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UCI researchers announce urgent need for Alzheimer’s clinical trial participants

By In the News
"UCI MIND, Orange County’s only state and federally funded Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, is calling on Orange County residents age 65 to 85 who have normal memory function to help in meeting its urgent need for study participants in an active clinical study now underway. The researchers are hoping to find new ways to prevent, slow, and/or stop Alzheimer’s disease before it begins..." read more>
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FDA approves 23andMe for limited direct-to-consumer genetic risk testing

By Commentary, In the News
by Joshua Grill, PhD April 12, 2017 On April 6, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) partially reversed an earlier decision to halt direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic testing by the company 23andMe, a personal genomics company based in Silicon Valley. The new decision approves the company to provide “genetic health risk reports” for 10 diseases, including 8 rare disorders—Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency, Celiac Disease, Early-Onset Primary Dystonia, Factor XI Deficiency, G6PD Deficiency, Gaucher Disease, Hereditary Hemochromatosis, and Hereditary Thrombophilia—and two common age-related neurological disorders—Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease (AD). After age, the strongest risk factor for AD is genetics. The e4…
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Moving from the bedside to the desktop: Dr. Joshua Grill on employing analytics to further Alzheimer’s disease clinical trial designs

By In the News
by Mary Rechtoris - April 5, 2017 Researchers spanning the nation are working to employ analytics to drive real changes for patients with various conditions. Joshua Grill, PhD, co-director of the Memory Impairments Neurological Disorders Institute at University of California Irvine, details how he and fellow researchers are using analytics systems for clinical trials on Alzheimer's disease research and how data may shape trials moving forward...
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A quick cure for Alzheimer’s?

By Commentary, In the News
by Joshua Grill, PhD Letters: A quick cure for Alzheimer's? OC Register, March 29, 2017 Re: “Is Alzheimer’s treatment of injecting stem cells into the brain a breakthrough or quackery?” : The Register recently reported on a local neurosurgeon who is injecting liposuctioned stem cell serum into the brain of a patient with Alzheimer’s disease for $10,000 per treatment. The neurosurgeon says the patient is improving...
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UCI MIND faculty member, Dr. Claudia Kawas, awarded 2017 Potamkin Prize!

By In the News
American Academy of Neurology March 22, 2017 UCI MIND faculty member, Dr. Claudia Kawas, was announced as one of two recipients of the 2017 Potamkin Prize for her dementia research in The 90+ Study. Dr. Kawas has studied over 1,700 people over the age of 90, called the "oldest-old," to understand more about brain aging and Alzheimer's disease in the fastest-growing population segment throughout much of the world.  The $100,000 Potamkin Prize is an internationally-recognized achievement, sometimes referred to as the Nobel Prize of Alzheimer's research. The other recipient, Dr. Kristine Yaffe from UCSF, focuses on modifiable risk factors for dementia, such as sleep disturbances and traumatic…
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2017 Research Update: Intense Study, Rapid Progress

By Community Events
PC: Alzheimer's Orange County On March 14, UCI MIND’s community partner, Alzheimer’s Orange County, held their annual Research Update on Alzheimer’s disease at the Bowers Museum. The update was, for the second straight year, delivered by UCI MIND Co-Director, Dr. Joshua Grill. Dr. Grill described the current “state of the science” in understanding Alzheimer’s disease risk and way to lower that risk, new tools for use in diagnosing Alzheimer’s disease, and the critical pursuit of FDA-approved disease-modifying therapies. If you were unable to attend, you can watch a video here, courtesy of Alzheimer’s Orange County. If you’d like to attend a…
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Hundreds attended UCI MIND’s “Ask the Doc” at South OC Senior Day on March 10th

By Community Events
Thank you to all who attended UCI MIND’s “Ask the Doc” this morning at South OC Senior Day provided by Senator Pat Bates and Assemblyman Bill Brough! Drs. Joshua Grill, Aimee Pierce, Mark Mapstone, and Kim Green answered many important and thoughtful questions from over 500 community members. Still have questions? Be sure to join us at our next "Ask the Doc,” May 2nd at Alzheimer's Orange County. Register here>  
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In response to March 5th OC Register article on stem cell therapy

By In the News
by Joshua Grill, PhD March 9, 2017 Clinical trials: Trust the process Patients with Alzheimer’s disease and their families are desperate. Currently, no treatment can cure or even slow the course of this insidious and unrelenting brain disease. Scientists are desperate too. Many of us have committed our lives to improving the way we understand, diagnose, and treat this terrible disorder. A few weeks ago, I was asked to comment on an anecdote: a single patient whose own fat was liposuctioned and injected into his brain. I was told that the patient and his neurosurgeon were convinced that he had…
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Verubecestat: Another one bites the dust?

By In the News
by Joshua Grill, PhD February 15, 2017 Merck announced on Tuesday, February 14, that yet another clinical trial of a promising Alzheimer’s disease drug had failed. The trial was testing the safety and efficacy of verubecestat, an oral therapy that, at some doses, can reduce amyloid beta production by as much as 90% (Kennedy et al., Science 2016). The trial was being conducted in patients with mild-to-moderate dementia and was stopped because it was determined early that there was essentially no chance of showing a clinical benefit of the drug, compared to placebo. Perhaps importantly, based on the limited available…
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