Alzheimer’s Disease: A woman’s health issue, a woman’s health cure
to
Roberta Diaz Brinton, Ph.D.
Professor Pharmacology and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Biomedical Engineering and Neurology
University of Southern California
Summary
Research in the Brinton laboratory is focused on discovery of mechanisms by which the aging brain develops late onset Alzheimer’s and therapeutics that target these mechanisms to prevent, delay and treat the disease. Our research spans basic mechanistic discovery to FDA IND enabling translational analyses to Phase 1 and 2 clinical trials.Our NIA sponsored discovery research has investigated the neuro-systems-biology of aging in the sex with greatest risk of developing late onset Alzheimer’s. Outcomes of our discovery research indicate that ovarian steroids are fundamental regulators of the bioenergetic system of the brain. Further, the aging female brain undergoes a bioenergetic transition that leads to a switch from a glucose dependent brain to an adaptive reliance upon an alternative fuel, ketone bodies, consistent with a starvation response. Fundamental insights that have emerged from these programs of research indicate that the aging brain is remarkably dynamic and adaptive. However, these adaptations may prove to be a key driver of risk for late onset Alzheimer’s disease.
This page was last updated on Wednesday, August 11, 2021