Hope Center Scientist Earns MetLife Award for Alzheimer's Research

David M. Holtzman, M.D., the Andrew B. and Gretchen P. Jones Professor and head of Neurology, is a 2007 recipient of the MetLife Foundation Award for Medical Research in Alzheimer's Disease. Holtzman is also associate director of the Alzheimer's Disease Research Center (ADRC), a member of the Hope Center for Neurological Disorders and a member of the Hope Happens Board of Director.

Holtzman received the honor for his pioneering work in the study of the early molecular biology of Alzheimer's disease, which has helped advance the search for new treatments and for ways to identify the disorder as soon as possible.

Among other accomplishments, Holtzman and colleagues have studied the effects of antibodies against amyloid beta, a key component of the plaques that appear in the brains of Alzheimer's patients. Holtzman's group, together with collaborators at Eli Lilly, showed the antibody could decrease amyloid plaques over months in mice. In addition, one antibody improved memory function in mice in a few days. A human form of an antibody is now being tested.

Researchers in Holtzman's lab including John Cirrito, Ph.D., postdoctoral research scholar and Randy Bateman, M.D., assistant professor of neurology, also have developed ways to monitor the production and clearance of amyloid beta in both mice and humans. They hope the techniques will help answer lingering questions about whether the brains of Alzheimer's patients make too much amyloid beta or fail to clear it out fast enough. The answer will help scientists working to develop new diagnostic tests and treatments. In addition, spinal fluid tests developed with colleagues including John Morris, Anne Fagan, Ph.D., research associate professor of neurology, and Mark Mintun, M.D., professor of radiology suggest that Alzheimer's changes in the brain can be detected years before clinical symptoms develop.

Holtzman is a past recipient of the Potamkin Prize from the American Academy of Neurology, a MERIT award from the National Institute on Aging, and the Zenith Award from the Alzheimer's Association.

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