders. NeuroNEXT is sponsored by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, one of the National Institutes of Health.

"NeuroNEXT is a conduit for translational research - taking new discoveries from the laboratory bench and translating them into therapies for patients," said L. Burt Nabors, M.D., professor of neurology and principal investigator for UAB. "The network should speed the process and make it easier to launch clinical trials of promising new medications and more quickly gauge their effectiveness."

Network members will meet regularly to chart the course of neuroscience research across the nation. Member institutions will be able to join trials proposed by others in NeuroNEXT, which will help create the critical mass of patients needed to quickly and efficiently determine if a new therapy is working.