Vanderbilt Memory and Alzheimer’s Center Archives
VUMC forms center focused on Alzheimer’s and related dementias
Oct. 1, 2020—Leaders at Vanderbilt University Medical Center have announced that the Vanderbilt Memory and Alzheimer’s Center (VMAC), currently housed in the Department of Neurology, will become a freestanding institutional center.
VUMC to lay groundwork for Tennessee’s first federally funded Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center
Sep. 10, 2020—Angela Jefferson, PhD, professor of Neurology and director of the Vanderbilt Memory and Alzheimer’s Center, has been awarded a $3.7 million, three-year grant from the National Institute on Aging (NIA) to support establishment of a prospective NIA-funded Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center (ADRC) at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
New clue to Alzheimer’s disease
Sep. 3, 2020—Combining studies of genetically diverse mouse populations and human data led to the identification of a gene associated with cognitive decline and brain changes in Alzheimer’s disease.
Grant supports research on abnormal brain aging
Aug. 6, 2020—With the aid of an $18.2 million, five-year grant renewal from the National Institute on Aging, the Vanderbilt Memory and Aging Project (VMAP) will advance interdisciplinary research into abnormal brain aging and cognitive decline in older adults, with continuing emphasis on the role of blood flow changes in the heart and brain.
New study examines Alzheimer’s disease images and molecular biomarkers
May. 7, 2020—Alzheimer’s disease (AD) involves distinctive wasting away of certain brain regions, such that medical imaging of these regions can distinguish the disease from other subtypes of dementia.
Grant bolsters Schrag’s Alzheimer’s disease research
Oct. 17, 2019—Matthew Schrag, MD, PhD, assistant professor of Neurology, has received a Paul B. Beeson Emerging Leaders Career Development Award in Aging for research into the function of a novel protein linked to Alzheimer’s disease risk.
Small vessel disease MRI marker linked to worse cognitive health in older adults
Mar. 21, 2019—Enlarged perivascular spaces, which are commonly seen on brain MRIs in older adults, have important associations with worse cognitive performance, particularly information processing speed and executive function, according to a new study that challenges historical consideration that perivascular spaces are a harmless imaging marker.
Study links aortic stiffness with lower cerebral blood flow
Aug. 30, 2018—Greater aortic stiffness is related to lower cerebral blood flow, especially among individuals with increased genetic predisposition to Alzheimer’s disease, according to research from Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
Study provides robust evidence of sex differences with Alzheimer’s gene
May. 7, 2018—The APOE gene, the strongest genetic risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease, may play a more prominent role in disease development among women than men, according to new research from the Vanderbilt Memory and Alzheimer’s Center.
Research links heart function to brain’s memory center
Nov. 8, 2017—Research by a team of Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) scientists suggests that older people whose hearts pump less blood have blood flow reductions in the temporal lobe regions of the brain, where Alzheimer’s pathology first begins.
Tool sought for doctors to quickly identify patients at risk for cognitive decline
Jun. 2, 2016—Katherine Gifford, Psy.D., is testing simple questions to see which ones yield the most reliable results as she develops a questionnaire for primary care providers to quickly identify patients at risk for cognitive decline.
Investigators explore African ancestry, Alzheimer’s risk
Apr. 28, 2016—Higher genomic levels of African ancestry are associated with an increased risk for Alzheimer’s disease, a consortium of investigators reported recently in Alzheimer’s & Dementia.
