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…
Read More
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>
Read More
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…
Read More
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…
Read More
The 23rd UCI Distinguished Lecture Series on Brain, Learning, and Memory hosted by UCI MIND, UCI School of Biological Sciences, and UCI Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory was held on February 7, 2017, at the Irvine Barclay Theatre. Dr. Ruth Benca, UCI MIND faculty member and Professor and Chair of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, delivered a lecture on sleep and brain health to over 850 community members, the largest attendance for this series to date. Dr. Benca’s engaging presentation first addressed why human’s need sleep and some of the common disorders that interfere with the critical sleep…
Read More
MedPage Today February 8, 2017 Learn more about a recent research study conducted by UCI MIND Co-Director, Dr. Joshua Grill, and colleagues to better understand patient and caregiver reactions to clinical amyloid imaging. Read more>
Read More
U.S. News & World Report February 6, 2017 "This is not a deal-breaker," co-author Charles Limoli, a neurobiologist at the University of California, Irvine, said last fall. "I do not think that during the course of a trip to Mars and back the astronauts will come back with anything remotely similar to full-blown Alzheimer's. But more mild changes, more subtle changes − they would still be concerning, given the level of autonomy astronauts operate under and the amount of work they have to do." Read more>
Read More
December 6, 2016 Joshua Grill, PhD, and Aimee Pierce, MD This week, at the Clinical Trials on Alzheimer’s Disease (CTAD) meeting in San Diego, we will likely learn more about the recent announcement from Eli Lilly and company that their Phase 3 clinical trial of the monoclonal antibody against the soluble form of beta amyloid, solanezumab, did not demonstrate adequate efficacy to pursue approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Until then, here is what we do know: The drug solanezumab failed, but the trial didn’t. The purpose of the trial was to measure whether solanezumab was safe and…
Read More
December 1, 2016 KCAL9/CBS2 If you missed UCI MIND Gala Co-Chairs, Lucy & Roger Lisabeth, on KCAL 9 last night, tune into CBS 2 Los Angeles tonight at 5pm with Elsa Ramon to hear their powerful story. Learn more about what the Lisabeths and UCI MIND are doing in the fight against Alzheimer's disease here.
Read More
