ADRC Research

The Stanford Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center (ADRC) supports internal research in the form of large research projects conducted over a five year period and smaller pilot projects, with new pilot projects selected each year.  The ADRC also supports research by other qualified investigators at Stanford and from other institutions.  Center support takes various forms, including de-identified data (clinical, neuropsychological, neuroimaging, genetic, biospecimen, or neuropathological data), tissues and biospecimens, access to well-characterized ADRC participants who have agreed to be contacted, imaging expertise, and biostatistical expertise.

Research Project 1

Synaptic function of gamma-secretase and AD: role of neurexins and neuroligins

Principal investigator: Thomas C. Südhof, MD

Dr. Südhof’s research uses a mouse model of familial Alzheimer’s disease to investigate the role of a crucial protein implicated in the loss of nerve cell connections and nerve cell death in this disorder.

Dr. Südhof is the Avram Goldstein Professor in the School of Medicine and Professor (by courtesy) of Neurology and Neurological Sciences and of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Medicine, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He is recipient of the Kavli Prize in Neuroscience (2010), the Lasker~DeBakey Basic Medical Research Award (Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation, 2013), and the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (2013).

Research Project 2

Working memory in Parkinson disease: a cognitive & systems neuroscience approach  

Principal investigator: Kathleen L. Poston, MD, MS

Working memory, which involves focused attention and mental manipulation, forms the foundation for higher-order thought processes.  It is impaired in many patients with Parkinson’s disease.  Dr. Poston’s research uses functional MRI to investigate brain activation and functional connections associated with working memory in patients with mild cognitive impairment, with or without co-occurring Parkinson’s disease.

Dr. Poston is Assistant Professor of Neurology and Neurological Sciences and (by courtesy) of Neurosurgery.

Year 2, pilot research project 1

Principal investigators: Anne Brunet, PhD  and Daniel F. Jarosz, PhD

Developing the African killifish as a new system to model the age-dependency, genetics, and spread of Alzheimer’s disease

Year 2, pilot research project 2

Principal Investigators: Dolores Gallagher-Thompson, PhD and Edward D. Plowey, MD, PhD

The impact of Latino values and cultural beliefs on brain donation

Year 1, pilot research project 1

Principal investigators: Michael Bassik, PhD and Aaron D. Gitler, PhD  

Identification of regulators of α-synuclein toxicity using high complexity shRNA and CRISPR/sgRNA screens

Year 1, pilot research project 2

Principal investigator: Michael Zeineh, MD, PhD

In Vivo MR microscopic imaging of Alzheimer's disease at 7T