ADRC News

Ozioma Okonkwo, PhD, has been invited to lead the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI)'s new Diversity Taskforce. This taskforce will work to develop strategies to increase the rate of recruitment of under-represented minorities, analyze and publish existing ADNI data related to diversity and health disparities, and generate scientific aims relevant to health disparities for the study.

ADNI is a longitudinal multi-center study with 63 contributing sites, including the Wisconsin Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center (ADRC).

Scientists discovered a new gene associated with Alzheimer’s disease that is involved with the development of amyloid plaques in the brain. In a study by the Columbia University Irving Medical Center and published in JAMA Neurology, researchers concluded that reduced expression of the gene RBFOX1 correlated with higher levels of amyloid in the brain and decreased thinking skills in participants. 

The research team, which included Wisconsin ADRC investigators Sterling Johnson, PhD, and Corinne...

Scientists within the Wisconsin Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center and internationally have found evidence that tau PET (positron emission tomography) scans are highly specific to Alzheimer’s disease. In a study published in December 2019, Tobey Betthauser, PhD, concluded that the presence of both amyloid and tau protein deposits are associated with cognitive decline during the preclinical phase of Alzheimer’s disease. Similarly, a study led by Oskar Hansson of Skåne University Hospital in Sweden and published...

Older African Americans are about twice as likely as older non-Hispanic white people to develop Alzheimer’s disease or other dementias. A recent article in O The Oprah Magazine examines these disparities and offers hope for the future.

Several prominent Alzheimer's disease researchers are featured in the article, including Wisconsin ADRC faculty affiliate Megan Zuelsdorff, PhD, assistant professor in the UW School of Nursing. Zuelsdorff studies chronic stress and Alzheimer's disease.

"Researchers Explain Why Black Americans...

Voice of the Wisconsin Badgers, Matt Lepay, is raising awareness of Alzheimer's disease and promoting researchers at the UW through a new public service announcement. In the message, Lepay, who lost his mother to Alzheimer’s disease in 2017, talks about his mother’s disease and why it inspired him to share his family’s story. The PSA is running on iHeart radio stations throughout Wisconsin.

A news story about Lepay featured UW Health memory care doctor and Alzheimer’s...

People in the most disadvantaged neighborhoods in the United States may face greater odds of developing Alzheimer’s disease-related brain changes, according to researchers at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health.

Using a technique they developed that links neighborhood socioeconomic information with brain bank samples, researchers found an association between neighborhood disadvantage and the presence of Alzheimer’s disease-related brain changes shown during an autopsy. Study data showed that people who lived in the...

Art Walaszek, MD, a geriatric psychiatrist at UW Health and investigator in the Wisconsin ADRC, was a recent guest on Wisconsin Public Radio's "The Morning Show." He discussed how COVID-19 is affecting people with dementia, shared tips for dementia prevention, and answered listener questions.

"Can Positive Thinking Prevent Dementia?" aired on WPR on June 10, 2020. Listen to an archived recording of the program.

The Wisconsin Partnership Program at the UW School of Medicine and Public Health recently announced 22 new grants totaling $2.7 million to researchers and community organizations across Wisconsin for their efforts to lessen the impact of COVID-19. One of those grants was awarded to a team of principal investigators that includes Carey Gleason, PhD, MS, Wisconsin Alzheimer's Disease Research Center; Melissa Metoxen, MS, Native American Center for Health Professions community and academic support coordinator; and...

The National Institute on Aging (NIA) featured participants from the Wisconsin ADRC on a new webpage that aims to educate people about the process of brain donation and how people can enroll in a brain donation program. "Brain Donation: A Gift for Future Generations" explains how brain donation helps researchers study brain disorders, such as Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias, and how researchers can learn the most from donations from people who participated in research...

Research shows that there is a disproportionate risk for Alzheimer’s disease (AD) among some groups of people. Women, people living in rural communities, people of color, and people experiencing socioeconomic disadvantages are all more likely to develop AD. By studying these risk differences, researchers gain valuable insights to better understand the disease and interventions that can reduce risk. Recently, researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison found that a stress-related pathway contributes to cognitive aging and...