CDR Investigators Awarded Prestigious Program Project Grant for Alzheimer’s Research
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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!