Research and Progress
San Antonio Express News: UTSA awards $4 million to Alzheimer’s researchers around the world
June 9, 2022
Bess Frost, PhD, Bartell Zachry Distinguished Professor for Research in Neurodegenerative Disorders at the Biggs Institute for Alzheimer’s and Neurodegenerative Disorders at UT Health San Antonio, has been awarded $500,000 to advance her studies on the causes of Alzheimer’s disease. Frost is currently enrolling patients with a diagnosis of early Alzheimer’s for a trial studying […]
Rapamycin increases Alzheimer’s-associated plaques in mice, study finds
June 7, 2022
The research also reveals a novel way to decrease the plaques. This is a potential drug target. Researchers from The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UT Health San Antonio) have found that oral administration of rapamycin to an Alzheimer’s disease mouse model causes an increase in beta (β)-amyloid protein plaques. β-amyloid […]
NIA: Senescent brain cells may contribute to Alzheimer’s disease
May 26, 2022
New research shows senescent brain cells, damaged cells that do not die off, are found more in Alzheimer’s disease than in people without the disease. The study was led by researchers at NIA-supported Alzheimer’s Disease Research Centers at the Wake Forest University School of Medicine and the Biggs Institute at the University of Texas Health […]
Med Page Today: Brain Aging Markers Tied to Inflammatory Foods
May 16, 2022
New research is revealing how high inflammatory foods are connected brain aging markers and cerebral small vessel disease. Debora Melo van Lent, PhD, a postdoctoral researcher at the Biggs Institute for Alzheimer’s and Neurodegenerative Diseases, speaks to this research of a high inflammatory diet. To read the article, visit MedPageToday.com.
In the race to solve Alzheimer’s disease, scientists find more needles in the haystack
April 20, 2022
21 million. That’s the number of genetic variations in the human genome that researchers are sifting to identify patterns predisposing people to Alzheimer’s disease. Thanks to international collaboration, more genetic variations for Alzheimer’s disease are known today than ever before. The list of gene variants recognized for late-onset Alzheimer’s grew from one in 2009 to […]
In the quest for a TBI therapy, astrocytes may be the bull’s-eye
February 11, 2022
Growing evidence suggests that traumatic brain injury (TBI) is an important risk factor for developing Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. But to date, effective therapies aren’t available for preventing or treating TBI-induced disease. Scientists may be on to something, though. New studies from The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UT Health San Antonio), published […]
UT Health San Antonio, University Health perform region’s first surgery for Alzheimer’s disease
February 1, 2022
The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UT Health San Antonio) and clinical partner University Health are among 27 sites worldwide (18 in the U.S., one in Canada and eight in Germany) evaluating the effectiveness of a technique called deep brain stimulation (DBS) in treating patients with mild Alzheimer’s disease. DBS is […]
Landmark national study resumes after COVID-enforced pause
January 24, 2022
After a 15-month-long COVID-19 stoppage, a landmark National Institutes of Health effort to detail the exact molecular mechanisms that explain exercise’s health and anti-aging benefits is again under way. The Molecular Transducers of Physical Activity Consortium (MoTrPAC) will collect blood, fat and muscle samples before, during and after exercise from around 2,600 volunteers spread across […]
TPR: Latinos are disproportionately impacted by Alzheimer’s. South Texas researchers want to find out why.
December 28, 2021
Statistical data shows “clustering” of Alzheimer’s cases in specific communities — not spread out evenly like other diseases. To read the full article, visit Texas Public Radio.
Researchers develop a method to detect toxic brain cells; this could be a step toward a new Alzheimer’s treatment
December 10, 2021
Emerging evidence suggests it may be possible to treat Alzheimer’s disease by targeting therapy at senescent cells in the brain. Today (Dec. 10) in the journal Nature Aging, a team from The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio and Wake Forest School of Medicine reported the first method, based on computational analysis, to […]