Dr. David Holtzman, ANA president and professor and chair of neurology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, has received the August M. Watanabe Prize in Translational Research from the Indiana Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute. He was recognized for his work uncovering the causes of Alzheimer’s disease and translating an understanding of its basic biology into potential therapies.
Holtzman, together with scientists in his lab, discovered that the protein amyloid beta – which collects into clumps in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s – is a byproduct of the normal activity of neurons, and that levels of amyloid beta are high during wakefulness and lower during sleep. His lab also has helped reveal that APOE, the biggest genetic risk factor for Alzheimer’s, affects the accumulation of amyloid plaques as well as damage caused by a second Alzheimer’s protein: tau. On the therapeutic side, he helped develop antibodies that reduce brain deposits of amyloid beta. One such antibody, called solanezumab, is now in clinical trials as a potential prevention for Alzheimer’s.
Read the complete story here: ANA President, Dr. David Holtzman awarded Watanabe Prize in Translational Research