Posted on April 26, 1999 at 10:04 a.m.

BIRMINGHAM, AL — The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) has received a $5 million, five-year grant from the National Institute on Aging, a part of the National Institutes of Health, to establish an Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center. UAB is one of 29 such federally funded centers in the country.

“UAB has a long history of involvement with Alzheimer’s disease, from patient care, to basic research, to family and community outreach,” said Dr. Lindy Harrell, professor of neurology and director of the center. “This designation by the NIH recognizes that effort and the multi-disciplinary collaborations throughout the university that are critical to its success.”

The center features four core areas, including an administrative core headed by Harrell. The clinical core, under the direction of Dr. Britt Anderson, assistant professor of neurology, will recruit Alzheimer’s disease patients and healthy, older individuals for clinical trials of new medications, therapies and interventions.

The neuropathology core, under Steven Carroll, Ph.D., assistant professor of pathology, will examine brain tissue samples from patients and healthy adults to learn more about the progression of the disease. UAB’s Brain Resource Program, which preserves brain tissue for researchers studying Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, among other neurological conditions, is the only such brain tissue bank in the state.

An information transfer core, led by Kathryn Goode, Ph.D., research assistant professor of psychology, will provide education and information for professionals and the lay public, as well as oversee family outreach programs and continuing education efforts.

The center already has three research projects underway. Alan Stevens, Ph.D., assistant professor of gerontology and geriatric medicine, is investigating ways to alleviate the stress experienced by caregivers of Alzheimer’s disease patients.

Daniel Marson, Ph.D., assistant professor of neurology, is examining cognitive competency in Alzheimer’s patients, particularly as it relates to financial decision making ability.

Carroll is studying neuroregulins, proteins found in the central nervous system that help regulate normal brain function. He is looking to see if neuroregulins in Alzheimer’s disease patients are altered or affected by the disease.

The NIH grant will also allow the center to fund two additional research pilot projects in each of the next five years.