The University of Arizona’s Center for Innovation in Brain Science received a $15 million grant to research what midlife events could increase a woman’s risk for Alzheimer’s disease later in life.
The grant, from the National Institutes on Aging, will enable pharmacology Professor Roberta Diaz Brinton to research how perimenopausal changes in the brain may lead to greater risk of Alzheimer’s. Perimenopause is the stage before menopause, which is the time that marks the end of menstrual cycles.
Diaz Brinton, who is the director of the UA center, said in a news release the grant funding will enable the center to continue its work on discoveries to “prevent, delay and treat Alzheimer’s disease.”
The center specializes in researching aging, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases, multiple sclerosis and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, as well as bioenergetics of the brain, immunology, stem cell biology and other related areas of research.
Brinton and colleagues from the UA and the Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City, are focused on events that occur during women’s midlife aging that can increase risk for Alzheimer’s disease, according to the release.
Brinton’s research began in August 2006 and is planned to continue through May of 2026.
Three of the four projects Brinton and her colleagues are focused on now include preclinical analysis of the pre-menopausal brain, and investigating the molecular, cellular and systems biology that drive development of Alzheimer’s disease in the brain.
The fourth project looks at the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease in perimenopausal to postmenopausal women using brain imaging.
The outcomes of this research will create a platform for neuro-immune treatments.
“Dr. Brinton and her team have the potential to make a transformational impact on the health of millions of women around the world. This award further illustrates the University of Arizona Health Sciences’ strength in aging research and our commitment to address critical global health challenges,” said university President Robert Robbins in the release.
With students back at UA for the fall semester, here's a look at the Tucson campus over the years compared to now.
