Discoveries from the Region’s First Brain Bank
Event Date & Time
August 20, 2019 at 5:00-6:30pmLocation
UT Health San Antonio MD Anderson Cancer Center, Mabee Conference Room 4th Floor, 7979 Wurzbach Road, San Antonio, TX 78229Event Details:
The Biggs Institute for Alzheimer’s and Neurodegenerative Diseases brings the region’s first brain bank to advance research in the evaluation and diagnosis of neurodegenerative diseases and healthy brain aging.
Only when a brain is donated are researchers able to study the tissue under a microscope for hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease and signs of other types of dementia answering many important questions asked by both family members and researchers.
For researchers, a donation also serves as a valuable insight for teaching the next generation of physicians and scientists and is the foundation for uncovering novel discoveries, biomarkers and treatments related to the brain and neurodegeneration.
Join us for open discussion and Q&A on the Brain Bank, the outcomes and the unlimited potential that comes from this selfless gift.
Event is free and open to the public. Light refreshments and snacks will be provided.
Register nowAbout the Speaker(s)
Kevin Bieniek, Ph.D., is director of the brain bank at the university’s Glenn Biggs Institute for Alzheimer’s and Neurodegenerative Diseases at UT Health San Antonio.
Dr. Bieniek led neurodegenerative research at the Mayo Clinic before bringing his studies to UT Health San Antonio. He studies the emphasis on the pathology of neurodegenerative disorders, especially frontotemporal dementia, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). Dr. Bieniek’s laboratory has sought to elucidate the pathophysiology of CTE by studying the relationships between traumatic brain injury exposure in contact sports, underlying burden and distribution pathology, hereditary genetic risk factors and resulting neurocognitive deficits. In 2018, he was the recipient of the Franz Nissl Young Investigator Award from the International Society of Neuropathology.