Center for Dementia Research News
Dr. Ralph Nixon receives the Gold Oskar Fischer Prize
June 8, 2022
Dr. Ralph Nixon has been awarded the prestigious "Gold Oskar Fischer Prize" for his contributions to our understanding of the biological mechanisms underlying Alzheimer’s disease. Dr. Nixon has been a pioneer and leader for decades in moving the field beyond the “amyloid model” of Alzheimer’s disease. Dr. Nixon has made invaluable contributions to the research on Alzheimer’s disease and perspectives for future research.
Latest Study from the Nixon Lab Challenges Decades Old Theory
June 2, 2022
“Evidence mounts for alternate origins of Alzheimer's disease plaque,” is the title of the recent article in Science Daily. The article, which quotes Ju-Hyun Lee and Ralph Nixon, lead authors of the open access paper featured in the June 2022 issue of Nature Neuroscience, reports on the important new study that challenges the decades old amyloid cascade hypothesis and could explain why drugs designed to remove amyloid deposits have failed to stop disease.
Nature Neuroscience Cover Article Features Significant Research by Ju-Hyun Lee and Nixon Lab Members
June 2, 2022
A new open access paper titled, “Faulty autolysosome acidification in Alzheimer’s disease mouse models induces autophagic build-up of Aβ in neurons, yielding senile plaques,” published in Nature Neuroscience by lead investigator Ju-Hyun Lee, Center for Dementia Research Director Ralph Nixon, and colleagues presents the latest evidence from the Nixon Lab challenging the prevailing theory of how Alzheimer’s disease originates. This cutting-edge research suggests that Alzheimer’s disease develops due to lysosomal dysfunction within cells, causing waste buildup which is a precursor to the extracellular amyloid plaques characteristic of Alzheimer’s. The paper, which is featured on the cover of the June issue of Nature Neuroscience, is also highlighted in an Alzforum piece titled, “Behold PANTHOS, a Toxic Wreath of Perinuclear Aβ That Kills Neurons,” which has received numerous comments. Besides Lee and Nixon, other CDR and NKI study investigators involved in this research are Dun-Sheng Yang, Chris Goulbourne, Eunju Im, Philip Stavrides, Ann Pensalfini, Cynthia Bleiwas, Martin Berg, Chunfeng Huo, James Peddy, Monika Pawlik, Efrat Levy, and Mala Rao.
Alzforum Features Findings reported in Science Advances by Pearl Lie and Colleagues in the Nixon Lab
May 2022
The Alzforum website recently highlighted research by the Nixon Lab in an article titled, “Presenilin Mutations Stall Endosomal Transport, Swell Axons.” The news story posted on May 5, is based on the recent study led by Pearl Lie, “Axonal transport of late endosomes and amphisomes is selectively modulated by local Ca2+ efflux and disrupted by PSEN1 loss of function,” published in Science Advances. Two written comments commending the research appeared on the Alzforum site the same day. Grace Stutzman, of Rosalind Franklin University/The Chicago Medical School commented that “This study stands out as a needed piece in the cell biology puzzle of AD.” The second comment by Hagit Eldar-Finkelman, of Tel Aviv University, posted that “an important aspect of this work is its broad implications to neurodegenerative disorders, linking acidification failure in the lysosome pathway with axonal dystrophy.”
Science Advances Publishes New Research by the Nixon Lab
April 2022
The April 28 edition of Sciences Advances features a new paper by Pearl Lie and Nixon Lab researchers titled, “Axonal transport of late endosomes and amphisomes is selectively modulated by local Ca2+ efflux and disrupted by PSEN1 loss of function.”This groundbreaking research defines a mechanism linking dysfunction and mistrafficking in lysosomal pathways to neuritic dystrophy under neurodegenerative conditions. Lab members Pearl P. Y. Lie (first author), Lang Yoo (co-first author), Chris N. Goulbourne, Martin J. Berg, Philip Stavrides, Chunfeng Huo, Ju-Hyun Lee, and Ralph A. Nixon are co-authors of the study.
Nasca Epigenetics and System Neuroscience Lab Established in the CDR
March 2022
Carla Nasca, PhD is heading a new research lab at the CDR. The Epigenetics and System Neuroscience Laboratory is working on an innovative model of epigenetic mechanisms of neuroplasticity. Dr. Nasca's research has been recognized with awards from the Blavatnik Foundation for Innovative Research, the Hope for Depression Research Foundation, the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, the Brain and Behavior Research Foundation and the Falk Foundation for Transformative Research.
Promotion for the CDR’s Ying Jiang
February 2022
New York - Dr. Ying Jiang from the Center for Dementia Research has been promoted to Research Scientist 4 after a peer review by the Office of Mental Health. Dr. Jiang started her career at the CDR in 1997 where she has dedicated herself to the research and study of Alzheimer’s and other neurological diseases. In 2005, she was appointed Clinical Instructor at the NYU School of Medicine, followed by a promotion to Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry. Dr. Jiang has co-authored over 30 peer reviewed-journal publications, including multiple highly cited publications as first author. She is the co-applicant of a 2002 approved patent and, as a co-investigator on NIH grants, she has generated findings that continue to be fundamental to the successful awarding of research grants to the CDR.
The staff at the CDR congratulate Dr. Jiang on her promotion and significant contributions over the past 24 years.
Neurobiology of Disease Selects Lisgaras Research for Upcoming Cover
February 2022
New York - Dr. Christos Lisgaras, Postdoctoral Research Scientist in the CDR’s Scharfman Lab, recently submitted his new research to Neurobiology of Disease. The article, titled “Robust chronic convulsive seizures, high frequency oscillations, and human seizure onset patterns in an intrahippocampal kainic acid model in mice,” was accepted and a slide of his research showing an epilepsy biomarker will grace the cover of the upcoming May issue. Highlights of his new research shows the implementation of the Intrahippocampal kainic acid (IHKA) model led to robust chronic spontaneous convulsive seizures in mice that were synchronized in both hippocampi and two cortical sites. These convulsive seizures fit low-voltage fast (LVF) or hypersychronous (HYP) seizures found in human temporal lobe epilepsy. Notably, seizure duration consistently increased with time even if frequency did not, suggesting progressively worse epilepsy depending on the type of measurement of seizures. Non-convulsive seizures were also evident but were less frequent than convulsive seizures. Interestingly, seizures did not appear to be focal, as they were not confined to one electrode (such as the site where IHKA was infused).
Dr. Helen Scharfman Comments on Alzforum
February 2022
New York - Dr. Helen Scharfman of the CDR posts a comment on February 9 regarding “BDNF Val66Met Hastens Tau Phosphorylation in Familial Alzheimer’s.” Dr. Scharfman’s commentary can be seen on the Alzforum website, a resource dedicated to helping researchers accelerate discovery and advance development of diagnostics and treatments for Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders
Dr. Helen Scharfman Appointed to the Scientific Advisory Board for Science Translational Medicine
February 2022
New York - Dr. Helen Scharfman, head of the Scharfman Lab at the Center for Dementia Research has been appointed to the Scientific Advisory Board for Science Translational Medicine. She is also a Neuroscience Reviewing Editor at eLife and Review Editor at Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience. In addition, Dr. Scharfman is on the Editorial Board of Experimental Neurology and is a Review Editor of Frontiers in Neuroscience – Neurogenesis. As of 2022, Dr. Scharfman has also taken on the responsibilities of Section Editor of Neurophysiology and Translation at Hippocampus.
Lisgaras Joins Committees of International League Against Epilepsy
February 2022
New York - Dr. Christos Lisgaras of the CDR has been invited to serve on three committees of the International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE). These committees focus on Leadership Development, Scientific Program Innovation, and Career Development, all part of the ILAE’s mission of working towards a world where no persons' life is limited by Epilepsy.
Lisgaras on Epilepsy Sparks Podcast and Speaks at EAEEG Virtual Conference
February 2022
New York - Dr. Christos Lisgaras, a research scientist and post-doctoral fellow from the Scharfman Lab at the CDR was recently interviewed for the Epilepsy Sparks podcast by Torie Robinson, an epilepsy advocate in the UK who speaks widely about epilepsy and mental health. In the interview that appeared on February 3rd and can be accessed on YouTube, Lisgaras talks about his epilepsy research, sharing results data, his passion for helping other young people develop their careers in the field of epileptology, and communicating effectively with a person with epilepsy. He also spoke of his recent discoveries linking the epilepsies and Alzheimer's. On February 12, Lisgaras virtually presented at the Eastern Association of Electroencephalographers (EAEEG) conference. His talk, titled Robust chronic convulsive seizures, high frequency oscillations, and human seizure onset patterns in an intrahippocampal kainic acid model in mice,” is also the title of a recently published open access paper co-authored with Dr. Helen Scharfman. The paper appears in the January 26 online edition of Neurobiology of Disease.
Dr. Paul Mathews and CDR Colleagues Publish an Open Access Paper
February 2022
New York – Dr. Paul Mathews, head of the Mathews Lab at the Center for Dementia Research, along with CDR colleagues recently published an open access paper in Neurobiology of Aging. The article, titled “Expression and proteolytic processing of the amyloid precursor protein is unaffected by the expression of the three human apolipoprotein E alleles in the brains of mice,” appears in the February edition.
Dr. Carla Nasca Presents Poster at ACNP Annual Meeting
December 2021
New York – Dr. Carla Nasca, head of the Nasca Lab at the Center for Dementia Research presented a poster at the 60th Annual Meeting of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ACNP) held in December in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The poster, titled “Ketamine and acetyl-L-Carnitine: Mechanisms of the Rapid Regulation of Ventral Hippocampal Plasticity,” was presented at the December 15 Virtual Poster Presentation.
Lisgaras Receives AES Fellows Program Award
December 2021
New York - Dr. Christos Lisgaras, a research scientist in the Scharfman Lab at the Center for Dementia Research and a member of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders, has received a Fellows Program Award to attend and present at the American Epilepsy Society (AES) 2021 Annual Meeting. The annual AES meeting held on December 3-7, 2021, in Chicago, Illinois, brings together professionals from around the world who are involved in research and clinical care for people with epilepsy.
Scharfman Co-Authors Paper in Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience
November 2021
New York – Dr. Helen Scharfman, head of the Scharfman Lab at the CDR, has co-authored a paper titled, “New Insights and Methods for Recording and Imaging Spontaneous Spreading Depolarizations and Seizure-Like Events in Mouse Hippocampal Slices.” The article is published in the November 26 edition of Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience.
CDR Director Receives The Leonard Litwin Scholar Award
November 2021
New York - Dr. Ralph Nixon, Director of the Center for Dementia Research, has been selected as the first recipient of The Leonard Litwin Scholar Award that was introduced in 2021 as a means of supporting scientists who have demonstrated commitment to the advancement of research in Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The award, funded through New Vision Research, recognizes Dr. Nixon’s significant contribution to the AD research field and provides funding for his research on the molecular basis of synapse failure in Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias.
Dr. Ralph Nixon Co-Chairs Society for Neuroscience 2021 – Virtual Symposia: Emerging Roles of the Lysosome in Neurodegenerative Disease
November 2021
New York - Dr. Ralph Nixon, Director of the Center for Dementia Research, co-chaired the SfN 2021 Virtual Symposia and presented on the Genetic basis for lysosomal dysregulation in Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders. The pre-recorded presentation was live streamed and on-demand throughout the month of November to all virtual attendees. Dr. Nixon concluded his participation with a Live Q&A answering questions from the audience.
New Post-Doc Joins the Nixon Lab
October 2021
New York - Dr. Kuldeep Sachdeva, PhD, joins the Nixon Lab as a postdoctoral Assistant Research Scientist. Kuldeep completed his undergraduate studies in Biotechnology at the Kurukshetra University in India followed by a master’s degree in Molecular Biology and Biotechnology at CCS Haryana Agriculture University (CCSHAU). For his PhD, he joined the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS | TIFR) at Bengaluru, India in 2014. While there, under the supervision of Dr. Varadharajan Sundaramurthy, Kuldeep investigated modulations in the host Endo-Lysosomal network upon Mycobacterium tuberculosis (the tuberculosis disease-causing pathogen) infection in both in vitro and in vivo model systems.
Collaboration Brings Additional Grants to the CDR
October 2021
New York - Dr. Stephen Ginsberg, Research Scientist and head of the Ginsberg Lab at the CDR, in collaboration with Dr. Gabriela Chiosis at Sloan-Kettering Institute for Cancer Research, receives an Research Project (R01) grant from the National Institute on Aging titled, "Impact of Sex Differences on the Trajectory of Interactome Dysfunctions Across the AD Spectrum". The collaborators also received a one-year R56 titled, "Selective interactome vulnerability across the Alzheimer’s disease spectrum," earlier this year.
Banner Year for CDR’s Melissa Alldred
October 2021
New York - Melissa Alldred, PhD began her career at NKI in 2005 as a postdoctoral fellow in Dr. Stephen Ginsberg’s lab. She now holds the joint titles of Research Scientist in the Center for Dementia Research at NKI and Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at New York University School of Medicine. Melissa’s banner year saw four first author papers accepted for publication along with two collaborative publications. Melissa’s first 2021 publication, co-authored with the CDR’s Drs. Stephen Ginsberg and Panos Roussos and others, titled, "Profiling Basal Forebrain Cholinergic Neurons Reveals a Molecular Basis for Vulnerability Within the Ts65Dn Model of Down Syndrome and Alzheimer’s Disease,” appears in Molecular Neurobiology. This is her first RNA sequencing publication, which led to publishing in Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience. On another research front, Melissa was recruited by Dr. Lotta Granholm to collaboratively guest edit a special issue on Down Syndrome and Aging for the Journal of Clinical Medicine. Melissa’s own original research contributed to this special issue. As if that were not enough, Melissa also contributed to two publications by co-CDR members: Dr. Pasquale D’Acunzo’s publication from Dr. Efrat Levy’s lab in Science Advances (“Mitovesicles are a novel population of extracellular vesicles of mitochondrial origin altered in Down syndrome”); and from Dr. Paul Mathews’ lab, Mariah Novy’s accepted publication in Neurobiology of Aging (“Expression and proteolytic processing of the amyloid precursor protein in the brain is unaltered by apolipoprotein E genotype”).
CDR Director Co-Authors Neuropsychopharmacology Article
August 2021 New York - Dr. Ralph Nixon, Head of the Nixon Lab and Director of the CDR, coauthors a Hot Topics article titled, “Disease-modifying pharmacological approaches to correcting basal forebrain cholinergic neuronal (BFCN) dysfunction and degeneration,” which appeared in Neuropsychopharmacology.
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Flower blossoms in brain of Alzheimer's disease mouse model August 2021 |
Recent Paper Featured in Multiple News Outlets
July 2021
New York - Dr. Stephen Ginsberg, head of the Ginsberg Lab at the CDR, is a corresponding author of a paper recently published in the Cell Press open science journal iScience. The paper titled,
"Effects of early-life penicillin exposure on the gut microbiome and frontal cortex and amygdala gene expression," was featured in news outlets such as SciTechDaily and Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News.
Scharfman Lab Scientist, Christos Lisgaras, Publishes in Neuroscience
July 2021
New York - Dr. Christos Lisgaras, a Research Scientist in Dr. Helen Scharfman’s lab at the CDR, co-authored “Region- specific Effects of Early- life Status Epilepticus on the Adult Hippocampal CA3 - Medial Entorhinal Cortex Circuitry In vitro: Focus on Interictal Spikes and Concurrent High- frequency Oscillations.” The paper recently appeared in the July issue of Neuroscience.
“White matter and human behavior,” a Perspective Piece
June 2021
New York – Panos Roussos co-authors a paper titled, “Common genetic variation influencing human white matter microstructure,” published in the June issue of Science. Dr. Roussos, a scientist with the CDR, accompanied the paper with a perspective piece titled “White matter and human behavior.”
The CDR’s Dr.Stephen Ginsberg Authors Emerging Methods and Technologies Paper
May 2021
New York - Research Scientist, Dr. Stephen Ginsberg is listed as the first author of “Disease- specific interactome alterations via epichaperomics: the case for Alzheimer's,” a paper published in the May 2021 edition of the FEBS Journal.
CDR Members Publish an Open Access Paper
April 2021
New York - Members of the Center for Dementia Research publish their latest open access paper in Cell Reports. The paper, titled “Post- Golgi carriers, not lysosomes, confer lysosomal properties to pre-degradative organelles in normal and dystrophic axons,” is the result of the work by Dun-Sheng Yang, Philip Stavrides, Chris Goulbourne, P. Zheng, Panaiyur Mohan and A.M. Cataldo, led by Pearl Lie and Ralph Nixon.
Levy Lab Scientist, Pasquale D’Acunzo, Co-authors Paper
April 2021
New York – The April 2021 edition of Nature magazine includes a submission co-authored by Dr. Pasquale D’Acunzo, a CDR Scientist working out of the Levy Lab. Dr. D’Acunzo’s paper is titled “AMBRA1 regulates cyclin D to guard S-phase entry and genomic integrity.”
CDR Director – A Regular Contributor to AD News Website
April 2021
New York –Founded in 1996, Alzforum provides news and information resources dedicated to helping researchers accelerate discovery and advance development of diagnostics and treatments for Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders. Dr. Ralph Nixon, a regular contributor to the Alzforum site, recently posted a commentary about intriguing leads in AD research that will yield improved definition of the disease-related biological pathways.
Research Fellowship Prize Awarded to Dr. Eunju Im
April 2021
New York - Dr. Eunju Im, a Research Scientist from the Nixon Lab, has been selected as the recipient of the prestigious Research Fellowship Prize awarded by The Society of New York Korean Biologist (NYKB). Dr. Im will receive her award and present at the upcoming 13th Annual Conference of NYKB. The annual conference is held to promote active scientific collaboration, networking, and career development of Korean and Korean American scientists in the New York area.
CDR Scientists Provide an Open Access Review in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences
April 2021
New York - A new review by Drs. Basavaraj Balapal and Subbanna Shivakumar appears in the international, peer-reviewed, open access International Journal of Molecular Sciences. The review, titled “Histone Methylation Regulation in Neurodegenerative Disorders,” discusses findings, along with clinical data, that may provide links between molecular-level changes and behavioral differences and provide novel avenues through which the epigenome may be targeted early on in people at risk for neurodegenerative disorders.
Dr. Roussos Publishes in Biological Psychiatry
March 2021
New York – Dr. Panagiotis Roussos, CDR Scientist, recently publishes “Sex Differences in the Human Brain Transcriptome of Cases with Schizophrenia.” The paper, where Dr. Roussos is listed as the principal author, appears in the March 2021 edition of Biological Psychiatry.
Masuo Ohno Aims to Explore a Cognitive Paradigm that Allows More Sensitivity to Detect Beneficial Effects of BACE1 Inhibitors in Presymptomatic AD.
March 2021
New York - Head of the Ohno Lab at the CDR, Dr. Masuo Ohno, publishes a brief report in the open access journal Neuropsychopharmacol Reports (the official publication of the Japanese Society of Neuropsychopharmacology). The report, titled “Accelerated long-term forgetting is a BACE1 inhibitor-reversible incipient cognitive phenotype in Alzheimer's disease model mice,” provides experimental evidence that accelerated long-term forgetting represents more sensitive memory testing that can help evaluate BACE1 inhibitor therapy in presymptomatic AD populations.
Levy Lab Scientists Present at AD/PD 2021
March 2021
New York - Pasquale D'Acunzo, PhD and Yohan Kim, PhD, Scientific Researchers from Efrat Levy’s lab at the CDR, each presented on their research at the 15th International Conference on Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Diseases and Related Neurological Disorders (AD/PD™ 2021). You can read about their presentations in the conference report published in Extracellular Vesicles and Circulating Nucleic Acids.
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Journal of Neuroscience Selects Cover Image from Article Co-authored by Dr.Helen ScharfmanMarch 2021New York – An article by Justin Botterill, Helen Scharfman, head of the Scharfman Lab at the CDR, and NKI colleagues Catia Teixeira and John LaFrancois, titled “Bidirectional Regulation of Cognitive and Anxiety-like Behaviors by Dentate Gyrus Mossy Cells in Male and Female Mice,” appears in the March 2021 issue of Journal of Neuroscience. A confocal image submitted with the article, rendered as an oil painting, was selected for the March cover. The image depicts the hippocampal dentate gyrus, with the primary excitatory cell type, the dentate granule cells, in blue. Hilar mossy cells and their axons were labelled using a viral method shown in red. (Cover image: Justin Botterill). |
Science Advances Publishes Piece by CDR & NKI Colleagues
February 2021
New York – A recent article published in the open access journal Sciences Advances, titled “Mitovesicles are a novel population of extracellular vesicles of mitochondrial origin,” is the work of CDR Research Scientists Pasquale D’Acunzo and Efrat Levy, along with a number of NKI colleagues (Yohan Kim, Melissa Alldred, Monika Pawlik, Mariko Saito, Stephen Ginsberg and Chris Goulbourne).
Ginsberg Lab Makes the Case for Imaris Software
December 2020
New York – Megan Gautier and Dr. Stephen Ginsberg of the CDR’s Ginsberg recently published their latest paper in the Journal of Neuroscience Methods. They describe a method for quantification of immunolabeled early endosomes within transmitter-identified basal forebrain cholinergic neurons (BFCNs) using 3-dimensional (3D) reconstructed confocal z-stacks employing Imaris software. The article, titled “A method for quantification of vesicular compartments within cells using 3D reconstructed confocal z- stacks: Comparison of ImageJ and Imaris to count early endosomes within basal forebrain cholinergic neurons,”discusses superior image resolution and detailed algorithms offered by Imaris to make precise and rigorous quantification of individual early endosomes dispersed throughout a BFCN in 3D space readily achievable.
Latest Research from Nixon Lab Suggests Rab5 Overactivation as a Potential Therapeutic Target
November 2020
New York – New research from the lab of CDR Director, Ralph Nixon, is published in an open access paper in Cell Reports. The article, titled “Endosomal Dysfunction Induced by Directly Overactivating Rab5 Recapitulates Prodromal and Neurodegenerative Features of Alzheimer's,” is the result of research by lead author Dr. Anna Pensalfini and other collaborators from the CDR and NKI.
Dr. Panagiotis Roussos awarded the American College of Neuropsychophamacology's Joel Elkes Award!
November 2020
New York - Dr. Panagiotis Roussos, CDR Research Scientist and Professor of Genetics and Genomic Sciences, Psychiatry from Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai receives the Joel Elkes Research Award from the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology. The ACNP presents the Joel Elkes Research Award to a young scientist in recognition of an outstanding clinical contribution to neuropsychopharmacology. Of particular interest in selecting the awardee are contributions that further our understanding of self-regulatory processes as they affect mental function and behavior in disease and well-being.
Dr. Sandeep Malampati Joins the Dr. Ralph Nixon’s Lab
October 2020
New York – Research Scientist Sandeep Malampati made his way to the Nixon Lab at the Center for Dementia Research at NKI via India and China. Sandeep earned his bachelor’s degree in pharmacy and a master’s degree in pharmacology from The Tamil Nadu Dr. M.G.R. Medical University in Chennai, India. He began his career in research at the drug discovery research wing of Orchid Pharma Ltd in India. Sandeep relocated to China to attend Hong Kong Baptist University where he would obtain his Ph.D. in Neuroscience – Translational Medicine by examining the efficacy of a small molecule TFEB activator in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) experimental models for the autophagic clearance of AD pathological proteins and for restoring the behavioral impairment observed in AD. Sandeep joined Dr. Ralph Nixon’s lab as a postdoctoral fellow in October 2020.
Ohno Receives NIH Grant
September 2020
New York – Dr. Masuo Ohno, Project Investigator at the CDR, receives an R21 grant, titled “Synergy between BACE1 Inhibitors and Memantine for Alzheimer’s Disease Therapy.” The project will test the focused hypothesis that a combination of BACE1 inhibitors and memantine (an FDA-approved NMDA receptor antagonist drug) may complement each monotherapy to provide synergistic benefits and allow for lower doses of the individual drugs to avoid the side effect.
CDR NIH Supplements Finance Beckman Coulter MoFlo Astrios EQ Cell Sorter Purchase
August 2020
New York –Dr. Ralph Nixon and Dr. Efrat Levy from the Center for Dementia Research, each receive administrative supplements to existing NIH awards. The funding was the result of a collaborative effort by the two researchers to the purchase a Beckman Coulter MoFlo Astrios EQ Cell Sorter. The Cell Sorter is equipped with 4 lasers (405nm, 488nm, 561nm, 640nm) and 14 fluorescent color capability allowing researchers to analyze biological samples ranging in size from 0.2um to 30um.
Nixon Comments on Alzforum
August 2020
New York – CDR Director and Research Scientist, Dr. Ralph Nixon, provides a commentary on a primary paper on the Alzheimer’s research site Alzforum. Dr.Nixon closes the commentary by stating that “it will be interesting to know whether presenilin1 phosphorylation is physiologically regulated in neurons or glial subtypes and to establish whether autophagy/lysosomal functions in microglia are impaired in PSEN1 FAD, as predicted.”
Levy Lab Members Co-author “Roles of Extracellular Vesicles in Alzheimer’s Disease”
August 2020
New York - Efrat Levy and Levy lab members Rocio Pérez-González, Yohan Kim, and Chelsea Miller co-author a paper on the roles of brain extracellular vesicles (EVs) in the development of Alzheimer's disease (AD). The paper, titled “Extracellular vesicles: where the amyloid precursor protein carboxyl-terminal fragments accumulate and amyloid-β oligomerizes,” was published in the August 9, 2020 FASEB Journal.
CDR Investigator Collaborates to Co-author Paper
June 2020
New York – Dr. Stephen Ginsberg, Scientist and head of the Ginsberg Lab at the CDR, teams up with fellow NKI collaborators, Andrea Balla and Henry Sershen of Neurochemistry, and Daniel Javitt of Schizophrenia Research, to pen a paper appearing in Biomarkers in Neuropsychiatry, an online journal. The article, titled "Translational neurophysiological biomarkers of N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor dysfunction in serine racemase knockout mice,” appears in the June 2020 edition and concludes that the development of NMDAR-based biomarkers and animal models for translational research in Schizophrenia remains an important priority area of research.
Dr. Ralph Nixon Publishes a New Review on Lysosomes
May 2020
New York – Dr. Ralph Nixon, Director of the CDR, recently published an article titled, “The aging lysosome: An essential catalyst for late-onset neurodegenerative,” in the May 13, 2020 edition of Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) – Proteins and Proteomics. Dr. Nixon discusses how he and his researchers in the Nixon Lab are considering the impact of cellular aging on lysosomes and how the changes during aging may create the tipping point for disease emergence in major late-age onset neurodegenerative disorders. “This is the result of the additional cellular roles played by intraluminal pH in sensing nutrient and stress and modulating cellular signaling which have further expanded the possible ways that lysosomal pH dysregulation in aging and disease can disrupt neuronal function,” according to Dr. Nixon.
Dr.Paul Mathews and Dr.Ralph Nixon Co-author Paper Appearing in Brain
May 2020
New York – The article, “Neurofilaments: neurobiological foundations for biomarker applications,”co-authored by two CDR researchers, Dr.Paul Mathews and Dr.Ralph Nixon, and others, appears in the May 14, 2020 edition of Brain. In the article, the researchers discuss how they will review the neurobiology of neurofilament proteins, explore emerging understanding of the mechanisms of neurofilament degradation and clearance, as well as review new methods for future elucidation of the kinetics of their turnover in humans. Primary roles of neurofilaments in the pathogenesis of human diseases are also described.
Dr.Ju-Hyun Lee & Members of the Nixon Lab Publish Their Latest Research
February 2020
New York – The February 2020 issue of Journal of Molecular Biology contains an article co-authored by Nixon Lab members led by Dr. Ju-Hyun Lee. The article, titled “β2-adrenergic agonists rescue lysosome acidification and function in PSEN1 deficiency by reversing defective ER to lysosome delivery of ClC-7,” explains findings that define a novel pathway for enhancing lysosomal acidification by mobilizing ClC-7 delivery to lysosomes. The researchers conclude that remediation of lysosomal function, especially by correcting acidification deficits, represents a promising avenue towards therapy in AD and possibly other neurodegenerative diseases.
Ginsberg Papers Referenced as Online Sources
January 2020
New York - Two recent papers co-authored by Dr. Stephen Ginsberg, head of the Ginsberg Lab at the CDR, have been referenced online. The first paper published in Nature Communications, titled “The epichaperome is a mediator of toxic hippocampal stress and leads to protein connectivity-based dysfunction,” is quoted in “Alzheimer’s Brains Short Circuited by Defective Protein Connections,” which appeared in the Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News site. The second paper titled, “Type I interferon response drives neuroinflammation and synapse loss in Alzheimer disease,” published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, is described in a Baylor College of Medicine blog titled “Connecting interferon, neuroinflammation and synapse loss in Alzheimer’s disease.”
Dr. Panos Roussos Newest Member of the Center for Dementia Research
January 2020
New York - Dr. Panagiotis (Panos) Roussos, Professor of Psychiatry and Genetics and Genomic Sciences at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai joins the Center for Dementia Research. Dr. Roussos received his medical and doctorate degrees from the University of Crete in Greece and completed his residency in Psychiatry (research track) at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai followed by a MIRECC research fellowship in schizophrenia. Dr. Roussos's research focuses on the integration of high-dimensional data, such as genomic, epigenomic and transcriptomic, using advanced biostatistical methods to identify some of the mechanisms through which risk genetic variants increase the risk for neuropsychiatric diseases. He applies a combination of molecular biology and bioinformatics approaches to tackle these questions.
Ralph Nixon Comments on Alzforum
January 2020
New York – Dr. Ralph Nixon’s recent Alzforum commentary on “Lysosomal Diseases: Stepping Stones to Gene Therapy for Alzheimer’s?,” was posted on January 8, 2020. The CDR Director discusses several possibilities of why the AD field has been slow to exploit the research path of selectively restoring lysosomal function using any of a diversity of genetic and pharmacological means that ameliorates amyloidogenesis, synaptic failure, and cognitive decline in AD models.
Dr. Stephen Ginsberg Key Contributor to Nature Communications Paper
January 2020
New York – A recent article published in the January 16, 2020 issue of Nature Communications, titled“The epichaperome is a mediator of toxic hippocampal stress and leads to protein connectivity-based dysfunction,” provides novel evidence of a pathological process underlying Alzheimer’s disease and other neurological disorders, and suggests a new potential therapeutic target. This research where Dr. Stephen Ginsburg of the CDR was a key contributor, is referenced and discussed in the January 2020 Alzforumcommentary (“In AD, Chaperones Congregate to Form a Therapeutic Target”) and on the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center website (“Study Reveals a New Way That Stress and Aging Lead to Alzheimer’s).
Helen Scharfman Recognized by AES for Distinguished Research Career in the Field of Epilepsy
December 2019
New York – Dr. Helen Scharfman, head of the Scharfman Lab at the Center for Dementia Research was honored at the 2019 American Epilepsy Society (AES) Annual Meeting in Baltimore, Maryland where she was presented with the Basic Science Research Award. The award recognizes Dr. Scharfman’s distinguished research career which holds promise for the improved understanding and treatment of epilepsy. At the annual meeting, Dr. Scharfman spoke on "Contributing to Basic Research About Epilepsy." The Scharfman Laboratory focuses on mechanisms that regulate excitability and plasticity in the brain. She has published over 150 articles and edited or co-edited five books. In addition, Dr. Scharfman has been an active contributor to the AES, the Epilepsy Foundation, and the International League Against Epilepsy. She has also served on the editorial boards of several journals including Journal of Neuroscience and Science Translational Medicine and has been a contributing editor for Epilepsy Currents.
Mathews and Levy Review Published in Frontiers in Neuroscience
December 2019
New York – Research Scientists Paul Mathews and Efrat Levy of the CDR published a review in Frontiers of Neuroscience discussing the emerging data arguing for an interdependence between exosome production and endosomal pathway integrity in the brain. In the piece, titled “Exosome Production Is Key to Neuronal Endosomal Pathway Integrity in Neurodegenerative Diseases,” the researchers propose that enhanced neuronal exosome secretion can be a protective response, reducing pathological disruption of the endosomal-lysosomal system in disease-vulnerable neurons. Mathews and Levy further state that developing therapeutic approaches that help to maintain or enhance neuronal exosome biogenesis and release may be beneficial in a range of disorders of the central nervous system.
Dr. Alexandre Bourgeois Joins the CDR
November 2019
New York – Dr. Alexandre Bourgeois is the latest postdoctoral researcher to join the CDR. Dr. Bourgeois completed his undergraduate studies in Life and Health Sciences and a Master’s degree in Physiopathology, Pharmacology and Neurobiology at the University Nice Sophia Antipolis in 2014. He worked as a Research Scientist at the Institut de Pharmacologie Moleculaire et Cellulaire in France, where he studied the Aβ-independent implication of the C99 fragment (or β-CTF) in the emergence of Alzheimer’s disease phenotypes in different mouse models. He completed this project as a PhD student in the same lab under the supervision of Dr. Raphaelle Pardossi-Piquard in 2019.
Dr. Lauren Whyte Joins the Nixon Lab as a Postdoctoral Researcher
November 2020
New York – The Nixon lab welcomes Dr. Lauren Whyte. Lauren is a postdoctoral researcher from Hopwood Centre for Neurobiology, South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute, Adelaide, Australia. She completed her undergraduate studies in Science and Law at the University of Adelaide, before undertaking an Honors degree in Health Sciences. In 2013, Lauren worked as a Research Scientist in the Lysosomal Diseases Research Unit, South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute, where she continued her education and received her PhD, investigating the consequences of lysosomal impairment in Alzheimer's disease.
Dr. Eunju Im Receives Fellowship Award
November 2019
New York - Nixon Lab member, Dr. Eunju Im receives the Korean American Society in Biotech and Pharmaceuticals (KASBP) bi-annual Fellowship award. Every year at their Spring and Fall Symposiums, the KASBP Fellowship Committee awards fellowships to outstanding young research scientists who made stellar contributions to biomedical research. In addition to the fellowship, awardees present their research to symposium attendees from prominent academic and industrial institutions. Dr. Im was invited to present at the KASBP Fall Symposium held in Boston on November 1-2, 2019.
CDR Director Co-Chairs Invitation Only Workshop
October 2019
New York – Dr. Ralph Nixon co-chairs an invitation-only workshop on “Alzheimer’s, Related Disorders and Autophagy,” organized by the German Center for Research and Innovation New York. The workshop on brings together a small group of experts from the U.S. and Germany for a day of scientific exchange on the topics of neurodegeneration and autophagy. The scientific exchange will address current scientific knowledge with an eye on addressing whether the targeting of autophagy is an effective prevention or therapy for Alzheimer’s and related disorders in the future.
Scharfman Lab Welcomes Two New Postdoctoral Fellows
September 2019
New York – Two new postdoctoral fellows from Europe join the Scharfman Lab. Dr. Chiara Criscuolo earned a BS and MS in Medical Biotechnology at the University of Rome Tor Vergata and completed her PhD in Neurobiology at the Neuroscience Institute of the National Research Council in Pisa, Italy. Remaining in Pisa to do her first postdoc collaboration, Chiara had the opportunity to work on a variety of projects, exploring the neurobiology both of Alzheimer’s disease and of visual system development, and investigating new strategies for Alzheimer’s disease treatment. Before joining the Scharfman Lab, she worked at the Columbia University Irving Medical Center Department of Neurology. In her new role at the CDR, Chiara will investigate how sex differences affect the brain in animal models of AD and epilepsy, and the role played by neurotrophic factors and their receptors in the early stages of AD.
Dr. Christos Lisgaras received his Integrated Master’s Degree in Applied Biology and Technology and a PhD in Neurophysiology and Neuropharmacology from the University of Ioannina, Greece. He subsequently trained at Albert Einstein College of Medicine where he investigated post-traumatic EEG abnormalities and antiepileptogenic treatments as a part of a preclinical consortium. Now a member of the Scharfman Lab, Christos is currently investigating cholinergic aspects of hyperexcitability by using wideband video-EEG and silicone probes, slice electrophysiology and closed-loop optogenetic interventions.
Nixon Comments on “Familial AD Mutations, β-CTF, Spell Trouble for Endosomes”
August 2019
New York – Dr. Ralph Nixon, Director of the CDR, is a regular commentator of the Alzforum website. His recent comment posted on August 19, calls the report on CRISPR-modified IPSC neurons expressing diverse APP and PSEN1 FAD mutations a technical tour de force.
Levy Lab Members Publish an Open Access Paper
July 2019
New York - Efrat Levy, head of the Levy Lab at the CDR, along with members from her lab published an open access paper, titled “Neuroprotection mediated by cystatin C-loaded extracellular vesicles,” Scientific Reports.
Yohan Kim Featured in the Journal of Cell Science
July 2019
New York - In conjunction with his recently published paper, titled Tau-interacts-with-SHP2-in-neuronal-systems-and-in “Tau interacts with SHP2 in neuronal systems and in Alzheimer's disease brains,” which appeared in theJournal of Cell Science, postdoctoral fellow and Levy lab member, Dr. Yohan Kim, is featured in a “First Person”a interview where he discusses his research and the development of his career. First Person is a series of interviews with the first authors of a selection of papers published in the Journal of Cell Science, helping early-career researchers promote themselves alongside their papers.
A New Publication from the Laboratory of Efrat Levy
July 2019
New York – Efrat Levy and Levy Lab members publish “Enhanced Generation of Intraluminal Vesicles in Neuronal Late Endosomes in the Brain of a Down Syndrome Mouse Model with Endosomal Dysfunction,” in Developmental Neurobiology.
Helen Scharfman Authors New Review
June 2019
New York – Dr. Helen Scharfman, head of the Scharfman Lab at the CDR, authors a new review titled, “The Dentate Gyrus and Temporal Lobe Epilepsy: An Exciting Era”. The article is published in the open access journal Epilepsy Currents.
NKI Colleagues Publish New Paper
June 2019
New York – Dr.Melissa Alldred and Dr.Steve Ginsberg, colleagues from the CDR and Cornell have a new paper in the FASEB Journal, titled “Long-term effects of maternal choline supplementation on CA1 pyramidal neuron gene expression in the Ts65Dn mouse model of Down syndrome and Alzheimer's disease.”
Scharfman Co-authors Paper and Provides Perspective
May 2019
New York – A recent publication in Science, titled “Adult-born hippocampal neurons bidirectionally modulate entorhinal inputs into the dentate gyrus,” co-authored by Dr. Helen Scharfman of the CDR, examines the role of adult neurogenesis in hippocampal brain circuitry. The authors found that adult-born neurons either inhibited or excited the dentate gyrus, depending on whether synaptic inputs originated from the lateral or the medial entorhinal cortex. The action of adult-born neurons depended on the demands of the environment, which alters cortical and subcortical input to the dentate gyrus. A Perspective article in the same issue provides additional context.
Nixon Lab Publishes Scientific Paper in Journal of Neuroscience
May 2019
New York – An article from Dr. Ralph Nixon and Nixon Lab members titled, “Lysosomal
dysfunction in Down syndrome is APP-dependent and mediated by APP-βCTF (C99),” appears in the May 1 edition of Journal of Neuroscience.
Dr. Efrat Levy Promoted to Full Professor
April 2019
New York - Dr. Efrat Levy, a prominent research scientist in the Center for Dementia Research and head of the Levy Lab, has been promoted to the rank of Professor in the Departments of Psychiatry and Biochemistry & Molecular Pharmacology at New York University School of Medicine. Dr. Levy's laboratory studies the factors that initiate and propagate pathology in neurodegenerative disorders. She is currently the principal or co-principal investigator on five active NIH grants.
Scharfman Lab Investigators Publish in Hippocampus
January 2019
New York – Scharfman Lab members, including Dr. Helen Scharfman, author a paper appearing in Hippocampus, titled “Adult neurogenesis in the mouse dentate gyrus protects the hippocampus from neuronal injury following severe seizures.”
CDR and NKI Colleagues Pen Open Access Paper
January 2019
New York - A new open access paper by Efrat Levy, Paul Mathews, and others from the Center for Dementia Research, and NKI’s Analytical Psychopharmacology and Neurochemistry departments, appears in the January issue of Brain. The Paper, titled “Apolipoprotein E4 genotype compromises,”was selected for Research Highlights piece in Nature Reviews Neurology.
CDR Director Receives CHDI Foundation Grant
December 2018
New York - Dr. Ralph Nixon, Director at the Center for Dementia Research receives a grant from CHDI Foundation. The grant is titled "In Vivo Evaluation and Therapeutic Modulation of Neuronal Autophagy Flux in HD Mouse Models: Validation of a Transgenic Reporter for In Vivo Neuronal Macroautophagy." CHDI Foundation is a privately funded, not-for-profit biomedical research organization devoted to accelerating therapeutic development for Huntington’s disease.
Ju-Hyun Lee and Members of the Nixon Lab Co-author Paper
September 2018
New York – A recent paper co-authored by Dr. Ju-Hyun Lee of the Nixon Lab at the CDR, along with other Nixon Lab members, is published online in Autophagy. The online article appeared on September 29 and is titled, “Transgenic expression of a ratiometric autophagy probe specifically in neurons enables the interrogation of brain autophagy in vivo”.
Nixon and CDR His Team Received New R01 Research Grant
September 2018
New York - Dr. Ralph Nixon, Director of Center for Dementia Research, and his team receive a new R01 research grant from NIH. The grant, titled “Endosome Dysfunction in Alzheimer's Disease: Mechanism and Role in Pathogenesis,” will investigate endosome dysfunction which is strongly implicated in Alzheimer’s disease and recent genetic studies have identified endosome-related genes that are associated with increased risk of developing late-onset Alzheimer’s disease. The goal of the studies is to establish the multiple mechanisms and factors regulating endosome function in brain, neurons, and at synapses in health and in the context of Alzheimer’s disease. The research team’s focus is also to define the influence of selected Alzheimer’s disease risk genes on endosome structure, function, and their contribution to endosome abnormalities in Alzheimer’s disease. The ultimate objectives are identifying and validating innovative therapeutics that target this very early neuronal pathology to prevent/delay Alzheimer’s disease development.
CDR Director’s Paper Published in Nature Reviews Drug Discovery
September 2018
Dr. Ralph Nixon, Director of the Center for Dementia Research, coauthored a paper, titled “Promoting the clearance of neurotoxic proteins in neurodegenerative disorders of ageing,” appearing in the September issue of Nature Reviews Drug Discovery.
David Yuan, Ralph Nixon and NKI Collaborators Co-Author Paper
August 2018
New York – Drs. David Yuan and Ralph Nixon of the CDR, along with many NKI collaborators, coauthor a paper on their research titled, “Neurofilament light interaction with GluN1 modulates Neurotransmission and schizophrenia-associated behaviors. The research was published in the online, open access journal Translational Psychiatry. This work was the result of collaboration among several departments at NKI.
CDR Director’s Paper Published in Nature Reviews Drug Discovery
September 2018
New York - Dr. Ralph Nixon, Director of the Center for Dementia Research, coauthored a paper, titled “Promoting the clearance of neurotoxic proteins in neurodegenerative disorders of ageing,” appearing in the September issue of Nature Reviews Drug Discovery.
David Yuan, Ralph Nixon and NKI Collaborators Co-Author Paper
August 2018
New York – Drs. David Yuan and Ralph Nixon of the CDR, along with many NKI collaborators, coauthor a paper on their research titled, “Neurofilament light interaction with GluN1 modulates Neurotransmission and schizophrenia-associated behaviors. The research was published in the online, open access journal Translational Psychiatry. This work was the result of collaboration among several departments at NKI.
Neurobiology of Disease Article Penned by Levy Lab and NKI Colleagues
August 2018
New York – Dr. Efrat Levy, along with Levy Lab members and NKI colleagues, publish “Cystatin C prevents neuronal loss and behavioral deficits via the endosomal pathway in a mouse model of down syndrome” in the August issue of Neurobiology of Disease.
R56 Grant Awarded Dr. Paul M. Mathews and Dr.Stephen D. Ginsberg of the CDRstrong>
July 2018
New York – Two accomplished researchers from the Center for Dementia Research, Dr. Paul M. Mathews and Dr. Stephen D. Ginsberg, were awarded a National Institute of Aging R56 grant. The grant was awarded for the research in “Pathogenic consequences of altered insulin signaling in the diabetic brain.” The goal of this research is to investigate why diabetes increases a person’s chances of developing Alzheimer’s disease during aging. Drs. Mathews and Ginsberg’s research will focus on how changes in insulin levels in the diabetic patient predispose these individuals to Alzheimer’s disease, examining changes that occur in neurons when insulin is poorly regulated. Additionally, they are determining whether a family of FDA-approved drugs can be repurposed to reduce insulin-driven disruption in the diabetic brain, providing a clinical approach that may reduce Alzheimer’s disease-risk and cognitive decline in diabetic individuals.
Dr.Helen Scharfman in Center for Dementia Research was awarded R0I grant by National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke
June 2018
New York - The grant, titled "The Role of CA2 in Epilepsy and Social Comorbidity," is about a small part of the brain area CA2 of the hippocampus. There is already data which have led to the hypothesis that CA2 is a control point for seizures, meaning it can stop seizures, potentially. The project uses new techniques to address this hypothesis. Specifically, DREADD technology is used in mouse models of epilepsy to selectively silence the neurons in CA2. Dr. Scharfman will test the hypothesis that silencing CA2 can stop seizures. CA2 is also an area that normally supports memory, especially social memory. Since memory and social behavior can be altered in people with epilepsy, so-called comorbidities, the experiments will also address if silencing CA2 in mice with epilepsy can correct the comorbidities.
Dr. Pearl Lie and Dr. Ralph Nixon Publish Review in Neurobiology of Disease
May 2018
New York – Nixon lab member, Dr. Pearl Lie, and Dr. Ralph Nixon, Director of the CDR, recently published “Lysosome trafficking and signaling in health and neurodegenerative diseases.” The article appeared in the May issue of Neurobiology of Disease.
Dr. Lang Yoo Joins the Nixon Lab as a Postdoctoral Researcher
April 2018
New York - Dr. Lang Yoo is the newest member of the Nixon Lab at the Center for Dementia Research. Dr. Yoo obtained her B.S. and M.S. in Molecular Biology from Sejong University in Seoul, Korea, She continued her education in Seoul and earned her Ph.D. in Molecular Neurobiology from Yonsei University. She gained employment as a postdoctoral fellow at Yonsei University, where she specialized in biochemical and cell biological techniques to analyze post-translational modifications and signal transduction.
Helen Scharfman Publishes Perspectives Piece
February 2018
New York – Head of the Scharfman Lab at the CDR, Dr. Helen Scharfman publishes an article in Science, titled “Controlling learning and epilepsy together.”
Collaboration Leads to Piece in Annals of Neurology
February 2018
New York - Stephen Ginsberg, Melissa Alldred, both from the CDR, and Sang Han Lee from NKI’s Center for Biomedical Imaging and Neuromodulation (C-BIN), came together to co-author “Expression profiling suggests microglial impairment in human immunodeficiency virus neuro-pathogenesis.” The article appeared in the February issue of Annals of Neurology.
Open Access Paper From the Balapal Lab
February 2018
New York - Frontiers in Molecular Neuroscience recently published “CB1R-Mediated Activation of Caspase-3 Causes Epigenetic and Neurobehavioral Abnormalities in Postnatal Ethanol-Exposed Mice.” The paper, which appears in the February issue, is the result of research from the Analytical Psychopharmacology Lab at the CDR, headed by Dr. Basavaraj Balapal.
CDR and NKI Collaborators Receive RF1 Grant
February 2018
New York - Drs. Efrat Levy, Paul Mathews, researchers at the CDR and Donald Wilson, Director of NKI’s Emotional Brain Institute, are Co-Principal Investigators on an RF1 NIA grant titled, “Neuronal protective apolipoprotein E2-mediated endocytic and exocytic pathways.” This grant was the result of the NIH’s request for applications for research studies designed to fill the significant gap in the field's understanding of why the apolipoprotein E2 allele is protective against Alzheimer's disease.
Center For Dementia Research’s New Electron Microscopy (EM) Lab is Now Open
December 2017
New York – Earlier this month, the Center for Dementia Research at the Nathan Kline Institute officially opened the Electron Microscopy Facility. The EM Lab Director, Dr. Chris Goulbourne, has some new equipment at his disposal – a new electron microscope, microtome, and Vitrobot. Installation of the new instruments was no small feat. Three tons of equipment were delivered in nine very large crates and took three weeks to install. A state -of-the-art Transmission Electron Microscope (Thermo Fisher Talos L120C) is capable of magnifications up to 650,000-fold and resolution to 0.2 nanometers. This enables NKI and external researchers to visualize the detailed ultrastructure of cells and tissues as well as the distribution of proteins across various animal and cell models of disease. The electron microscope can also generate 3D data sets by using a specialized tomography holder, which enables an increased understanding of ultrastructural organization. These 3D datasets can be visualized using a dedicated computer workstation that has Inspect3D and Amira software installed. A Thermo Fisher Mark IV Vitrobot is also NEWLY available in the facility for the rapid freezing of cells, organelles or proteins for visualization on the microscope using a specialized cryoholder. Additionally, the facility offers advice and sample preparation for employing correlative light and electron microscopy (CLEM) and Nano Secondary Ion Mass (NanoSIMS) spectroscopy for tracking stable isotope tagged molecules.
Scharfman's Scientific Accomplishments Chronicled in Cell & Tissue Research
December 2017
New York - Dr. Helen Scharfman, head of the Scharfman Lab at the CDR, publishes an article in Cell & Tissue Research. The paper, titled “Advances in understanding hilar mossy cells of the dentate gyrus,” chronicles her research on the topic.
Dr. Chris Goulbourne Joins the CDR as Electron Microscopy (EM) Director
November 2017
New York – The Center for Dementia Research welcomes Dr. Chris Goulbourne. Dr. Goulbourne will be heading up the new EM Lab expected to be up and running later this year. Chris obtained his bachelor’s from Durham University and PhD from Oxford University, UK. He secured an American Heart postdoctoral fellowship at UCLA specializing in electron microscopy techniques such as ultrastructural analysis, electron tomography, immunogold electron microscopy, correlative light and electron microscopy and Nano Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (NanoSIMS). He has managed electron microscopy laboratories at GlaxoSmithKline and Columbia University and now directs the CDR EM Lab to support researchers.
Helen Scharfman Co-authors Four Papers in Four Weeks; One Paper Highlighted as Editor’s Choice
November 2017
New York – The month of November saw the publishing of two papers co-authored by Dr. Helen Scharfman, head of the Scharfman Lab at the Center for Dementia Research. The first paper, titled “Epigenetic suppression of hippocampal calbindin-D28k by ΔFosB drives seizure-related cognitive deficits,” appears in Nature Medicine. The same paper is highlighted as an Editors’ Choice selection in the November 22 issue of Science Translational Medicine, featuring an article called “The vicious epigenetic cycle of neuronal activation.” The second paper, appearing in the November issue of Epilepsia, is titled “Common data elements for preclinical epilepsy research: Standards for data collection and reporting. A TASK3 report of the AES/ILAE Translational Task Force of the ILAE.” Dr. Scharfman preceded these two papers with two more publications in late October, bringing her total to four papers co-authored and published in less than 30 days. The October papers, both published in Epilepsy & Behavior, are titled “Epilepsy as a Network Disorder (1): What can we learn from other network disorders such as autistic spectrum disorder and mood disorders?” and “Epilepsy as a Network Disorder (2): What can we learn from other network disorders such as dementia and schizophrenia, and what are the implications for translational research?”
Nixon Lab Review in Free Radical Biology & Medicine
October 2017
New York - The latest publication from the Nixon Lab at the Center for Dementia Research is a review in Free Radical Biology & Medicine. In a piece, titled “Dysfunction of autophagy and endosomal-lysosomal pathways: Roles in pathogenesis of Down syndrome and Alzheimer's Disease,” the authors write, “Collectively, these studies underscore the growing value of investigating Down syndrome (DS) to probe the biological origins of Alzheimer’s disease as well as to understand and ameliorate the developmental disability of DS.”
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CDR Invetigators Awarded Prestigious Program Project Grant for Alzheimer's DiseaseSeptember 2017Pictured L to R: Debbie Warburton, Dr. Scharfman, Jody Addeo, NYS Senator Carlucci, Dr. Levy, Debra Kagan-Birkeland, Dr. Nixon, Dr. Ginsberg, and Dr. Mathews. (Ms. Warburton, Ms. Addeo, and Ms. Kagan-Birkeland are with the Alzheimer’s Association Hudson Valley Chapter.) |
September 2017
New York – The Center for Dementia Research investigators secured major funding from the National Institute of Aging (NIA) to continue their Alzheimer’s research. The prestigious NIA Program Project Grant (PPG) award was announced by New York State Senator, David Carlucci, during his visit to the CDR located at the Nathan Kline Institute. The Program Project, directed by Dr. Ralph Nixon, is titled “Cell and Molecular Pathobiology of Alzheimer's Disease,” and consists of four research projects and three core support elements. This is the fifth multi-year PPG awarded to the CDR Director, and the highly accomplished CDR research scientists Dr. Efrat Levy, Dr. Stephen Ginsberg, and Dr. Paul Mathews. The CDR Program Project, which is in its 17th year, has pioneered discoveries that have linked the genes causing AD to prominent defects appearing at the earliest stages of AD and potentially represent the most promising new targets for novel therapies to prevent or treat AD. During his visit, Senator Carlucci announced that two distinguished scientists from the CDR, Dr. Helen Scharfman and Dr. Efrat Levy, have been awarded major federal research grants as well. Dr. Scharfman's research focus is on understanding why certain neurons in the brain's memory center become abnormally hyperactive before the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease. This provides an important basis for finding novel Alzheimer's Disease treatments. Dr. Levy has received funding for studying the mechanisms by which certain genetic variants prevent the formation of Amyloid beta, a protein being the hallmark of Alzheimer's disease. In addition, Dr. Scharfman and Dr. Levy also were awarded funding for their other projects from National Institute on Drug Abuse and the National Institute of Mental Health. Congratulations!
Senator David Carlucci Visits the CDR
September 2017
New York - New York State Senator David Carlucci toured the Center for Dementia Research during his visit to the Nathan Kline Institute. CDR scientists showed the Senator a glimpse of their research and provided a tour of the laboratories. In addition, NKI announced the awarding of several major federal research grants to CDR investigators, including a prestigious NIH Program Project Grant awarded to the CDR's director, Ralph Nixon PhD, MD. Dr. Nixon commented, "We are gratified that NIH places strong confidence in the AD research programs at the CDR and their promise for pioneering innovative, more effective therapies for AD and related dementias." Senator Carlucci's past appropriation of State funds for a state-of-the-art microscope helped NKI's scientists to secure the highly competitive federal grants.
Stephen Ginsburg Co-authors Hippocampus Article
September 2017
New York - Stephen Ginsberg, PhD of the CDR, is the corresponding author of an article titled, “Selective decline of neurotrophin and neurotrophin receptor genes within CA1 pyramidal neurons and hippocampus proper: Correlation with cognitive performance and neuropathology in mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease.” The article, available online in Hippocampus, was co-written by Melissa Alldred, Shaoli Che, and Irina Elarova of NKI among other contributors.
Dr. Helen Scharfman Receives RO1 Grant From NIH
August 2017
New York – Head of the Scharfman Lab at the CDR, Dr. Helen Scharfman, receives an NIH grant titled, "Hilar Mossy Cells and Dentate Gyrus function." Dr. Scharfman will be investigating how a unique cell type in the dentate gyrus called a hilar mossy cell contributes to the function of the part of the brain which is involved in normal cognition and behavior. The dentate gyrus and hilar mossy cells have received increasing attention as more evidence has shown that the dentate gyrus is involved in many types of behavior and appears to sustain loss of mossy cells in many neurological and psychiatric disorders.
Ralph Nixon Publishes Review FASEB Journal
July 2017
New York – Ralph Nixon, MD, PhD, of the CDR publishes a review in the July issue of the FASEB Journal titled, “Amyloid precursor protein and endosomal-lysosomal dysfunction in Alzheimer's disease: inseparable partners in a multifactorial disease.”
Nixon Lab Findings Presented at AAIC 2017 Scientific Meeting in London, UK
July 2017
New York - Ralph Nixon, MD, PhD, Director of the Center for Dementia Research, reported his latest findings in a Developing Topics poster titled, “Antagonism of p38 MAPK Alpha (p38α) Reverses APP-Induced Endosomal Abnormalities and Improves Lysosomal Dysfunction in Down Syndrome Fibroblasts.” The poster presentation at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference in London, England, was the result of Dr. Nixon’s work, in collaboration with EIP Pharma. The investigators found that the EIP licensed investigational drug Neflamapimod reversed a critical Alzheimer's related physiologic defect in human patient cells cultured from individuals with a genetic defect predisposing them to early onset Alzheimer's disease. Dr. Nixon recently published a review in the FABSEB Journal on a key underlying dysfunction in Alzheimer's disease.
Five-Year NIA Grant Awarded to Efrat Levy
July 2017
New York - Dr. Efrat Levy, Head of the Levy lab at the CDR, has received a five-year R01 grant from the National Institute on Aging. The grant, titled “Preventing early events in Aβ-driven pathology in vivo,” is timely, according to Dr. Levy, given the growing interest in developing extracellular vesicles (EV) as therapeutic vehicles for both systemic and brain disorders, and our investigations of EV as candidates to act as vehicles to deliver protective AβIt within the brain as a foundation for developing novel EV-based treatments for AD.
Journal of Neurochemistry Review from Lab of Dr. Raj Balapal
June 2017
New York – A review, titled “Endocannabinoid system in neuro-degenerative disorders,” from the lab of Dr. Raj Balapal, Analytical Psychopharmacology at the CDR, appears online in the June edition of Journal of Neurochemistry.
Review on Neurofilaments by the Nixon Lab
April 2017
New York – A review on neurofilaments by Drs. David Yuan, Mala Rao, Veeranna, and Ralph Nixon from the Center for Dementia Research appeared in the April issue of Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Biology. The review is titled “Neuro-filaments and Neurofilament Proteins in Health and Disease.”
CDR Receives Five-Year NIA Grant & Columbia University Sub-Award
March 2017
New York - Dr. Ralph Nixon, Director of Center for Dementia Research, has received a five year P01 grant from the National Institute on Aging, titled “Cell and Molecular Pathobiology of Alzheimer’s Disease.” Dr. Nixon also received a sub-award from Columbia University, titled “Lysosome System Pathobiology and Axonopathy in Parkinson's Disease Research.”
NIH RO1 Grant Awarded to Helen Scharfman
March 2017
New York - Dr. Helen Scharfman receives RO1 grant from NIH. The grant, titled “Hyperexcitability in Alzheimer's Disease," addresses the hypothesis that early in Alzheimer's Disease there is overactivity in some parts of the brain and this contributes to the subsequent decline in brain function. The grant uses animal models that stimulate different characteristics of humans with Alzheimer's disease and uses these models to test new treatments to prevent or delay the onset of AD.
Efrat Levy Contributes Paper on Exosomes
March 2017
New York - Dr. Efrat Levy who leads the Levy Lab at the Center for Dementia Research, authors a paper published in Frontiers in Neuroscience. The paper, called “Exosomes in the Diseased Brain: First Insights from In vivo Studies,” appears in the March issue.
CDR Members Publish in Brain Structure & Function
February 2017
New York - Helen Scharfman, PhD, Áine Duffy, PhD, and Jillian Moretto, all from the Center for Dementia Research, published an article in Brain Structure & Function. The article, titled “Acute restraint stress decreases c-fos immuno-reactivity in hilar mossy cells of the adult dentate gyrus,” appears in the February 11 edition.
Efrat Levy and Colleagues Publish in Methods in Molecular Biology
January 2017
New York – A paper authored by Dr. Efrat Levy of the CDR, along with several NKI colleagues, appears in Methods in Molecular Biology (MIMB) book series. “A Method for Isolation of Extracellular Vesicles and Characterization of Exosomes from Brain Extracellular Space,” appears in the MIMB Volume 1545; Exosomes and Microvesicles Methods and Protocols.
New paper from Nixon Lab Members Online and Print
January 2017
Drs. Dun-Sheng Yang, Ralph Nixon, and other members of the Nixon Lab at the Center for Dementia Research have a new paper in Oxford Journals Human Molecular Genetics. The publication, titled “Cyclodextrin has conflicting actions on autophagy flux in vivo in brains of normal and Alzheimer model mice,” first appeared in the online in the January issue, with the March print issue to follow.
Ralph Nixon Serves as Guest Editor in Ageing Research Reviews
December 2016
New York - Dr. Ralph Nixon, Director of the Center for Dementia Research, served as Guest Editor for a special issue of Ageing Research Reviews on “Lysosomes in Aging". In addition to an editorial by Dr. Nixon, called “New perspectives on lysosomes in ageing and neurodegenerative disease,” the issue includes two articles by CDR investigators. The first article “Cystatin C in aging and in Alzheimer's disease,”a was co-authored by Drs. Paul Mathews and Efrat Levy. The second article, titled “Disorders of lysosomal acidification-The emerging role of v-ATPase in aging and neurodegenerative disease,” was a collaborative effort between Dr. Nixon and Dr. Daniel J. Colacurcio.
Article from Levy Lab Appears in Molecular Psychiatry
October 2016
New York – Several members from the Levy Lab at the CDR co-authored “Lysosomal dysfunction in the brain of a mouse model with intraneuronal accumulation of carboxyl terminal fragments of the amyloid precursor protein,” which appears in the October 25 online issue of Molecular Psychiatry.
Scharfman Authors Review on Advances in Understanding Mossy Cells
September 2016
New York – Dr. Helen Scharfman of the Center for Dementia Research and head of the Scharfman Lab, is the author of a review, titled “The enigmatic mossy cell of the dentate gyrus,” that appears in the Nature Reviews section of the September issue of Neuroscience.
Latest Balapal Lab Research in Physiology & Behavior
September 2016
New York – The latest research from the lab of Dr. Basavaraj Balapal at the Center for Dementia Research is found in the pages of Physiology & Behavior. Dr. Balapal mentioned that his lab’s study suggests that inhibition of DNA methylation during early development causes neurodegeneration in neonatal animals that leads to deficits in synaptic plasticity and learning and memory in adult animals. The article, titled “A single day of 5-azacytidine exposure during development induces neurodegeneration in neonatal mice and neurobehavioral deficits in adult mice,” appears in the September 1 edition.
Yuan and Nixon Author Review on Neurofilament Subunits
September 2016
New York – Drs. Aidong Yuan and Ralph Nixon of the Nixon Lab at the CDR recently authored, “Specialized Roles of Neurofilament Proteins in Synapses: Relevance to Neuropsychiatric Disorders.” The review is published in the September 5 edition of the Brain Research Bulletin
Five-Year NIH Grant to Scharfman
August 2016
New York - Dr. Helen Scharfman of Center for Dementia Research and head of the Scharfman Lab has received a five-year R01 Grant for her research titled “Hilar mossy cells and dentate gyrus function” from the National Institute of Mental Health.
Savoy Foundation Supports A Young CDR Scientist’s Research
August 2016
New York - Dr. Justin Botterill from the Scharfman Lab at the CDR, who recently completed his PhD at the University of Saskatchewan, receives a postdoctoral fellowship from the Savoy Foundation to support his research on “Dissecting normal from abnormal hippocampal neurogenesis.” The Savoy Foundation is the only Canadian organization entirely devoted to fundraising and giving grants and endowments for research in epilepsy.
Ohno Editorial in Brain Research Bulletin
June 2016
New York – Dr. Masuo Ohno, head of the Ohno Lab at the Center for Dementia Research, recently contributed an editorial to a forthcoming special issue of Brain Research Bulletin. The piece, titled “Alzheimer's secretase enzymes: Cell biology, regulation, function, and therapeutic potential,” appears in the June 15 special issue.
Two Reviews by CDR Investigators Published in Ageing Research Reviews
June 2019
New York – Dr Paul Mathews and Dr. Efrat Levy co-author a review called, “Cystatin C in aging and in Alzheimer's disease,” which appears in the June edition of Ageing Research Reviews. One month earlier, the same publication published “Disorders of lysosomal acidification-The emerging role of v-ATPase in aging and neurodegenerative disease.” This May review was the result of a collaboration between Dr. Ralph Nixon and Dr. D.J. Colacurcio.
US Patent Issued to Nixon Lab Members
June 2016
New York - Drs. Ralph Nixon, Ju-Hyun Lee, and Devin Wolfe from the Center for Dementia Research) recently received a patent for “Methods for screening to identify therapeutic agents for Alzheimer's disease and use thereof.”
Nixon’s Research Continues with NIH Supplement
May 2016
New York - Dr. Ralph Nixon, Director of Center for Dementia Research, has received a Supplement to the grant titled “Cell and Molecular Pathobiology of Alzheimer’s Disease” from the National Institute on Aging. According to Nixon, the supplement will help address an urgent need for additional perspectives on effective therapies for Alzheimer's Disease. The research at the Nixon Lab advances a novel biological framework for understanding how AD develops and that identifies new directions for the therapy of AD and possibly other aging-related diseases. By exploiting this framework, Nixon and his team of scientists propose to validate multiple innovative therapeutic approaches for AD.
Nixon Lab’s Molecular Psychiatry Article Featured on Front Cover
May 2016
New York - The CDR’s Nixon Lab makes the news again as their article, titled “Evidence that the rab5 effector APPL1 mediates APP-[beta] CTF-induced dysfunction of endosomes in Down syndrome and Alzheimer's disease,” is featured on the front cover of the May issue of Molecular Psychiatry.
NKI Research Points to Link Between Diabetes and Alzheimer's Disease
April 2016
New York - New Research from the lab of Paul Mathews, PhD, part of NKI's Center for Dementia Research, indicates a link between diabetes and Alzheimer's disease. The study which appears in the Journal of Neuroscience, examined the brains of diabetic monkeys, and found insulin resistance and other changes consistent with early events in the brain that may predispose people to Alzheimer's disease. The research was reported in Alzforum.
Ohno Publishes Review on Therapies Targeting BACE1
April 2016
New York – Dr. Masuo Ohno of the CDR, authors a review, titled “Alzheimer's therapy targeting the beta-secretase enzyme BACE1: Benefits and potential limitations from the perspective of animal model studies,” which appears in the April issue of the Brain Research Bulletin.
Paul Mathews Co-authors Paper Linking AD to Diabetes
April 2016
New York – Dr. Paul Matthews of the Center for Dementia Research and head of the Mathews Lab, along with several NKI researchers, co-authors a paper titled, “Brain-Wide Insulin Resistance, Tau Phosphorylation Changes, and Hippocampal Neprilysin and Amyloid-beta Alterations in a Monkey Model of Type 1 Diabetes,” The article, which is published in the Journal of Neuroscience, is also referenced in a recent post on Alzforum.
Ralph Nixon and Colleagues Published Their Latest Research
March 2016
New York – Dr. Ralph Nixon, Director of the Center for Dementia Research, along with a number of CDR colleagues, present their latest research in an article titled “Partial BACE1 reduction in a Down syndrome mouse model blocks Alzheimer-related endosomal anomalies and cholinergic neurodegeneration: role of APP-CTF,” which is published in the March issue of Neurobiology of Aging.
Korey Kam and Members of the Scharfman Lab Publish in Scientific Reportsstrong>
January 2016
New York – Korey Kam and members of the Scharfman Lab at the CDR publish in Scientific Reports, the open access journal from the Nature Publishing Group. The article titled “Interictal spikes during sleep are an early defect in the Tg2576 mouse model of β-amyloid neuropathology,” appears in the January edition.
Roundtable Discussion on Neuroscience Research
October 2015
New York - At Rockland Community College on October 26, several NKI investigators participated in a roundtable discussion on neuroscience research with NY State officials. State Senator David Carlucci, US Congress members Steve Israel and Nita Lowey, and NYS Assemblyman Charles Lavine were joined by scientists from the Nathan Kline Institute, including Stephen Ginsberg, Efrat Levy, Paul Mathews, and Ralph Nixon of the CDR, as well as others. A focus of the discussion was a proposed referendum to raise one billion dollars for Alzheimer’s research in NYS. The event was covered by the Rockland County Times in an article titled < a “NYS Billion Dollar Bond Proposed to End Alzheimer’s.”
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New York State Senator Carlucci Meets With NKI Administrators and Investigators from the Center for Dementia ResearchDecember 2015New York - State Senator David Carlucci visited NKI to meet with administrators and Center for Dementia Research scientists, and to view two state-of-the-art microscopes. |
The Zeiss LSM 880 Confocal Laser Scanning Microscope and Leica LMD7000 (Laser Capture Microdissection System) were acquired through Senator Carlucci’s advocacy and support. They enable unprecedented exploration of the brain at the level of single neurons as they develop Alzheimer’s disease and will help ensure NKI’s continued scientific leadership toward the goal of a world without Alzheimer’s disease.
Paper from CDR Published in Cell Reports
September 2015
New York - Dr. Ralph Nixon and Nixon Lab members author a piece that appears in the open access journal Cell Reports. The article, titled “Presenilin 1 Maintains Lysosomal Ca(2+) Homeostasis via TRPML1 by Regulating vATPase-Mediated Lysosome Acidification,” is published in the September edition of the journal.
Two CDR Papers Appear in Online Journal
July 2015
New York - The open access online journal PLoS One publishes two research papers from the CDR in one month. The July 24 online edition contains “Dissociation of Axonal Neurofilament Content from Its Transport Rate,” submitted by Dr. Ralph Nixon and Nixon lab members. “Calorie Restriction Suppresses Age-Dependent Hippocampal Transcriptional Signatures,” is the result of the research from members of the Ginsberg Lab, headed by Dr. Stephen Ginsberg and appears in the July 29 edition.
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Nixon Honored at AAIC 2015July 2015New York - Dr. Ralph Nixon was presented with the Zaven Khachaturian Award at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference 2015. This prestigious award recognizes an individual whose compelling vision, selfless dedication and extraordinary achievement have significantly advanced the field of Alzheimer science. "The effect Dr. Nixon's research has and will have on scientists' understanding of Alzheimer's disease is profound," said Maria Carrillo, Ph.D., chief science officer for the Alzheimer's Association. "We honor Dr. Nixon's commitment to Alzheimer's research, to the Alzheimer's Association and the entire scientific community." |
Culmination of 8 Years of Research Published in Molecular Psychiatry
July 2015
New York – The July edition of the online journal,Molecular Biology, contains an open access article which is the culmination of eight years of research from the Nixon Lab at the Center for Dementia Research. The article, which was selected for the cover of the July 21 issue, titled “Evidence that the rab5 effector APPL1 mediates APP-βCTF-induced dysfunction of endosomes in Down syndrome and Alzheimer's disease,” shows that a missing protein is the earliest known change in Alzheimer's disease, possibly allowing for further drug therapies to be developed. A press release from EurekAlert!, an online science news service featuring health, medicine, science and technology news from leading research institutions and universities, explains the significance of this research.
Stephen Ginsberg Interviewed on Public Radio
May 2015
New York – Stephen Ginsberg, PhD, a Primary Investigator at the Center for Dementia Research, participated in an interview about Down syndrome and DS models for a new program called The Best Medicine on Columbia University’s public radio station (WKCR). "The Wisdom of Down Syndrome" was originally broadcast on May 26.
Devi and Ohno Co-author Open Access Paper
May 2015
New York - The latest paper by Latha Devi and Masuo Ohno, research scientists at the CDR, appears online in the open access journal Translational Psychiatry. The article, titled “TrkB reduction exacerbates Alzheimer's disease-like signaling aberrations and memory deficits without affecting β-amyloidosis in 5XFAD mice,” can be seen in the May issue of the journal.
12 Years of Research Suggests the Potential Novel Influences of NF Proteins in Psychiatric and Neurological States
April 2015
New York - A recent paper from Dr. Aidong (David) Yuan from the lab of Ralph Nixon at the Center for Dementia Research, is the culmination of nearly twelve years of work on neurofilaments. The study, titled “Neurofilament subunits are integral components of synapses and modulate neurotransmission and behavior in vivo,” appears in the April issue of Molecular Psychiatry. The results of Yuan’s study identify a distinct pool of synaptic NF subunits and establish their key role in neurotransmission in vivo, suggesting potential novel influences of NF proteins in psychiatric as well as neurological states.
Helen Scharfman Contributes to Study on Suppressing Epileptic Seizures
March 2015
New York – Dr. Helen Scharfman, a research scientist at the Center for Dementia Research, contributed a perspectives piece to the March 20 issue of Science. The article, titled “Metabolic control of epilepsy,” became the subject of an interview by The Pharmaceutical Journal. The research suggests that suggest that inhibition of LDH in mouse models could suppress seizures, making LDH a new target for a new group of antiepileptic drugs. This could replace the current difficult-to-follow ketogenic diet, a diet high in fats and low in carbohydrates.
Devi and Ohno Article in Molecular Brain
March 2015
New York- The latest publication by Dr. Latha Devi and Dr. Masuo Ohno of the Center for Dementia Research appears in the open access journal Molecular Brain. The article, titled “A combination Alzheimer's therapy targeting BACE1 and neprilysin in 5XFAD transgenic mice,” appears in the March edition.
CDR Scientist Speaks at 12th International Conference on Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Diseases
March 2015
New York – Efrat Levy, PhD and head of the Levy Lab at the Center for Dementia Research, presented at the 12th International Conference on Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Diseases held in Nice, France from March 18-22. Dr. Levy’s presentation was part of the Seeding, Spreading, and Prion-like Mechanisms Symposium. Her talk was titled “Neuroprotective regulation of exosome secretion by cystatin C.”
Scharfman and Cornell Colleague Co-Author Paper in Journal of Neuroscience
January 2015
New York – Dr. Helen Scharfman and Scharfman Lab members, along with a Cornell Medical College colleague, report on their study showing sex differences in brain processes involved in learning. The article, titled “Opioid receptor-dependent sex differences in synaptic plasticity in the hippocampal mossy fiber pathway of the adult rat,” appears in the January issue of Journal of Neuroscience.
Washington Post Reports on a Study from Stephen Ginsburg
November 2014
New York – Dr. Stephen Ginsberg, head of the Ginsberg lab at the CDR, and colleagues authored a study on the effects of calorie restriction in mice. The original study, titled “Reduction of β-amyloid and γ-secretase by calorie restriction in female Tg2576 mice,” appeared in the March 2015 issue of Neurobiology of Aging. Now their research is receiving much media attention after it was presented at the November 2014 Society for Neuroscience meeting in Washington, DC. The story was picked up on November 17 in a Washington Post article titled “Cutting Calories Slows Aging a Study Finds,” and by Science Daily in their piece titled “Calorie-Restricting Diets Slow Aging, Study Finds.”
CDR and NKI Researchers Co-author Article
December 2014
New York – An article by Dr. Dun-Sheng Yang and members of the CDR and Neurochemistry Department appears in Brain. The piece, titled “Defective macroautophagic turnover of brain lipids in the TgCRND8 Alzheimer mouse model: Prevention by correcting lysosomal proteolytic deficits,” appears in the December issue.
Scharfman publishes in The Neuroscientist
November 2014
New York - Helen Scharfman, PHD, from the Center for Dementia Research, and colleagues at the University of Guelph recently published a paper titled “Androgen Modulation of Hippocampal Structure and Function,” the appears in the November issue of The Neuroscientist.
National Alzheimer's Project Act: Nixon and Voices of Leading Scientists Determine Change is Needed
October 2014
New York - Signed into law in 2011, the National Alzheimer's Project Act resulted in the 2012 National Plan to Address Alzheimer's Disease, the goal of which is prevention and treatment of Alzheimer's disease by 2025. The Plan outlines initiatives to help doctors, caregivers, and individuals with Alzheimer's and other dementias as well as raise disease awareness and advance research. In June 2014, the Alzheimer's Association gathered an expert workgroup consisting of world-renowned Alzheimer's experts, among them Dr. Ralph A. Nixon, Director of the Center for Dementia Research at the Nathan Kline Institute. The group evaluated the Plan and its progress and determined that changes were needed to meet the set milestones. Most urgent were recommendations impacting drug development, risk reduction and new conceptual models of Alzheimer's. These recommendations in the newly published article, titled “Scientists say national Alzheimer's plan milestones must be strengthened to meet goal by 2025,” make it clear that research efforts for Alzheimer's disease must be enlarged in scale, expanded in scope, and better coordinated.
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Donations from the New York Islanders CommunityOctober 2014New York - Lighthouse Hockey, a website dedicated to the New York Islanders hockey team, has generously donated their share of profits from T-shirt sales to the CDR. In doing so, Lighthouse Hockey wishes to honor former Islanders coach Al Arbour, who recently revealed health problems related to dementia. Arbour, a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame, coached the Islanders for 1,500 games, 740 wins, five Stanley Cup finals and four straight championships. The CDR thanks Lighthouse Hockey for their generosity as we continue to uncover the cause of dementia for Al and the millions of others affected by this disease. |
New Article by the CDR’s Xue Xue
August 2014
New York – Xue Xue, along with colleagues from the Nixon Lab at the CDR, recently published “Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes Alleviate Autophagic/Lysosomal Defects in Primary Glia from a Mouse Model of Alzheimer's Disease,” in the August edition of Nano Letters.
NY Times Reports on Healthy Lifestyles, Behavioral Modifications and Stress Reduction to Prevent Dementia
July 2014
New York – The July 15, 2014 edition of the New York Times contains an article titled “Small Changes, and Hopes, for Preventing Dementia.” The article stems from the result of studies presented at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference in Copenhagen this week that focused not on brain functions, but on people's overall health and well-being as possible contributors to mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and dementia. The article highlights studies that measured how populations at high risk for dementia might decrease their chances for developing MCI or dementia by effectively managing their perceived everyday stresses by participating in everything from cognitive behavioral therapy to yoga.
New Article Authored by Dr. Mala Rao and Members of the CDR
July 2014
New York – Dr. Mala Rao and members of the Center for Dementia Research along with colleagues from NKI, published a new piece titled “Specific calpain inhibition by calpastatin prevents tauopathy and neurodegeneration and restores normal lifespan in Tau P301L mice.” The article which appears in the July issue of the Journal of Neuroscience, discusses findings that support the therapeutic promise of highly specific calpain inhibition in the treatment of tauopathies and other neurodegenerative states.
The mounting evidence pointing to calpains as a target in major neurodegenerative diseases should provide strong motivation to pursue further drug development to modulate the calpain–calpastatin system.
Dr. Yuan’s Latest Research in Journal of Alzheimer's Disease
September 2013
New York – A new article by Dr. David Yuan of the CDR called “Axonal transport rates in vivo are unaltered in htau mice,” appears in the September issue of Journal of Alzheimer's Disease. Yuan’s research demonstrates that human tau overexpression, even when associated with a limited degree of tau pathology, does not necessarily impair general axonal transport function in vivo.
New review by the CDR’s Ralph Nixon
August 2013
New York – “The role of autophagy in neurodegenerative disease,” is the title of a new review penned by Dr. Ralph Nixon, Director of the Center for Dementia Research at the Nathan Kline Institute. The review, published in the August edition of Nature Magazine, provides an overview of the role of autophagy in neurodegenerative disease, focusing particularly on less frequently considered lysosomal clearance mechanisms and their considerable impact on disease. Various therapeutic strategies for modulating specific stages of autophagy and the current state of drug development for this purpose are also evaluated.
Nixon Lab Releases New Paper on Autophagy Faliure in AD
June 2013
New York - A new paper by the Nixon lab, headed by CDR Director Dr. Ralph Nixon titled "Autophagy faliure in Alzheimer's disease and the role of defective lysosomal acidification" makes its first appearance on pages 1949–1961 of Volume 37, Issue 12 of a Special Issue of the Neurobiology of Aging and Alzheimer's Disease.
The Nixon lab research evaluates the most commonly used pH probes and review evidence that lysosomal acidification is defective in Alzheimer's disease (AD), extending the Lab’s original findings of elevated lysosomal pH in presenilin 1 knockout cells.
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Meihua Li, PhD Receives ADC Pilot AwardMarch 2013New York – Dr. Meihua Li is the recipient of the Alzheimer's Disease Center (ADC) pilot award! The award aids the development of young investigators as well as enable novel research directions for established scientists. Dr. Li will receive one year of funding to pursue her project, "Exosome secretion in the Brain of APP transgenic mice,” to determine whether endosomal pathology affects exosomal secretion and exosomal APP content within the brain of mouse models of APP overexpression. Based on Dr. Li's preliminary data, this project may provide further insight into the development of exosome-based therapy for certain neurodegenerative disorders. |
Nixon Co-Authors Piece with CDR and NKI Colleagues
January 2013
New York – Ralph Nixon, head of the Nixon Lab, along with CDR and NKI colleagues, co-authors “Immunization targeting a minor plaque constituent clears β-amyloid and rescues behavioral deficits in an Alzheimer's disease mouse model.” The article appears in the January issue of Neurobiology.
CDR Scientists Publish New Paper
September 2012
New York – New research by CDR scientists Mala Rao, Aidong Yuan, Asok Kumar, and Ralph Nixon is published in PLoS ONE. The article, titled "The C-terminal domains of NF-H and NF-M subunits maintain axonal neurofilament content by blocking turnover of the stationary neurofilament network," appears in the September issue.
Alzheimer Association Awards Drs. Scharfman and Ginsberg of the CDR
August 2012
New York – Dr. Helen Scharfman, head of the Scharfman Lab, receives a three-year grant from the Alzheimer's Association to pursue her research in "Circuit-based strategies in Alzheimer’s Disease and epilepsy,". The study will address the hypothesis that hyperexcitability in specific circuits within the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus, an area of the brain that is critical to memory, occurs early in Alzheimer’s disease. Scharfman looks to answer if anticonvulsant drugs reduce or prevent hyperexcitability that precedes neurodegeneration in the perforant path and hippocampus.
Also from the CDR and head of the Ginsberg Lab, Dr. Stephen Ginsberg receives an Investigator Initiated Research Grant award from the Alzheimer's Association. The title of his grant, "Effect of caloric restriction on septohippocampal neurons in AD models," aims to isolate molecular fingerprints from vulnerable and relatively spared septohippocampal populations in Tg2576 and Ts65Dn mice following caloric restriction. Simply, Dr. Ginsberg will look to see how a restricted-calorie diet affects the activity of genes involved in the biochemical pathways of Alzheimer’s-related degeneration.
Ralph Nixon Discusses AD Therapies at Alzheimer's Association International Conference
July 2012
New York - Dr. Ralph Nixon, Director of the Center for Dementia Research at the Nathan Kline Institute, was a guest speaker at the 2012 Alzheimer's Association International Conference held in Vancouver, British Columbia. Dr. Nixon presented on the recent research conducted by the Nixon Lab, along with CDR and NKI Colleagues on “Immunization Targeting a Minor Plaque Constituent Clears ß-Amyloid and Rescues Behavioral Deficits in an Alzheimer’s Disease Mouse Model.”
New CDR Paper in Journal of Neuroscience
June 2012
New York - A paper from Aidong Yuan and Ralph Nixon titled "Peripherin Is a Subunit of Peripheral Nerve Neurofilaments: Implications for Differential Vulnerability of CNS and PNS Axons, " is published in the June issue of Journal of Neuroscience. This latest research from members of the CDR shows that peripherin and the neurofilament proteins are functionally interdependent. The results strongly support the view that rather than forming an independent structure, peripherin is a subunit of neurofilaments in the adult PNS. These findings provide a basis for its close relationship with neurofilaments in PNS diseases associated with neurofilament accumulation.
Nixon Named Chair of Alzheimer's Association Medical & Scientific Advisory Group
February 2012
New York – Ralph Nixon, PhD MD, Director of the Center for Dementia Research at the Nathan Kline Institute, has been named Chair of the Alzheimer's Association Medical & Scientific Advisory Group (MSAG). Dr. Nixon has also been appointed to the Association's National Board of Directors. The Alzheimer's Association MSAG shapes the philosophical direction of the Alzheimer's Association research program and ensures the integrity of the peer-review process for awarding grants.
Nixon Quoted in WSJ
January 2012
New York – A January 31 article in the Wall Street Journal called “A New Target in Fighting Brain Disease: Metals,” discusses the vital roles metals may play brain conditions. The article mentions research into how iron, copper, zinc, and other metals work in the brain may help unlock some of the secrets of degenerative diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. Iron and copper appear to accumulate beyond normal levels in the brains of people with these diseases. According to Dr. Ralph Nixon, Director of the CDR, who is quoted in the article, “The field is coming around to the idea of the cause of Alzheimer's being multifactorial and disturbed metal regulation could be one of those factors.”
Ralph Nixon Receives CHDI Foundation Grant
December 2011
New York – Dr. Ralph Nixon, Director of the CDR, receives a grant from the CHDI Foundation for his proposed research, titled “Comparative Evaluation of the Autophagy Pathway and Related Systems in Huntington Brain.” The research aims to characterize the autophagy response in neurons in Huntington’s disease and the suspected evolution of pathologic impairment of this response in relation to disease progression using ultrastructural, immunohistochemical, and molecular analyses. The study hopes to uncover whether there are deficiencies that may contribute to the accumulation of toxic proteins, or alternatively whether the accumulation of these proteins shuts down this proteolytic clearing system, ultimately leading to cell death.