Newswise — Audio from the American Neurological Association’s 143rd Annual Meeting media roundtable, held October 22, 2018, is now available. At the roundtable, presenters of the meeting’s six principal symposia presented highlights, discussed the relevance of the work, and answered questions.
Listen to the audio recording here. View the full program here.
MEDIA ROUNDTABLE SPEAKERS
David M. Holtzman, MD
Specialization: Cellular/Molecular/Biomarker studies of Alzheimer’s Disease and neonatal brain injury
Interview topics: Alzheimer’s disease, treatments on the horizon
ANA 2018 Symposium Chair: “Lewy Body Dementia: From Symptoms to Synuclein”
David M. Holtzman, MD, is President of the American Neurological Association and Andrew B. and Gretchen P. Jones Professor and Chairman, Department of Neurology at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Dr. Holtzman’s research focuses on understanding the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative disorders.
In addition to his laboratory, administrative, and teaching duties, Dr. Holtzman is involved in clinical and research activities at the Washington University Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center and is scientific director of the Hope Center for Neurological Disorders
Elizabeth Ross, MD, PhD [email protected]
Specialization: Neurogenetics, single gene and polygenic causes of brain disorders in development and aging Interview topics: Cell-based therapies in neurological disorders; overview of the 2018 ANA Annual Meeting
ANA 2018 Symposium Chair, “Advances in Cell-based Therapies for Neurological Diseases” M. Elizabeth Ross, MD, PhD is Chair of the ANA’s 2018 Scientific Program Advisory Committee and Nathan Cummings Professor of Neurology and Neuroscience and Director of the Center for Neurogenetics (CNG) at Weill Cornell Medicine. The CNG supports research into the genetic causes of and potential therapeutics for neurological disorders in children and adults, encompassing both basic science and clinical arms, and operates the biobank for the neurological and neuroscience community at Weill Cornell. Her own research group focuses on finding gene mutations associated with monogenic and complex genetic disorders toward investigation of how these genes direct building the brain and serve its function during development and aging. Studies are approached from a basic science perspective, using biochemical, cell biological and mouse genetic tools and engage clinical genetics as a guide to discovery.
Justin McArthur, MBBS, MPH [email protected]
Specialization: HIV/AIDS associated neuropathies, multiple sclerosis, neuroimmunology ANA 2018 Symposium Chair, “Inflammation and Neurological Disease: Friend or Foe?” Justin McArthur, MBBS, MPH, is President-Elect of the American Neurological Association and Director of the Johns Hopkins Department of Neurology. Dr. McArthur is nationally and internationally recognized for his work in studying the natural history, development and treatment of HIV infection, multiple sclerosis and other neurological infections and immune-mediated neurological disorders. Dr. McArthur has also developed a technique to use cutaneous nerves to study sensory neuropathies, including those associated with chemotherapy, HIV and diabetes. Dr. McArthur is the founding Director the of the Johns Hopkins/National Institute of Mental Health Research Center for Novel Therapeutics of HIV-associated Cognitive Disorders.
Ramon R. Diaz-Arrastia, MD, PhD [email protected]
Specialization: Traumatic brain injury, neurocritical care
Interview topics: Traumatic brain injury as it relates to returning military veterans, contact sports, etc.
ANA2018 Symposium Chair, “Towards Disease-Modifying Therapies in Traumatic Brain Injury”
Ramon Diaz-Arrastia, MD, PhD is Professor of Neurology, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine. At Penn he serves as Director of Clinical Traumatic Brain Injury Research and Associate Director of the Penn Center for Brain Injury and Repair. Dr. Diaz-Arrastia’s research interests have been focused on understanding the molecular, cellular, and tissue level mechanisms of trauma-induced neuroregeneration and injury-related synaptic plasticity, with the goal of developing effective therapies.
Rebecca Gottesman, MD, PhD [email protected]
Specialization: Using epidemiology to evaluate the vascular contribution to cognitive impairment and dementia; cognitive consequences of stroke; cognitive deficits in congestive heart failure and other cardiac disease
Interview topics: Prevention and Management of Stroke ANA2018 Symposium Chair, “Vascular Contributions to Dementias” Rebecca Gottesman, MD, PhD is Secretary of the American Neurological Association and a Professor of Neurology at Johns Hopkins University with a joint appointment in Epidemiology at the Bloomberg School of Public Health. Dr. Gottesman is also a core faculty member of the Welch Center for Prevention, Epidemiology, and Clinical Research. Her primary clinical interest is stroke. Her primary research interests include the vascular contribution to cognitive impairment and dementia, with evaluation not only of stroke as a potential risk factor for cognitive change but also vascular risk factors such as hypertension. She works primarily with the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study in order to evaluate these long-term associations between vascular risk factors and vascular disease, each, and cognition, using epidemiology and neuroimaging methods. She runs the SCAN lab (Stroke and Cognitive impairment Analysis using Neuroepidemiology) to pursue these research interests.
Chris Weihl, MD, PhD [email protected]
Specialization: Protein degradation pathways and their relation to aging, muscle weakness and neurodegeneration
Interview topics: Neuromuscular disease, ALS, muscular dystrophy, genetics, emerging therapeutics
ANA2018 Symposium Chair, “Viral Based Vectors in Neurotherapeutics” Chris Weihl, MD, PhD, a Professor of Neurology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, studies how a cell’s failure to maintain quality control over its proteins – and, especially, to dispose of or reshape deformed and clumped proteins – can lead to degenerative diseases. He studies a group of rare genetic diseases that causes muscle weakness, bone breakdown and dementia, and has linked these disease’s diverse signs and symptoms to an inability to properly identify and destroy malformed proteins. His research also supports the idea that snags in the cell’s protein waste-disposal system may contribute not only to normal aging but also to a range of neurodegenerative diseases including Huntington’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. His clinical interests relate to both acquired and inherited muscle diseases including limb girdle muscular dystrophy and inclusion body myositis.
About the American Neurological Association (ANA)
From advances in stroke and dementia to movement disorders and epilepsy, the American Neurological Association has been the vanguard of research since 1875 as the premier professional society of academic neurologists and neuroscientists devoted to understanding and treating diseases of the nervous system. Its monthly Annals of Neurology is among the world’s most prestigious medical journals, and the ANA’s Annals of Clinical and Translational Neurology is an online-only, open access journal providing rapid dissemination of high-quality, peer-reviewed research related to all areas of neurology. The acclaimed ANA Annual Meeting draws faculty and trainees from the top academic departments across the U.S. and abroad for groundbreaking research, networking, and career development. For more information, visit www.myana.org or @TheNewANA1.
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