Bernhard Landwehrmeyer | |
---|---|
Born | Georg Bernhard Landwehrmeyer 1960 (age 62–63) Freiburg, Germany |
Alma mater | |
Known for | Research into neurodegeneration, particularly Huntington disease |
Scientific career | |
Fields | |
Institutions | UKU |
Thesis | (1990) |
Doctoral advisor | R. Jung |
Website | www |
Georg Bernhard Landwehrmeyer FRCP is a German neurologist and neuroscientist in the field of neurodegeneration primarily focusing on Huntington's disease. [1] Landwehrmeyer is a professor of neurology at Ulm University Hospital. He was one of the founders of the European Huntington's Disease Network (EHDN) in 2004 and was chairman of its executive committee until 2014. [1]
Landwehrmeyer received his MD degree and Doctoral Degree from the Albert Ludwigs University of Freiburg, Germany, where he also completed a residency in neurology, research training in neuropathology and molecular pharmacology, and a residency in neurology and psychiatry. [1] [2] Landwehrmeyer studied at the Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast and Kantonsspital St. Gallen, Basel. He was a post-Doc from 1993 to 1995 at Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School. During 1995–1999, he was a staff member at Albert Ludwigs University of Freiburg, Department of Neurology & Psychiatry. In 1999, he received his Board certification in Neurology and has been a full professor since 2000. [3] He served as principal investigator in numerous HD clinical trials [4] [5] [6] and observational studies [7] [8] and is the principal investigator of the CHDI-sponsored Enroll-HD study. [3]
Landwehrmeyer started working on Huntington's Disease (HD) in 1993 when he started a postdoc at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) with Anne B. Young, then Chief of Neurology, a couple of months before the HD gene and the HD expansion mutation was discovered. He went to Venezuela with Anne and Nancy Wexler several times, and was alerted to stimulating HD field studies aside from work at the bench. [9]
In 2000 he was appointed full Professor of Neurology, 'Clinical Neurobiology,' at the University of Ulm and was given the opportunity to organize (together with Albert Ludolph, the chairperson of the Department of Neurology at the University of Ulm, who initiated the work) the first large (>500 participants), long-term (3-year randomized clinical trial, followed by a blinded extension) multicenter European phase III HD trial. This collaboration led to forming the European HD Network (EHDN) in 2003–2004, funded by CHDI Foundation, a philanthropic US-American organization. He is the founding chair of the executive committee of EHDN and served in this capacity in 2004–2014. [10] He continues to serve as leader of the EHDN project at the University of Ulm. [11]
The large prospective observational cohort study REGISTRY, [7] conducted by EHDN, recruiting more than 15,000 participants, merged with the cohort study of the Huntington Study Group (HSG) to form Enroll-HD study [8] in 2011, which is still ongoing. Landwehrmeyer serves as the Principal Investigator (PI) of Enroll-HD, a worldwide platform to facilitate HD research and to conduct prospective, observational HD cohort studies for HD families. [8]
His main area of interest is neurodegenerative diseases, such as Huntington disease, [12] [13] [14] Parkinsonian disorders (including progressive supranuclear palsy [15] and multiple system atrophy), [16] frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTD), [17] [18] [19] and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis [20] [21] [22] (ALS). Other topics on which he published include neuroimaging [23] [24] and pain. [25] [26] Vast majority of Landwehrmeyer's publications are devoted to various aspects of neurobiology of HD, [27] [28] including its genetics, [29] [9] genetic modifiers. [30]
Bernhard Landwehrmeyer was involved in almost all RCTs in HD conducted in Europe since 1999, often serving as coordinating PI or national lead investigator. He contributed to Track-HD [31] and Track-ON HD, [32] two influential observational studies in HD, and to 26 phase I-III clinical trials, primarily in HD, [33] [34] [35] including a first-in-man intrathecal application of antisense oligonucleotides ASO to silence huntingtin gene expression evaluating the safety, tolerability, and efficacy of intrathecally administered agents [36] as well as non-pharmacological interventions, studying the impact of physical activity and exercise in people with HD.
Landwehrmeyer directs the HD Center Ulm, where a multi-disciplinary team takes care of over 700 with HD in an out-patient setting where more than 600 agreed to participate in Enroll-HD. This multi-disciplinary center provides genetic counselling, clinical in- and out-patient services as well as rehabilitation for HD affected families along with basic and translational science. In addition, the HD Center South (in Taufkirchen/Vils) offers 19 in-patient beds dedicated to HD in the setting of a psychiatric hospital and 20-25 beds for in-patient rehab at Ulm.
Landwehrmeyer's most significant publications are:
Landwehrmeyer is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and a member of several learned medical societies.
As of April 2022, Landwehrmeyer had authored over 300 publications, with over 15,000 citations for his research. [37]
Landwehrmeyer currently lives in Ulm, Germany. His father, Richard Landwehrmeyer , was a German librarian. From 1972 to 1987 he headed the University Library of Tübingen [44] and from 1987 to 1995 the State Library of Berlin as Director General.
Huntington's disease (HD), also known as Huntington's chorea, is an incurable neurodegenerative disease that is mostly inherited. The earliest symptoms are often subtle problems with mood or mental/psychiatric abilities. A general lack of coordination and an unsteady gait often follow. It is also a basal ganglia disease causing a hyperkinetic movement disorder known as chorea. As the disease advances, uncoordinated, involuntary body movements of chorea become more apparent. Physical abilities gradually worsen until coordinated movement becomes difficult and the person is unable to talk. Mental abilities generally decline into dementia, depression, apathy, and impulsivity at times. The specific symptoms vary somewhat between people. Symptoms usually begin between 30 and 50 years of age, and can start at any age but are usually seen around the age of 40. The disease may develop earlier in each successive generation. About eight percent of cases start before the age of 20 years, and are known as juvenile HD, which typically present with the slow movement symptoms of Parkinson's disease rather than those of chorea.
Minocycline, sold under the brand name Minocin among others, is a tetracycline antibiotic medication used to treat a number of bacterial infections such as pneumonia. It is generally less preferred than the tetracycline doxycycline. Minocycline is also used for the treatment of acne and rheumatoid arthritis. It is taken by mouth or applied to the skin.
Conversion disorder (CD), or functional neurologic symptom disorder, is a diagnostic category used in some psychiatric classification systems. It is sometimes applied to patients who present with neurological symptoms, such as numbness, blindness, paralysis, or fits, which are not consistent with a well-established organic cause, which cause significant distress, and can be traced back to a psychological trigger. It is thought that these symptoms arise in response to stressful situations affecting a patient's mental health or an ongoing mental health condition such as depression. Conversion disorder was retained in DSM-5, but given the subtitle functional neurological symptom disorder. The new criteria cover the same range of symptoms, but remove the requirements for a psychological stressor to be present and for feigning to be disproved. The ICD-10 classifies conversion disorder as a dissociative disorder, and the ICD-11 as a dissociative disorder with unspecified neurological symptoms. However, the DSM-IV classifies conversion disorder as a somatoform disorder.
Idebenone is a drug that was initially developed by Takeda Pharmaceutical Company for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease and other cognitive defects. This has been met with limited success. The Swiss company Santhera Pharmaceuticals has started to investigate it for the treatment of neuromuscular diseases. In 2010, early clinical trials for the treatment of Friedreich's ataxia and Duchenne muscular dystrophy have been completed. As of December 2013 the drug is not approved for these indications in North America or Europe. It is approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) for use in Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON) and was designated an orphan drug in 2007.
Spinocerebellar ataxia (SCA) is a progressive, degenerative, genetic disease with multiple types, each of which could be considered a neurological condition in its own right. An estimated 150,000 people in the United States have a diagnosis of spinocerebellar ataxia at any given time. SCA is hereditary, progressive, degenerative, and often fatal. There is no known effective treatment or cure. SCA can affect anyone of any age. The disease is caused by either a recessive or dominant gene. In many cases people are not aware that they carry a relevant gene until they have children who begin to show signs of having the disorder.
Primary progressive aphasia (PPA) is a type of neurological syndrome in which language capabilities slowly and progressively become impaired. As with other types of aphasia, the symptoms that accompany PPA depend on what parts of the left hemisphere are significantly damaged. However, unlike most other aphasias, PPA results from continuous deterioration in brain tissue, which leads to early symptoms being far less detrimental than later symptoms.
The McDonald criteria are diagnostic criteria for multiple sclerosis (MS). These criteria are named after neurologist W. Ian McDonald who directed an international panel in association with the National Multiple Sclerosis Society (NMSS) of America and recommended revised diagnostic criteria for MS in April 2001. These new criteria intended to replace the Poser criteria and the older Schumacher criteria. They have undergone revisions in 2005, 2010 and 2017.
β-Methylamino-L-alanine, or BMAA, is a non-proteinogenic amino acid produced by cyanobacteria. BMAA is a neurotoxin. Its potential role in various neurodegenerative disorders is the subject of scientific research.
Multiple sclerosis can cause a variety of symptoms: changes in sensation (hypoesthesia), muscle weakness, abnormal muscle spasms, or difficulty moving; difficulties with coordination and balance; problems in speech (dysarthria) or swallowing (dysphagia), visual problems, fatigue and acute or chronic pain syndromes, bladder and bowel difficulties, cognitive impairment, or emotional symptomatology. The main clinical measure in progression of the disability and severity of the symptoms is the Expanded Disability Status Scale or EDSS.
Research in multiple sclerosis may find new pathways to interact with the disease, improve function, curtail attacks, or limit the progression of the underlying disease. Many treatments already in clinical trials involve drugs that are used in other diseases or medications that have not been designed specifically for multiple sclerosis. There are also trials involving the combination of drugs that are already in use for multiple sclerosis. Finally, there are also many basic investigations that try to understand better the disease and in the future may help to find new treatments.
Remacemide is a drug which acts as a low-affinity NMDA antagonist with sodium channel blocking properties. It has been studied for the treatment of acute ischemic stroke, epilepsy, Huntington's disease, and Parkinson's disease.
Fred D. Lublin is an American neurologist and an authority on the treatment of multiple sclerosis. Along with colleagues at the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, his work redefined the clinical course definitions of MS.
Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a chronic degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that affects both the motor system and non-motor systems. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms become more common. Early symptoms are tremor, rigidity, slowness of movement, and difficulty with walking. Problems may also arise with cognition, behaviour, sleep, and sensory systems. Parkinson's disease dementia becomes common in advanced stages of the disease.
Poser criteria are diagnostic criteria for multiple sclerosis (MS). They replaced the older Schumacher criteria, and are now considered obsolete as McDonald criteria have superseded them. Nevertheless, some of the concepts introduced have remained in MS research, like CDMS, and newer criteria are often calibrated against them. The criteria were unveiled in the Annals of Neurology in 1983 by a team led by Dr. Charles M. Poser.
NeuroSearch A/S is a Danish biotechnology company specializing in pharmaceuticals for treating diseases and disorders affecting the central nervous system (CNS).
PBT2 is a safe-for-human-use Zinc ionophore and an experimental drug candidate. It is a second-generation 8-hydroxyquinoline analog intended to be a successor to clioquinol and a potential treatment of Alzheimer's disease and Huntington's disease.
Sarah Joanna Tabrizi FMedSci is a British neurologist and neuroscientist in the field of neurodegeneration, particularly Huntington's disease. She is a Professor and Joint Head of the Department of Neurodegenerative Diseases at the UCL Institute of Neurology; the founder and Director of the UCL Huntington's Disease Centre; a Principal Investigator at the UK Dementia Research Institute at UCL; and an Honorary Consultant Neurologist at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square, London, where she established the Multidisciplinary Huntington's Disease Clinic. The UCL Huntington’s Disease Centre was officially opened on 1 March 2017 by UCL President and Provost Professor Michael Arthur.
Several biomarkers for diagnosis of multiple sclerosis, disease evolution and response to medication are under research. While most of them are still under research, there are some of them already well stablished:
Edward Wild, also known as Ed Wild, is a British neurologist and neuroscientist in the field of Huntington's disease and an advocate for scientific outreach to the public. He co-founded the Huntington's research news platform HDBuzz in 2010. He is a professor of neurology at UCL Institute of Neurology and is an associate director of the UCL Huntington's Disease Centre. He is also a consultant neurologist at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery in London.
A cerebroprotectant is a drug that is intended to protect the brain after the onset of acute ischemic stroke. As stroke is the second largest cause of death worldwide and a leading cause of adult disability, over 150 drugs tested in clinical trials to provide cerebroprotection.
... Principal Investigator: Bernhard G Landwehrmeyer, MD, PhD European Huntington's Disease Network ...'
... Principal Investigator: Bernhard Landwehrmeyer, MD, PhD Ulm University Hospital ...'
... Principal Investigator: Bernhard Landwehrmeyer, Professor University Hospital of Ulm / Dept. of Neurology ...'
... Principal Investigator: Bernhard G Landwehrmeyer, MD, PhD University of Ulm ...'
... Department of Neurology, Ulm University, Ulm, Germany: Bernhard Landwehrmeyer, Albert C Ludolph, Jochen H Weishaupt & Peter M Andersen ...'
... Department of Neurology, Ulm University, Ulm, Germany: Bernhard Landwehrmeyer ...'
... Consortia <…> Group 5: Michael Orth and G. Bernhard Landwehrmeyer on behalf of the European Huntington's Disease Network (EHDN) Registry investigators; Jane S. Paulsen on behalf of the Huntington Study Group (HSG) PREDICT-HD investigators ...
... *The authors for the HORIZON Investigators of the Huntington Study Group and European Huntington's Disease Network are as follows: <…> Georg B. Landwehrmeyer ...
... 1972-1987: Richard Landwehrmeyer ...'