Sudha Seshadri, MD

Founding director, Glenn Biggs Institute for Alzheimer’s and Neurodegenerative Diseases
Robert R. Barker Distinguished University Professor of Neurology, Psychiatry and Cellular and Integrative Physiology
Senior Investigator, the Framingham Heart Study

Since 2005, she has served as professor of neurology and attending neurologist at Boston University School of Medicine. She also completed her residency and served as chief resident in neurology there. She earned her medical degree from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi, India.

She is a senior investigator for the seminal Framingham Heart Study, has had peer reviewed research continuously funded by the National Institutes of Health for 10 years, and currently serves as the principal investigator on eight NIH U01 or R01 grants.

She has lectured extensively, nationally and internationally, on Alzheimer’s disease, dementia and the genetics of stroke and vascular brain injury.

Dr. Seshadri enjoys a superb reputation in both science and clinical care and is a recognized thought leader in Alzheimer’s disease having recently co-authored position papers disseminated by the National Academy of Sciences on Preventing Cognitive Decline and Dementia: A Way Forward, and by the American Heart Association with a paper titled Defining Optimal Brain Health in Adults.

In addition to her title as founding director of the Glenn Biggs Institute, Dr. Seshadri is a professor of neurology in the Joe R. & Teresa Lozano Long School of Medicine with secondary appointments in the Departments of Psychiatry and Cell and Integrative Physiology.

Bess Frost, PhD

Associate Professor
Bartell Zachry Distinguished Professor for Research in Neurodegenerative Disorders
Department of Cell Systems & Anatomy
Sam & Ann Barshop Institute for Longevity & Aging Studies
Glenn Biggs Institute for Alzheimer’s and Neurodegenerative Diseases

The research focus of Dr. Frost’s laboratory revolves around the basic neurobiology connecting toxic forms of tau to neuronal death and dysfunction. Dr. Frost’s contributions to neurodegenerative disease research have recently earned her an O’Donnell Award in Medicine from The Academy of Medicine, Engineering and Science of Texas as well as a Standout Achievement Award from CurePSP. The Frost laboratory has discovered that the detrimental effects of pathogenic tau on nuclear and genomic architecture activate retrotransposons and alter RNA trafficking. Through this work, they have identified multiple new targets for therapeutic development, as well as compounds that interfere with these processes and suppress tau-induced neurotoxicity. Based on these findings, Dr. Frost and her team have recently initiated a Phase IIa clinical trial, ART-AD, in which they are testing the brain penetrance, target engagement and effects on neurodegeneration and inflammation of the reverse transcriptase inhibitor 3TC in patients with early Alzheimer’s disease.

In addition to her scientific efforts, Dr. Frost is a member of the Tau Consortium and serves on the scientific advisory board of CurePSP. She also leads the UT Health Aging Brain Working Group, which aims to bridge the gap between basic science and clinical research.

Contact:
BFrost@uthscsa.edu