Your gifts to the Alzheimer's Research Center Fund have proven to be extremely helpful in our endeavors to expand our scientific research. Gifts may be sent directly to: Alzheimer's Research - Fund 7455 c/o Georgia Health Sciences University Foundation Alumni Center, FI-1003A Augusta, GA 30912

 

The Alzheimer's Research Center (ARC) and its core facility, the Animal Behavior Center, a state-of-the-art non-human primate facility of the Georgia Health Sciences University is directed by Alvin Terry, Ph.D., Professor of Neurology as well as Professor of Pharmacology and Toxicology.

About the Alzheimer's Research Center

Major Emphasis:

The Alzheimer's Research Center was developed to support collaborative basic and clinical research in the area of Alzheimer's disease and related neurodegenerative disorders, by (1) promoting interdisciplinary approaches to answering research questions, (2) providing a venue for regular meetings of its members for the purpose of sharing members' research findings, the latest published works in the field, and supporting visits to this campus by outside experts, (3) providing course materials and lectures related to Alzheimer's disease for undergraduate, graduate, and postgraduate student instruction , and (4) supporting two core facilities, the Neurological Disorder Database Registry, and the Animal Behavior Center.

Research Strengths of the GHSU Alzheimer's Research Center are as follows:

The Aging Brain--Clinical Research

1. New potential biological markers for Alzheimer's disease in human subjects are being characterized.
2. Care-givers of Alzheimer's disease patients are being studied to help improve physical and psychological well-being.

The Aging Brain--Basic Research

1. Aged rhesus monkeys serve as subjects for studies aimed at the development of novel therapeutic agents for the treatment of the cognitive disturbances associated with advanced age and for neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease.
2. The role of estrogen in the cognitive deficits associated with post-menopause in aged female monkeys, and the effects of estrogen replacement is being studied.
3. Drugs to delay the course of neurodegenerative diseases by increasing the expression of nerve growth factors are being studied.
4. New therapeutic agents to reverse attention deficits are being developed.
5. The neurotoxic effects of environmental neurotoxins and drugs to reverse the cognitive defects associated with exposure are being studied.
6. The mechanism for the deleterious cognitive effects of sustained hypertension are being studied.

Sources of Funding:

Members of the ARC derive funding for their research efforts primarily from the National Institutes of Health, the VA Medical Center, the Alzheimer's Association, the Georgia Research Alliance, and several pharmaceutical companies.

Total Professional Staff:

Prior to FY '99 the ARC staff included basic science faculty of the School of Medicine and the Clinical Pharmacy Program of the UGA. As of July 1, 1999, several new appointments to the ARC were made, primarily in the clinical area. Presently the staff (ARC membership) includes 13 senior faculty representing the GHSU School of Medicine, School of Nursing, School of Allied Health Sciences, the VA Medical Center, the UGA School of Pharmacy, UGA Department of Psychiatry, and the GHSU Center for Senior Health.

Relationship to the Medical School:

All ARC members have primary appointments in GHSU, UGA or VA departments. One of our UGA members has an adjunct appointment in the School of Medicine. Members of the ARC participate in all aspects of academic life on this campus, including, research, education, service and clinical practice. The ARC and its core facilities bring to GHSU a reputation for excellence in research, a setting for the continuing development of new funding initiatives, educational effectiveness at the professional level and for the lay public, and the promise of new therapeutic entities for the treatment of one of the most prevalent and devastating of diseases.