THE CENTER FOR DEMENTIA RESEARCH (CDR)
Director: Ralph A. Nixon, M.D., Ph.D.

The Center for Dementia Research is a consortium of independent laboratories and research programs at the Nathan Kline Institute (NKI) dedicated to studies on the pathogenesis, diagnosis, and treatment of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and related disorders. A major emphasis of the center is "translational" research, which is aimed at understanding the molecular basis of Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and other neurodegenerative states. Based on this knowledge, accurate laboratory models are developed, which are then used to devise new strategies for treatment and early diagnosis. Center investigators are currently active in some of the first studies identifying cholesterol lowering drugs and estrogens as potential Alzheimer therapies; they are also evaluating b-amyloid "vaccine" approaches and other b-amyloid-depletion strategies for Alzheimer treatment. Collaborations in the center with researchers at NKI's Center for Advanced Brain Imaging (CABI) (Joseph A. Helpern, Ph.D.) have yielded the first images of the brain in transgenic mice modeling the pathology of Alzheimer's disease. The sensitive detection of pathology in these models provides the basis for new neuro-imaging approaches to characterize patients with mild cognitive impairment or Alzheimer's disease. Pre-clinical research activities interface with the Center's Geriatric Research Program (Dr. Nunzio Pomara, M.D.) focusing on the evaluation of more effective pharmacological strategies for treating Alzheimer's disease and identifying biomarkers of therapeutic response.

The Center currently comprises some 70 staff members. Ralph A. Nixon, Ph.D., M.D. is the Director of the Center for Dementia Research, and he is also Professor of Psychiatry and Cell Biology and Vice Chairman of the Department of Psychiatry at New York University School of Medicine. The research in several of the laboratory groups in the center is highlighted below. Newer faculty of the center include Suzana Petanceska, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, who is studying how hormones and cholesterol-lowering drugs act in the brain to protect brain cells and thereby reduce the risk for Alzheimer's disease. Ephrat Levy, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Psychiatry, is developing new laboratory models to investigate the important contribution of the brain's circulatory system in promoting Alzheimer's disease.