University of Wisconsin–Madison

Author: crauwerdink

The World’s Largest Forum for Alzheimer’s Research: Introducing the AAIC 2022 Special Series

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AAIC Special Series Part 1: To kick off our month-long special series previewing the 2022 Alzheimer’s Association International Conference, or AAIC, we’ve invited  Claire Sexton, senior director of the Alzheimer’s Association’s scientific programs, to join us to discuss the goals of AAIC, how the pandemic impacted the influential conference, and what she’s looking forward to at this year’s event. Guest: Claire Sexton, DPhil, senior director of scientific programs and outreach, Alzheimer’s Association

Study Shows Do-Not-Resuscitate Orders Can Lead to Worse Care, Increase Death Rates

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A do-not-resuscitate, or DNR, order is used to indicate when a patient chooses to forgo resuscitation, however recent analysis shows that multiple studies have connected the presence of DNR orders to elevated death rates, poorer medical care, and negative health outcomes. Dr. Jonathan Baktari joins the podcast to discuss the findings from this analysis, how it can impact individuals with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia, and how these concerns can be addressed. Guest: Jonathan Baktari, MD, CEO, chief medical officer, e7 Health

‘Finding the Right Words’: Author Interview with Cindy Weinstein and Bruce Miller

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American literature professor and author Cindy Weinstein and behavioral neurologist Bruce Miller join the podcast to discuss their latest book, Finding the Right Words: A Story of Literature, Grief, and the Brain, a dual-memoir that alternates between Weinstein’s memories of her father who experienced early-onset Alzheimer’s disease and Miller’s scientific responses. They discuss their writing process, developments in Alzheimer's disease research, and their experiences as care partners and care providers to those experiencing dementia. Guests: Cindy Weinstein, PhD, Eli and Edythe Broad Professor of English, California Institute of Technology and Bruce Miller, MD, director, University of California San Francisco Memory and Aging Center

Alcohol and the Brain: One Drink a Day Associated with Brain Shrinkage

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There are many conflicting studies on how alcohol consumption can impact a person’s health, with some studies suggesting light drinking can protect against coronary heart disease and others concluding that drinking can increase your risk for cancer. What does research say about alcohol and the brain? Dr. Remi Daviet joins the podcast to discuss his latest study that found that just one alcoholic drink a day was associated with brain shrinkage, and drinking more could increase that rate exponentially over time. Guest: Remi Daviet, PhD, assistant professor, Wisconsin School of Business

Women’s Health Month: Women and Alzheimer’s Disease

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In honor of Women’s Health Month, Dr. Jessica Caldwell joins the podcast to discuss sex differences in aging and Alzheimer’s disease. She explains some of the ways women experience aging and Alzheimer’s disease differently than men and how she incorporates research findings into patient care.  Guest: Jessica Caldwell, PhD, director, Women’s Alzheimer’s Movement Prevention Center, Cleveland Clinic in Las Vegas, assistant professor, Case Western Reserve University

Disaggregating Racial Data: How Studying Ethnic Subgroups Can Improve Research

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A graduate student from the University of Wisconsin–Madison is pushing for the disaggregation of data in research to better understand how individuals from different ethnic subgroups are represented as research participants and as researchers. Kao Lee Yang began writing and discussing the topic after the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Gilliam Fellowship for Advanced Study rejected her application for not meeting their racial and ethnic underrepresentation criteria, despite often being the only Hmong American scientist in many research spaces. Yang joins the podcast to discuss her opinion piece for STAT News, the problems with using aggregated data, and how the push to study individual ethnic groups could improve Alzheimer’s disease research. Guest: Kao Lee Yang, MPA/PhD candidate in the Neuroscience and Public Policy Program and Bendlin Laboratory, University of Wisconsin–Madison

Update on Blood Tests for Alzheimer’s Disease

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Research in the field of fluid biomarkers is leading to new developments in Alzheimer’s disease identification, including new tests that can predict Alzheimer’s based on biomarkers in blood. Ahead of his keynote address as part of Alzheimer's Disease & Related Dementias Research Day on April 5, 2022, Dr. Thomas Karikari joins the podcast to discuss his work with these new blood tests, how accurate they are, and what research needs to be done before they are made available for clinical use. Guest: Thomas Karikari, PhD, assistant professor, University of Gothenburg, University of Pittsburgh

Harnessing the Power of Autophagy to Treat Alzheimer’s Disease

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The Puglielli lab at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health has found a way to manipulate autophagy — a process where cells clean out damaged materials — to rid the brain of toxic proteins like amyloid and tau. Researchers hope to use the power of this process to develop future treatments for Alzheimer’s disease and other diseases of aging. Luigi Puglielli joins the podcast to discuss his team’s research over the past 15 years, why the scientific process can take years to turn ideas into possible treatments, and how he hopes this research can be used in the future. Guest: Luigi Puglielli, MD, PhD, professor of medicine, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health

Go with the (4D) Flow: Neuroimaging Technology Used to Study Overlap of Cerebrovascular Disease and Alzheimer’s

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A recent study from Alzheimer’s disease researchers at the University of Wisconsin–Madison used neuroimaging technology called 4D Flow MRI to study the relationship between blood vessel disease and Alzheimer’s disease. Published in December 2021, the study found that people with Alzheimer’s disease symptoms had stiffer blood vessels in their brains, which could lead to inflammation and a buildup of Alzheimer’s biomarkers like amyloid and tau proteins. Lead researcher Leonardo Rivera-Rivera joins the podcast to discuss his findings, the developments made with new 4D Flow MRI scans, and how these developments could impact future Alzheimer’s disease research and clinical practices. Guest: Leonardo Rivera-Rivera, PhD, neuroimaging scientist, Wisconsin Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center

Nasal Vaccine for Alzheimer’s Disease Enters Clinical Trial

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In November 2021, Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston launched the first human trial of a nasal vaccine for Alzheimer’s disease. Nearly 20 years of research went into developing the vaccine, which uses the immune system to clear Alzheimer’s disease-related proteins from the brain. Lead researcher Dr. Howard Weiner joins the podcast to discuss the science behind the vaccine and how it could introduce new ways of treating other neurodegenerative diseases in the future. Guest: Howard Weiner, MD, professor of neurology, Harvard Medical School, co-director, Ann Romney Center for Neurologic Diseases, Brigham and Women’s Hospital

‘American Dementia’: Author Interview with Dr. Daniel George and Dr. Peter Whitehouse

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Medical anthropologist and professor of humanities and public health sciences Daniel George, PhD, and professor of neurology and medicine Peter Whitehouse, MD, PhD, join the podcast to discuss their recent book, American Dementia: Brain Health in an Unhealthy Society. In it, they argue that 20th century policies focused on reducing inequality, increasing access to education and healthcare, and protecting the environment contributed to today’s declining dementia rates, but inequalities in the 21st century are reversing these trends. Discussing the pros and cons of current social and clinical approaches to Alzheimer’s disease, our guests challenge assumptions about dementia caregiving and show how we can work together to create a healthier society. Guests: Daniel George, PhD, medical anthropologist, associate professor of humanities and public health sciences, Penn State College of Medicine, and Peter Whitehouse, MD, PhD, professor of neurology, Case Western University, professor of medicine, University of Toronto

New Research Shifts Thinking on Metabolism and Aging

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There are many common beliefs about metabolism. Perhaps you’ve heard that a person’s metabolism slows around middle age, or that a woman’s metabolism is slower than a man’s. However widespread these beliefs are, recent research from the journal Science has found that these conceptions of metabolism are wrong. In a groundbreaking study, researchers have found that metabolism goes through four key phases over our lives, only beginning to slow around age 60. This, among other findings, are now changing how we think about human physiology and how we think about aging. Breaking down this new research and his perspective article on the findings, Dr. Rhoads describes our shifting understandings of metabolism and how it impacts chronic diseases like Alzheimer’s disease as we age. Guest: Tim Rhoads, PhD, assistant scientist, Rozalyn Anderson laboratory, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health

Aging Behind the Wheel: How Driving Behavior Can Identify Preclinical Alzheimer’s Disease

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Dementia impacts a person’s ability to complete day-to-day activities like familiar tasks at work or at home. What if we could identify these changes in everyday behaviors early enough to identify preclinical Alzheimer’s disease? That’s what Dr. Sayeh Bayat, an assistant professor at the University of Calgary, looked to find out. Dr. Bayat is the lead author of a recent paper highlighting how driving behaviors such as braking, following the speed limit and the number of trips taken could predict preclinical Alzheimer’s disease. Dr. Bayat joined the podcast to share findings from the paper and discuss some of the ways engineering and machine learning can help us discover more about dementia and aging. Guest: Sayeh Bayat, PhD, assistant professor, Department of Geomatics Engineering, University of Calgary

Global Challenges in Dementia Diagnosis: A Deep Dive into ADI’s World Alzheimer’s Report 2021

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Alzheimer’s Disease International’s World Alzheimer’s Report 2021 recently found that 75% of people with dementia are undiagnosed, equating to 41 million people across the globe. The report, subtitled “Journey through the diagnosis of dementia,” also found clinician stigma is still a major barrier to diagnosis, and one in three believe nothing can be done about dementia. Dr. Serge Gauthier, co-author of the report, joins the podcast to discuss these findings, recommendations for improving dementia diagnoses, and more from the report. Guest: Serge Gauthier, CM, MD

Accessibility and Community: Bringing Alzheimer’s and Dementia Resources to the Latinx Community

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UsAgainstAlzheimer’s newly-released tool, BrainGuide, may seem like a simple questionnaire, but the project highlights a growing movement to make Alzheimer’s disease research and resources accessible to a broader range of communities. Released in 2021, BrainGuide is a one-of-a-kind resource that provides information about Alzheimer’s disease in English and Spanish through online and telephone questionnaires. Dr. Maria Mona Pinzon, a physician-scientist at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health and a consultant on BrainGuide, joins the podcast to discuss the impacts this project has had on educating the Latinx community about Alzheimer’s disease. Discussing the barriers and risks that the Latinx community face surrounding brain health, the ways to connect with the community through research, and her experience working on BrainGuide, Dr. Pinzon highlights the importance and impacts of community-tailored research and resources.  Guest: Maria Mona Pinzon, MD, MS, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health