Margaret Flanagan, MD
Endowed Baptist Health Foundation of San Antonio’s Distinguished Chair in Alzheimer's and Neurodegenerative Diseases
Personal Statement:
South Texas Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center Neuropathology Core Leader
Director of the Brain Bank at the Biggs Institute
Nun Study Director
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Education
Medical School: Trinity College Dublin, Ireland
Pathology Residency: University of Washington, Seattle, WA
Neuropathology Fellowship: University of Washington, Seattle, WA, and Stanford University, Stanford, CA
Post-Doctoral Fellowship: Stanford University, Stanford, CA
Research
Dr. Flanagan’s professional goal is to identify and delineate pathophysiologic mechanisms underlying dementia to enable future development of diagnostic and therapeutic interventions. Dr. Flanagan has substantial experience in biospecimen banking and diagnostic neuropathology. She developed a brain autopsy protocol that significantly reduced costs and efforts while maintaining the diagnostic breadth of the original NIA-AA guidelines. She has participated in an international, multidisciplinary working group that presented consensus-based guidelines for diagnosis using a condensed sampling and staining protocol for the staging of Limbic-predominant Age-related TDP43 Encephalopathy (LATE) neuropathological changes. Her laboratory utilizes multidisciplinary approaches, including quantitative molecular platforms, biomarker development, biostatistics and epidemiologic assessments to identify and delineate the molecular mechanisms of dementia using rigorous and unbiased approaches and she is working towards subsequently developing feasible biomarkers for detecting preclinical neurodegeneration. She serves as the Co-Director of the Bigg’s Brain Bank which Dr. Bieniek directs in addition to serving as the Neuropathology Core Leader for the South Texas ADRC, and Director of the iconic Nun Study on Aging and Alzheimer’s disease. Lastly, she is a founding member of the National Digital Pathology Working Group and lead our 24+ month digital pathology webinar series that was co-hosted by the National Alzheimer’s Coordinating Center.
Affiliations
American Association of Neuropathologists
Philosophy of Care
My mission is to demystify dementia by identifying its underlying mechanisms and translating this knowledge into practical diagnostic and therapeutic tools. By harnessing advanced molecular techniques and embracing a multidisciplinary approach, we strive to detect and intervene in neurodegeneration at its earliest stages. I am committed to a future where dementia is a challenge we can manage, not an inevitable fate.