This year has brought a number
of new developments to the ADC. After nearly 20 years
of dedicated service to the Alzheimer’s disease community,
Dr. William Jagust has moved on to become Professor of
Public Health at the University of California at Berkeley.
Simultaneously, Ms. Mary Beth Stamps chose a new career
path while Dr. Roberta Wallace and Jean Clark both retired.
Each of these individuals contributed tremendously to
the Center and they will be missed.
With change, however, comes opportunity. I have assumed
the Directorship at the Center and I am happy to announce
that Ms. Jayne LaGrande has kindly accepted the position
as our new Center Administrator. Together, we are working
on a proposal to hire another Alzheimer’s disease
specialist for the Center. In addition, Dr. Chris Higginson
recently joined the ADC to fill in for Dr. Wallace. We
hope to hire a new Social Worker very soon. Finally, I
am happy to announce that Dr. William Seavey, a Geriatrician
trained at UC Davis, has assumed the new role of Director
of the Clinical Trials Unit. He will lead several new
clinical treatment trials for Alzheimer’s disease
currently ongoing at the Center. Throughout this transition
period, I was frequently reminded of all the other remarkable
people who work at the Center. I particularly wish to
thank Dr. Dan Mungas, Dr. Bruce Reed, Ms. Jean Coleman,
Ms. Esther Lara, Ms. Barbara Henk, Ms. Carol Bibeau and
Ms. Rebecca Kovacs for their unfailing support.
The Center remains committed to the diagnosis, treatment
and active pursuit of research in Alzheimer’s disease
and related dementing disorders. Fortunately, Dr. Jagust
oversaw tremendous growth in the Center with nearly a
doubling of Federal dollars for research support over
the last few years. I hope to follow his leadership by
further expanding the activities of the Center. In this
regard, we are pleased to announce the expansion of our
research activities to the new clinical research unit
at Mather Veterans Administration hospital. Not only will
this give us the opportunity to better serve some of our
older Veterans, but the new facility offers a more pleasant
and unhurried atmosphere for those of you who participate
in our longitudinal research studies.
NEW TREATMENTS FOR ALZHEIMER’S
DISEASE
Many of you may have already heard about Memantine (Nemenda
™) the new medication licensed this year for the
treatment of moderate to severely advanced Alzheimer’s
disease. Nemenda works through a mechanism of action different
from the currently available medications. Moreover, there
is some early evidence that Nemenda may have added benefit
to currently available medications when given in combination.
It also has few side effects. Please ask your doctor or
call the Center at (916) 734-5496 if you have any questions
about this new medication.
The ADC is also pleased to announce a new study for patients
with Mild Cognitive Impairment. This study is based on
new research that suggests that ‘brain exercise’
may help ward off Alzheimer’s disease. In collaboration
with Dr. Michael Merzenich at UCSF, the ADC has embarked
on a clinical trial to test the whether a computer based
form of ‘brain execise’ will improve the memory
and thinking capacity of individuals with mild impairments.
The Center will enroll 20 subjects for this pilot study.
We hope to have preliminary results by this fall.
NEW RESEACH ACTIVITIES
The National Institute on Aging has just announced the
award of a large research grant to study biological markers
of normal brain aging and change with Alzheimer’s
disease. The hope is that new imaging techniques will
be able to detect the onset and monitor the progression
of Alzheimer’s disease, offering the research community
new tools to test potential medications. The Neuroimaging
Initiative will involve the collaboration of over 40 ADCs
across the country and in Canada and is spearheaded by
Dr. Michael Weiner at UCSF. Our Center is involved with
this study at a number of levels and hopes to begin recruitment
of normal volunteers and patients with mild cognitive
impairment or early Alzheimer’s disease for the three-year
study sometime this fall.
The Center has also embarked on two other important studies.
Dr. Dan Mungas has received a grant from the National
Institute on Aging to study mild cognitive impairment
and dementia across ethnic and cultural boundaries. This
community based study will last five years and help him
to develop better tests to detect Alzheimer’s disease
and associated dementias. Dr. Charles DeCarli has also
received a grant from the National Institute on Aging
to study vascular causes of mild cognitive impairment.
Alzheimer’s disease remains the most common cause
of dementia, but silent cerebrovascular disease may make
older individuals more vulnerable to Alzheimer’s
disease. Dr. DeCarli’s study hopes to examine the
interaction of these two diseases.
ALZHEIMER’S MEETING IN PHILADELPHIA
Thousands of scientists and concerned individuals will
converge on Philadelphia this summer for the 9th International
Meeting of Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders.
This is one of the foremost research meetings of Alzheimer’s
disease research in the world. Expected highlights of
this meeting include reporting of treatment trials for
Mild Cognitive Impairment, use of new tools to detect
Alzheimer’s disease and newly developed treatment
strategies. I will summarize the highlights of this meeting
in our next newsletter.
A REMINDER
As you see, there have been a number of changes at the
Center, but some things never change. The success of the
Alzheimer’s Disease Center still depends on you the
volunteers, as well as your friends and families who support
your efforts. Thank all of you for your tremendous help
in making our ADC such a success as we strive to better
understand and treat this devastating disease.
