Director: Daniel Marson, PhD
Established: 1991
The Alzheimer’s
Disease Center is dedicated to alleviating the morbidity and mortality
associated with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and related disorders and to improve
the quality of life of families and patients with Alzheimer’s disease and
related disorders through clinical treatment, research, and education. The Center has 32 appointed faculty
representing 14 departments and 4 schools at UAB.
Center Research
Both clinical and basic science
research are represented in the Alzheimer’s Disease
Center. Basic science studies are
devoted to understanding the basic neuropathology of AD through studies of cell
death (apoptosis), signal transduction, lipid and protein metabolism, amyloid
production and metabolism, tau metabolism, neuronal plasticity, and the
genetics of Alzheimer’s. Clinical
studies are examining the treatment of AD with different pharmaceutical agents,
caregiver interventions to ease the burden of AD, driving with AD, the capacity
of AD patients to make decisions regarding medical and financial issues, the
genetics of psychosis in AD, the functional capacity of patients with Mild
Cognitive Impairment (thought to be a prodromal stage of AD), and the use of
newer clinical tools for diagnosing AD.
Achievements
The majority of the faculty within
the Alzheimer’s Disease Center are supported through
federal funding for their research efforts into AD. Several faculty have
received national attention in Newsweek Magazine for their research
activities. A Seminar series is held
monthly where both clinical and basic scientists from the UAB community and
beyond report on their research findings.
In addition, a quarterly newsletter regarding Center activities has just
been published.
For additional information:
Director: Daniel Marson, PhD
Phone: 205-934-3847
Administrator: Cathy Simmons
Email: cschaeff@uab.edu
Phone: 205-934-0946
Approved by: Lindy E.
Harrell, MD, PhD, Former Director
Date: May 4, 2006 (Update requested)
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