Carmela Abraham | |
---|---|
Occupation(s) | Research Assistant Professor of Biochemistry, Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics Founder and Chief Scientific Officer Chief Scientific OfficerContents |
Academic background | |
Education | B.Sc., Biology, Tel Aviv University Ph.D., Neuroscience, Harvard University |
Academic work | |
Institutions | Boston University School of Medicine |
Carmela R. Abraham is an American neuroscientist who focuses on the study of Alzheimer's disease.
Abraham earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from Tel Aviv University and her PhD in Neuroscience from Harvard University. [1] In 1990,Abraham was the recipient of The Neuroscience Education and Research Foundation Award for an Outstanding Promise as a Young Alzheimer Investigator. [2] She was also the first Rappaport Scholar at the Center for Neurologic Diseases at Brigham and Women's Hospital,and the recipient of the Zenith and Temple awards from the Alzheimer's Association. [3]
Upon completing her PhD,Abraham accepted a position at Boston University School of Medicine (BU) as a Professor of Biochemistry and Pharmacology &Experimental Therapeutics. [1] In this role,she was the recipient of a $200,000 grant from the Alzheimer's Association to support her research on drug therapy for Alzheimer's disease. [4] Later,she identified Klotho,an anti-aging and anti-cancer protein that could reduce ageing in the brain. Her research team conducted a high throughput screen of 150,000 molecules,which led to the identification of three lead compounds that could prevent age-related diseases and overall healthier ageing. [5] Following this,Abraham and her research team identified the importance of Klotho on the health of myelin and found small molecules that could form the basis for the development of therapeutic drugs. [6]
During her time at BU,Abraham also co-founded Klogene Therapeutics,a pre-clinical stage gene therapy startup company developing novel treatments for neurodegenerative diseases. In 2016,she was awarded a $1.49 Million small business innovation research grant to be used towards the development of novel therapeutics for Alzheimer's disease and other neurodegenerative diseases. [7] She also discovered a molecule that reduced the formation of amyloid beta protein in cells grown in petri dishes,leading the possibility of new therapy for Alzheimer's disease. [8] In recognition of her "work on multiple sclerosis and the role of the life extension protein Klotho in the limited repair of white matter in the disease," Abraham was the recipient of a Massachusetts Neuroscience Consortium Award. [9] She is also a member of the Society for Neuroscience,American Society for Neurochemistry,American Association of Neuropathologists,New York Academy of Science,International Society for Amyloidosis,and American Association for the Advancement of Science. [2]
Abraham also contributed to the research of chronic traumatic encephalopathy. This research showed that chronic traumatic encephalopathy and neurodegenerative disorders follow a similar trend. [10] Abraham and others researchers studied the relationship between chronic traumatic encephalopathy and other neurodegenerative disorders. Abraham also helped conduct a study that led to the discovery of transgenic mice with an increased level of IL-6 expression had a higher likelihood of developing neurological diseases with symptoms such as tremor,seizure,and ataxia. They also found that many of the mice in this study's offspring also had higher levels of IL-6 and neurologic syndrome. [11]
Degenerative disease is the result of a continuous process based on degenerative cell changes,affecting tissues or organs,which will increasingly deteriorate over time.
Neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs) are intracellular aggregates of hyperphosphorylated tau protein that are most commonly known as a primary biomarker of Alzheimer's disease. Their presence is also found in numerous other diseases known as tauopathies. Little is known about their exact relationship to the different pathologies.
Tauopathies are a class of neurodegenerative diseases characterized by the aggregation of abnormal tau protein. Hyperphosphorylation of tau proteins causes them to dissociate from microtubules and form insoluble aggregates called neurofibrillary tangles. Various neuropathologic phenotypes have been described based on the anatomical regions and cell types involved as well as the unique tau isoforms making up these deposits. The designation 'primary tauopathy' is assigned to disorders where the predominant feature is the deposition of tau protein. Alternatively,diseases exhibiting tau pathologies attributed to different and varied underlying causes are termed 'secondary tauopathies'. Some neuropathologic phenotypes involving tau protein are Alzheimer's disease,frontotemporal dementia,progressive supranuclear palsy,and corticobasal degeneration.
Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is a neurodegenerative disease linked to repeated trauma to the head. The encephalopathy symptoms can include behavioral problems,mood problems,and problems with thinking. The disease often gets worse over time and can result in dementia.
John Quinn Trojanowski was an American academic research neuroscientist specializing in neurodegeneration. He and his partner,Virginia Man-Yee Lee,MBA,Ph.D.,are noted for identifying the roles of three proteins in neurodegenerative diseases:tau in Alzheimer's disease,alpha-synuclein in Parkinson's disease,and TDP-43 in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal degeneration.
Samuel E. Gandy,is a neurologist,cell biologist,Alzheimer's disease (AD) researcher and expert in the metabolism of the sticky substance called amyloid that clogs the brain in patients with Alzheimer's. His team discovered the first drugs that could lower the formation of amyloid.
Ann McKee is a neurologist and neuropathologist and expert in neurodegenerative disease at the VA Boston Veterans Affairs Medical Center and is a Warren Distinguished Professor of Neurology and Pathology at Boston University School of Medicine. She is director of the Boston University Alzheimer's Disease Research Center and Boston University CTE Center. She is particularly known for her work studying Alzheimer's disease and the consequences of repetitive traumatic brain injury. In 2017,she was named "Bostonian of the Year" by The Boston Globe for her leading work in this area,and in 2018,Time named McKee one of its 100 most influential people.
Maiken Nedergaard is a Danish neuroscientist most well known for discovering the glymphatic system. She is a jointly appointed professor in the Departments of Neuroscience and Neurology at the University of Rochester Medical Center. She holds a part-time appointment in the Department of Neurosurgery within the University of Rochester Center for Translational Neuromedicine,where she is the principal investigator of the Division of Glial Disease and Therapeutics laboratory. She is also Professor of Glial Cell Biology at the University of Copenhagen,Center for Translational Neuromedicine.
Giovanna Rachele Mallucci is van Geest Professor of Clinical Neurosciences at the University of Cambridge in England and associate director of the UK Dementia Research Institute at the University of Cambridge. She is a specialist in neurodegenerative diseases.
Benjamin Wolozin is an American pharmacologist and neurologist currently at Boston University School of Medicine. He is also an Elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
The Boston University CTE Center is an independently run medical research lab located at the Boston University School of Medicine. The Center focuses on research related to the long-term effects of brain trauma and degenerative brain diseases,specializing in the diagnosis and analysis of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). According to researchers at Boston University,CTE is a brain disease involving progressive neurological deterioration common in athletes,military personnel,and others who have a history of brain trauma. The disease is primarily caused by repeated blows to the head,some of which result in concussions or sub-concussive symptoms.
Robert A. Stern is professor of Neurology,Neurosurgery,and Anatomy &Neurobiology at Boston University School of Medicine,where he is also director of clinical research for the BU Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) Center. From 2010 to 2019,he was the director of the Clinical Core of the BU Alzheimer's Disease Center.
Dena Dubal is the David A. Coulter Endowed Chair in Ageing and Neurodegenerative Disease at University of California,San Francisco. Dubal has demonstrated that the hormone Klotho can enhance cognition and protect the brain from neurodegenerative decline.
Phenserine is a synthetic drug which has been investigated as a medication to treat Alzheimer's disease (AD),as the drug exhibits neuroprotective and neurotrophic effects.
MalúG. Tansey is an American Physiologist and Neuroscientist as well as the Director of the Center for Translational Research in Neurodegenerative Disease at the University of Florida. Tansey holds the titles of Evelyn F. and William L. McKnight Brain Investigator and Norman Fixel Institute for Neurological Diseases Investigator. As the principal investigator of the Tansey Lab,Tansey guides a research program centered around investigating the role of neuroimmune interactions in the development and progression of neurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric disease. Tansey's work is primarily focused on exploring the cellular and molecular basis of peripheral and central inflammation in the pathology of age-related neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
Beverly L. Davidson is an American geneticist. She is the director of the Raymond G. Perelman Center for Cellular and Molecular Therapeutics at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. In this role,she investigates gene therapy for neurodegenerative diseases,specifically Huntington's.
Dennis J. Selkoe is an American physician (neurologist) known for his research into the molecular basis of Alzheimer's disease. In 1985 he became Co-Director of the Center for Neurological Diseases and from 1990,Vincent and Stella Coates Professor of Neurological Diseases at Harvard Medical School. He is also a Fellow of the AAAS and a member of the National Academy of Medicine.
Andrew E. Budson is an American neurologist,academic and researcher. He is a Professor of Neurology at Boston University School of Medicine,Lecturer in Neurology at Harvard Medical School,Chief of Cognitive and Behavioral Neurology and Associate Chief of Staff for Education at the Veterans Affairs (VA) Boston Healthcare System,where he also serves as a Director of the Center for Translational Cognitive Neuroscience. He is Associate Director and Outreach,Recruitment,and Engagement Core Leader at the Boston University Alzheimer's Disease Research Center.
Buntanetap is an orally-administered small molecule inhibitor of several neurotoxic proteins that is under investigation in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease,frontotemporal dementia,chronic traumatic encephalopathy and Parkinson's disease. It is the (+) enantiomer of phenserine,as the (-) enantiomer also has unwanted anticholinergic effects. It is currently in phase III trials for the treatment of Parkinson's.
David Lozoff Brody is an American neurologist,academic,and author most known for his research on the clinical treatment of traumatic brain injury (TBI) and neurodegenerative diseases in civilian and military personnel. He is a Clinical Neurologist at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and a professor of Neurology at Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences,as well as a professor of Neurology and Biomedical Engineering at Washington University.