Alzheimer's Disease Center (ADC), funded by the National Institute on Aging of the National Institutes of Health since 1988, continues to provide an interdisciplinary approach to the issues related to Alzheimer's disease and related disorders on our campus.  The ADC grant was renewed in 2000 for $7.2 million and preparations for the next funding cycle are currently underway.  The ADC is made up of five Cores, or areas of concentration, guided by the Administrative Core that is directed by Roger Rosenberg, M.D.      

The Clinical Core, directed by Ramon Diaz-Arrastia, M.D., Ph.D., with Roger N. Rosenberg, M.D., Anne Lipton, M.D., Ph.D. and Kyle Womack, M.D., evaluated 157 new patients this past year with a database of 2500 patients cared for since 1988.  Clinical drug trials of a series of new agents are being conducted by Clinical Core physicians and staff. 

The Neuropathology Core, directed by Charles White, III, M.D. provides a comprehensive brain bank for tissue to be utilized for research purposes.  Autopsies from 25 individuals with Alzheimer's disease and related disorders were conducted this past year. 

The Data Management Core, directed by Joan Reisch, Ph.D., provides a database for all clinical and neuropathologic data on 2500 patients since 1988. 

The Education Core, directed by Margaret Higgins, M.S., continues to provide continuing education courses for patients, their families, health care professionals, and physicians.  The Core published the "Alzheimer's Researcher" highlighting our Center's activities which was mailed to 3,000 interested family members and health care professionals. Physician and Health Care Provider CME courses are presented yearly and community outreach activities this year included a “National Symposium on African Americans and Alzheimer’s Disease” and presentations throughout the eleven counties in Oklahoma that make up the Choctaw Nation.    

Activities: Weekly research and journal club conferences are held and are involving a major cross section of our neuroscience community concerning the biological advances in Alzheimer's research.   .  

Research Activities: The Alzheimer's Disease Center has funded two new pilot projects in 2004 for $30,000 each:

• “Insulysin abnormalities in AD” by Bonnie C. Miller, Ph.D., Roger N. Rosenberg, M.D., and Dwain L. Thiele.  
• "Role of PP2A Methyltransferase in Alzheimer’s disease pathogenesis," by Estelle Sontag, Ph.D. and Charles White, III, M.D. 

We initiated the Friends of the ADC which is a group of interested philanthropic citizens who wanted to support our research several years ago.  In this regard, the Friends’ group raised $50,000 each year for the past six years and supported basic research by our faculty to assist them in developing an Alzheimer's Disease Research Program.  The 2003 Friends of the ADC Grant Recipient is Dr. Gang Yu.  This year, the Friends directed $50,000 toward the research of Dr. Gang Yu, assistant professor in the Center for Basic Neuroscience at UT Southwestern and the Thomas O. Hicks Scholar in Medical Research.  Dr. Yu is investigating how changes in the proteins that cause Alzheimer's disease and other neurodegenerative disorders play a major role in damaging neurons, thus incapacitating the brain.  He is known for his landmark identification of a novel component of gamma-secretase, a protein complex involved in the biochemical understanding of Alzheimer's disease. 

Research Development: The Center continues to grow and develop clinical and research programs.   Faculty members at UT Southwestern have been awarded $520K in peer reviewed grants for pilot studies from the ADC and the Friends of the ADC.  This investment has been enriched by 21-fold as pilot studies have lead to federal or Alzheimer’s Association grants totaling $12M.  For example, Joachim Herz. M.D. received a $1.2M NIH grant and a $300K Alzheimer's Association grant to pursue research on the LDL family of receptors and AD. Estelle Sontag, Ph.D., received a $1.0M NIH grant "PP2A and Tauopathies".  Ramon Diaz-Arrastia, M.D., Ph.D. was funded by the NIH for $1.0M for "Hyperhomocysteinemia as a Risk Factor for AD".  Fred Baskin, Ph.D., Roger N. Rosenberg, M.D., and Munro Cullum, Ph.D., received a $300K Alzheimer's Association grant to study "Platelet Amyloid Precursor Protein Processing in AD." 

This progress in basic science funding for Alzheimer's disease has been a major objective for our ADC and ranks us as one of the important Center's contributing to AD research.  We have more than 30 individuals participating in Alzheimer's Disease Clinical and Research Programs on our faculty and our Center is recognized nationally as one of the most productive.  We published in excess of 160 peer reviewed scientific papers, chapters, and editorials in the past five years.