Harvard Catalyst Profiles

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a devastating neurodegenerative disorder and the primary cause of dementia. There is no cure currently available. The investigation will be committed to focusing on elucidating molecular mechanisms of AD pathogenesis on cellular and molecular levels. Understanding of these mechanisms will be further utilized to investigate novel pharmacological agents and identify those molecules that may reduce Alzheimer’s amyloid and tau pathological changes, which will be tested as potential therapeutics for AD. The specific roles are expected below: 1. To identify and characterize the effects of candidate pharmacological agents on levels of pathological Aß and tau proteins, associated with Alzheimer’s disease (AD), using biochemical and molecular biology in cell models 2. To further study of pharmacological agents on Aß - related downstream pathological changes on AD in cell models 3. To validate and assess the effects of prioritized select agents in AD animal models 4. To carry out experiments with other group members, and to develop research methods and prepare presentation and journal publications.