About the Alzheimer's Research Center
Major Emphasis:
The Alzheimer's Research Center was developed to support collaborative basic
and clinical research in the area of Alzheimer's disease and related
neurodegenerative disorders, by (1) promoting interdisciplinary approaches
to answering research questions, (2) providing a venue for regular meetings
of its members for the purpose of sharing members'
research findings, the latest published works in the field, and supporting
visits to this campus by outside experts, (3) providing course materials and
lectures related to Alzheimer's disease for undergraduate, graduate, and
postgraduate student instruction , and (4) supporting two core facilities,
the Neurological Disorder Database Registry, and the Animal Behavior Center.
Research Strengths of the MCG Alzheimer's Research Center
are as follows:
The Aging Brain--Clinical Research
- New potential biological markers for Alzheimer's disease in human subjects are being characterized.
- Care-givers of Alzheimer's disease patients are being studied to help improve physical and psychological well-being.
The Aging Brain--Basic Research
- Aged rhesus monkeys serve as subjects for studies aimed at the development of novel therapeutic agents for the treatment of the cognitive disturbances associated with advanced age and for neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease.
- The role of estrogen in the cognitive deficits associated with post-menopause in aged female monkeys, and the effects of estrogen replacement is being studied.
- Drugs to delay the course of neurodegenerative diseases by increasing the expression of nerve growth factors are being studied.
- New therapeutic agents to reverse attention deficits are being developed.
- The neurotoxic effects of environmental neurotoxins and drugs to reverse the cognitive defects associated with exposure are being studied.
- The mechanism for the deleterious cognitive effects of sustained hypertension are being studied.
Sources of Funding:
Members of the ARC derive funding for their research efforts primarily from
the National Institutes of Health, the VA Medical Center, the Alzheimer's
Association, the Georgia Research Alliance, and several pharmaceutical
companies.
Total Professional Staff:
Prior to FY '99 the ARC staff included basic
science faculty of the School of Medicine and the Clinical Pharmacy Program
of the UGA. As of July 1, 1999, several new appointments to the ARC were
made, primarily in the clinical area. Presently the staff (ARC membership)
includes:
13 senior faculty representing the MCG School of Medicine, School of
Nursing, School of Allied Health Sciences, the VA Medical Center, the UGA
School of Pharmacy, UGA Department of Psychiatry, and the MCG Center for
Senior Health.
Relationship to the Medical
School:
All ARC members have primary appointments in MCG, UGA or VA departments. One
of our UGA members has an adjunct appointment in the School of Medicine.
Members of the ARC participate in all aspects of academic life on this
campus, including, research, education, service and clinical practice. The
ARC and its core facilities bring to MCG a reputation for excellence in
research, a setting for the continuing development of new funding
initiatives, educational effectiveness at the professional level and for the
lay public, and the promise of new therapeutic entities for the treatment of
one of the most prevalent and devastating of diseases.