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Brain neurons illustration
Researchers near effective Alzheimer's treatment
Alzheimer's disease is one of today's most devastating afflictions, but according to Weill Cornell Medical College researchers, there is reason to have hope.
That was the message at the inaugural Appel Alzheimer's Disease Research Institute symposium, hosted at Weill Cornell Medical College late last semester. The symposium brought together scientists and clinicians from diverse areas of research to better understand the disease. "I truly believe we are poised at the brink of coming up with treatments and, even more importantly, prevention strategies to combat Alzheimer's disease and other neurodegenerative diseases," said Dr. Laurie H. Glimcher, the Stephen and Suzanne Weiss Dean of Weill Cornell Medical College. Presenters traced the development of Alzheimer's disease diagnosis and treatment from Auguste Deter - the first patient diagnosed by Dr. Alois Alzheimer with the disease in 1906 - to current drug therapies and clinical trials.
"We can now assess people - look at their genetic risk, in many cases, by measuring a gene or genetic risk factor," said Dr. Steven Paul, director of the Helen and Robert Appel Alzheimer's Disease Research Institute and professor of neuroscience in the Brain and Mind Research Institute. "We can then look at biomarkers to see whether that disease process has started in the brain. We can follow and track the progression of the disease, and hopefully intervene with a therapy that will actually modify the disease," Paul continued. "And if we go early enough, it is my belief, and the belief of many, that we might be able to not only slow the disease down, but potentially prevent it completely." Alzheimer's disease affects 5 million Americans. By midcentury there are expected to be some 16 million people suffering from Alzheimer's at a cost of $1 trillion a year. "When we think about the impact of Alzheimer's disease in this country and around the world, it's a very sobering thought," Glimcher said.
But the researchers said that enormous advances have been made in Alzheimer's research.
"I think we are on the verge of disease-modifying therapies," Paul said. "We have a long way to go, but I think we are now able to test some clinical hypotheses for the first time that offer a ray of hope." That's exactly the point of the Appel Alzheimer's Disease Research Institute, supported by Helen and Robert Appel '53.
"The Appels understand how absolutely critical research and discovery is to eventually rid the world of this disease, which is virtually a medical epidemic," Glimcher said. "This is just one gift among many the Appels have made to Weill Cornell Medical College, and it isn't simply the gifts that tell the tale. The Appels have invested so much time and devotion and energy to this institution." The symposium also featured presentations from Dr. Norman Relkin, associate professor of clinical neurology and associate professor of neuroscience in the Brain and Mind Research Institute; Dr. Costantino Iadecola, professor of neuroscience and director of the Brain and Mind Research Institute and the Anne Parrish Titzell Professor of Neurology; Dr. Gregory Petsko, the Arthur J. Mahon Professor and professor of neuroscience in the Brain and Mind Research Institute; and Dr. Matthew Fink, professor of clinical neurology and chairman of the Department of Neurology.
From left, Dr. Costantino Iadecola, Robert Appel, Dr. Gregory Petsko, Dr. Laurie H. Glimcher, Dr. Steven Paul, Dr. Norman Relkin, Helen Appel and Dr. Matthew Fink at the inaugural Appel Alzheimer's Disease Research Institute Symposium, hosted at Weill Cornell last fall. Photo: Janet Charles Photography.