What Is the Wisconsin ADRC?

The Wisconsin Alzheimer's Disease Research Center is one of about 30 federally supported Alzheimer's Disease Centers in the country. Dr. Sanjay Asthana explains what makes the Wisconsin ADRC unique, the national effort to end Alzheimer’s disease, and the future of disease research. Guest: Sanjay Asthana, MD, associate dean of gerontology, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, and director and founder, Wisconsin Alzheimer's Disease Research Center

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Sanjay Asthana head shot
Dr Sanjay Asthana

Transcript

Intro: Welcome to Dementia Matters, a podcast created by the Wisconsin Alzheimer's Disease Research Center. It's our goal to humanize Alzheimer's research so that our community, our patients, our participants and anyone else interested, can get a better understanding of the work that's happening to fight back against this disease. My name is Nathaniel Chin and I'm a geriatric and memory clinic physician at the University of Wisconsin. I'm also the family member of someone living with dementia. I'll be serving as your host for this podcast and asking the questions I believe on the minds of many in our community. Thanks for joining us.

Chin: Today, we welcome Dr. Sanjay Asthana to Dementia Matters. You are the director of the UW Alzheimer's Disease Research Center or ADRC. You're also the founder of this particular center in Madison, but there are other centers like this one across the country. Can you explain to us, what is an ADRC? 

Asthana: Yes, absolutely. So the ADRC is a U.S.-government funded center. It is a center of excellence that focuses on Alzheimer's disease and dementia research. So what the center does, it brings together experts from around the University of Wisconsin campus and nationally and internationally that have the same motive of preventing Alzheimer's disease. So through the center, we do all kinds of research, which spans from molecules to clinical studies involving patients. And as the clinical results come out, distributing those results in the communities so doctors can use those results and start to treat patients. So the Alzheimer's Disease Research Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison is quite a unique center in the country and in does cutting-edge research in all aspects of Alzheimer's disease. 

Chin: Do certain centers have a particular focus, or do they cover the broad spectrum of Alzheimer's disease? 

Asthana: Yes, so there are about 28 ADRCs in the country that are funded by the National Institutes of Health, which is a federal agency that supports medical research in the United States. Our Center is quite unique in the fact that we focus on doing research on patients who don't have the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease. So most of them are middle-aged adults, but they are predisposed to the disease because either their family history or some other factors they have may increase the risk for Alzheimer's disease. And then we follow them up over the years and perform all kinds of tests like brain scans and memory tests, and we do their medical exams. We also collect their spinal fluid through lumber puncture and we follow those patients a number of times every year, every other year as they progress toward developing the disease. So the data that come out from yearly or biannual visits is helping us understand how the disease is caused and how it progresses over time and why some people develop the disease, but others don't. 

Chin: Now there's a national movement to end Alzheimer's and I believe it was President Obama who signed the National Alzheimer's Plan Act. Can you explain what their hope is? 

Asthana: Absolutely. This is one of the breakthrough acts, we believe, that President Obama signed at the end of 2011 and it went into full force in 2012. And its mission for the first time in the United States is to eradicate and cure Alzheimer's disease. And as a result of this act, which was Congressionally passed almost unanimously, the U.S. government is investing substantial funds and other resources so that it can increase the pace of research. And we have a target that by 2025 we have to find a cure for Alzheimer's disease. And our center and other centers like us in the country are really working hard and working together to win this disease and find a cure as a national mandate by 2025. 

Chin: Wow. Well that seems pretty ambitious, but I'm hopeful that we continue to work toward that goal. What do you see as hurdles to getting to 2025?

Asthana: You know Nate, that's a very important question and it is clear that the field of Alzheimer's research has come very, very far. I remember when I was a medical student, there was hardly a page in the textbook dedicated to Alzheimer's disease because we knew nothing about it. And just in the last few decades, as a result of extensive research right here in Wisconsin, in the United States and around the world, we understand a lot better what causes Alzheimer's disease, what genes are involved, what are the changes in the brain, in patients with Alzheimer's disease, and how the disease progresses. However, we still don't quite understand all the possible causes for Alzheimer's disease, and why certain changes take place in the brains, and what is the basis for those changes? So although we have improved the knowledge, we still don't have all the answers. So until that happens, our pace to find effective treatments and a cure, although it has increased, but really we need to do more work so that you really understand what causes Alzheimer's disease. And that's one of the hurdles. The other hurdle is we are always looking for more people to participate in research. Alzheimer's disease only affects human beings. It does not affect any other living species. So the only way we can win Alzheimer disease is by human beings participating in research. So we are looking for a number of participants right here in Wisconsin in our ADRC. Especially those who have a diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment or MCI and those who may not have a family history of Alzheimer's. I think we are specifically looking for those and also those who have a diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease and that is the case nationally. So we need more participation of human volunteers into research. And the third is lack of funding. Alzheimer's disease nationally compared to heart disease or cancer, had the least funding from the federal government, and we need to really invest more money into Alzheimer's research. So the three major hurdles are better understanding of what causes Alzheimer's, more participation of volunteers into research, and increase federal and other funding for Alzheimer's. 

Chin: Well, thank you again, Dr. Asthana for coming in for our podcast. We appreciate having you. 

Asthana: My pleasure. Thank you. 

Credits: Dementia Matters is brought to you by the Wisconsin Alzheimer's Disease Research Center. The Wisconsin Alzheimer's Disease Research Center combines academic, clinical, and research expertise from the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health and the geriatric research education and clinical center of the William S. Middleton Memorial Veterans Hospital in Madison, Wisconsin. It receives funding from private, university, state, and national sources, including a grant from the National Institutes of Health for Alzheimer's Disease Centers. This episode was produced by Rebecca Wasieleski and recorded and edited by Alex Wehrli. Our musical jingle is "Cases to Rest," by Blue Dot Sessions. Check out our website at adrc.wisc.edu. You can also follow us on Twitter and Facebook. If you have any questions or comments, email us at dementiamatters@medicine.wisc.edu. Thanks for listening.