Neurogenerative Diseases

Researchers in the Division of Surgical Science are focusing on investigating potential causes of Alzheimer's disease (AD). The National Institutes of Aging has awarded a program project grant on mechanisms of cell stress and survival in neurodegenerative disorders to Dr. Shi Du Yan and her collaborators in the Departments of Surgery, Pathology, Obstetrics & Gynecology, and Medicine. Their grant work focuses on the role of two molecular targets of amyloid-beta peptide(Aß). Investigations with genetically manipulated mice have suggested that this peptide may be the central agent causing neuronal dysfunction in Alzheimer's disease. Drs. Richard Mayeux and Michael L. Shelanski from the Taub Institute for Research on Alzheimer's Disease and the Aging Brain at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia are key collaborators in this work.