History
Nearly three decades have passed since investigators at New York University School of Medicine began a devoted journey to study the enigma that surrounded Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Since the 1970s, NYU has played a pioneering role in deciphering the pathological origins of this devastating disease, refining its clinical diagnosis and developing novel treatments and therapies. In the 1980s, to capitalize on these groundbreaking developments, NYU brought together a working group of accomplished researchers, and through funding provided by the Silberstein family of New York, a dedicated research entity was formed -- the world-renowned Silberstein Alzheimer's Institute.
As the scope of Alzheimer’s research broadened globally over the years, the Silberstein Alzheimer's Institute remained at the forefront by developing state-of-the-art brain imaging and clinical assessment techniques to enable early clinical diagnosis. Its researchers pioneered the use of sophisticated tools to analyze the living human brain of AD patients and to distinguish anatomical markers for early signs of the disease. Advances toward understanding the genetic and molecular underpinnings of AD and the growing sophistication of technologies to create lab models provided unprecedented opportunities to accelerate the development of effective therapies at the earliest stages of the disease. NYU investigators, then and now, continue to be top-ranked in the areas of clinical assessment and treatment, early diagnosis, genetic/molecular causes and drug discovery.
In order to bring to life a synergy between research and interdisciplinary clinical care, in May 2007, the Silberstein Alzheimer's Institute inaugurated the Pearl Barlow Center for Memory Evaluation and Treatment. NYU was now able to offer a distinguished outpatient operation providing a seamless and integrated approach to the care of memory impairment and age-related brain disorders using state-of-the-art methodologies and innovative psychosocial interventions. A major goal was accomplished: basic science was channeled to the bedside with new drug development and clinical trials emerging from animal research.
Recognizing these historic milestones and unparalleled accomplishments of the Silberstein Alzheimer's Institute under the leadership of Ralph A. Nixon, Ph.D., M.D., in September 2008 NYU Langone Medical Center named the Institute as one of six Centers of Excellence (CoE). Today, the CoE on Brain Aging at NYU Langone Medical Center is a comprehensive and fully-integrated institution, devoted to research and clinical advances toward the treatment and cure of all neurodegenerative diseases affecting cognition, including Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease (PD) and other brain aging conditions. Key priorities for the new Center are research, professional education, community outreach and world-class clinical care.
The millennium has brought about significant tangible advances in the areas of comprehension, prevention and treatment of memory disorders, to a degree of efficacy that would have seemed miraculous only a decade ago. However, the challenge to conquer memory impairment and age-related cognitive decline is greater than ever with the number of elderly expected to reach 85 million in the U.S. by mid-century. To address this expanding and urgent need, NYU Langone will invest significantly in research and clinical care to advance the treatment of age-related memory disorders. However, the foundation remains the determination of NYU individual researchers and clinicians to defeat medicine’s most perplexing neurodegenerative illnesses.
