UF experts on Alzheimer’s disease research and therapy
The following University of Florida researchers are available to speak to reporters on a range of topics related to Alzheimer’s disease. If you are interested in speaking with a particular researcher, contact the UF Health communicator listed after the researcher’s information, or call Rossana Passaniti, media relations coordinator for UF Health, at 352-273-8569.
David Borchelt, professor of neuroscience, UF College of Medicine; director, SantaFe Health Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center
Research interests: Alzheimer’s disease, Huntington’s disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), neurodegeneration
Borchelt focuses on defining the basic molecular events that underlie human neurodegenerative diseases and using that information to develop new therapeutic strategies using a variety of model systems to understand how mutations in specific genes cause diseases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and Alzheimer’s disease.
Contact Todd Taylor, assistant director of communications, McKnight Brain Institute, 352-294-8735, tmtaylor4@ufl.edu
Ronald Cohen, professor of clinical and health psychology, UF College of Public Health and Health Professions; director and Evelyn F. McKnight Chair for Clinical Translational Research in Cognitive Aging and Memory
Research interests: Cognitive aging, brain imaging, delaying cognitive decline, neurodegenerative disorders
Cohen and two colleagues are conducting a National Institute on Aging-funded study to determine whether cognitive training paired with electrical stimulation to the brain can improve cognitive functioning in older adults. Cohen directs the Center for Cognitive Aging and Memory, which seeks to advance understanding of normal cognitive aging, including brain changes that occur with advanced age. The center aims to discover, develop and implement new neuroimaging, biological and behavioral approaches for assessing cognitive and brain aging, and interventions to slow, avert or restore age-related cognitive decline and memory loss.
Contact Jill Pease, communications director, UF College of Public Health and Health Professions, 352-273-5816, jpease@phhp.ufl.edu
Steven DeKosky, Aerts-Cosper Professor of Alzheimer’s Research, UF College of Medicine; deputy director, McKnight Brain Institute
Research interests: structural and neurochemical changes in the human brain in aging and dementia and effects of traumatic brain injury
DeKosky is the founding chair of the Advisory Council of the International Society to Advance Alzheimer’s Disease Research and Treatment. He has testified multiple times before U.S. Senate committees for additional research funding for Alzheimer’s disease and has met with government officials in other countries as a consultant and advocate for programs and support for people with dementia.
Contact Todd Taylor, assistant director of communications, McKnight Brain Institute, 352-294-8735, tmtaylor4@ufl.edu
Todd Golde, professor, Department of Neuroscience, UF College of Medicine; director, Evelyn F. and William L. McKnight Brain Institute; director, 1Florida ADRC; member, Center for Translational Research in Neurodegenerative Disease
Research interests: Neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease
Golde’s aim is to understand neurodegenerative disease, create models that mimic aspects of the disease process, identify targets for intervention; and develop and evaluate therapies that might alter the disease course.
Contact Todd Taylor, assistant director of communications, McKnight Brain Institute, 352-294-8735, tmtaylor4@ufl.edu
Michael Marsiske, associate professor of clinical and health psychology, UF College of Public Health and Health Professions
Research interests: Cognitive aging, with a particular emphasis on cognitive intervention strategies with older adults
Since 1997, Marsiske has been a principal investigator on the National Institute on Aging ACTIVE trial, a clinical trial of cognitive training for older adults. Marsiske has also been funded by the National Institute on Aging, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and UF’s McKnight Brain Institute for studies of a variety of cognitive intervention approaches with older adults including exercise promotion, exergames, aerobic fitness, action video games, self-administered computer training, and cognitive collaboration.
Contact Jill Pease, communications director, UF College of Public Health and Health Professions, 352-273-5816, jpease@phhp.ufl.edu
Catherine Price, associate professor of clinical and health psychology, UF College of Public Health and Health Professions
Research interests: Brain function changes in older adults after surgery and anesthesia, dementia, movement disorder dementias
Price investigates why certain adults experience cognitive change after surgical procedures with anesthesia. Her work incorporates neuroimaging tools, biomarker methodology, digital forms of cognitive assessment, intraoperative monitoring and longitudinal assessment.
Contact Jill Pease, communications director, UF College of Public Health and Health Professions, 352-273-5816, jpease@phhp.ufl.edu
Glenn Smith, Elizabeth Faulk Endowed Professor and chair, Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, UF College of Public Health and Health Professions
Research interests: Neuropsychology, dementia
Smith founded the HABIT Healthy Action to Benefit Independence and Thinking program for persons with mild cognitive impairment. He is principal investigator of the Comparative Effectiveness of Behavioral Interventions to Prevent or Delay Dementia and co-principal investigator of the Alzheimer’s Disease Patient and Caregiver Powered Research Network projects funded by the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute.
Contact Jill Pease, communications director, UF College of Public Health and Health Professions, 352-273-5816, jpease@phhp.ufl.edu
Uma Suryadevera, assistant professor, Department of Psychiatry, UF College of Medicine; director, Geriatric Psychiatry Fellowship program based at the Malcom Randall Veterans Administration Medical Center, Gainesville Fla.
Research interests: Psychiatric medical care for the elderly patients suffering from psychiatric and neuropsychiatric disorders
Suryadevera serves as a geriatric psychiatrist member on the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Grant Committee. The 11-member board advises the State Surgeon General on the direction and scope of the Ed and Ethel Moore Alzheimer’s Disease Research Program.
Contact Todd Taylor, assistant director of communications, McKnight Brain Institute, 352-294-8735, tmtaylor4@ufl.edu
Meredith Wicklund, assistant professor of neurology, UF College of Medicine
Research interests: Autoimmune, paraneoplastic and degenerative neurologic disorders, including Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders; cognitive aspects of multiple sclerosis and CNS demyelinating disorders
Wicklund served as a resident liaison for the Mayo Clinic Graduate Medical Education Committee. Following her residency, she pursued fellowship training in Behavioral Neurology at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.
Contact Todd Taylor, assistant director of communications, McKnight Brain Institute, 352-294-8735, tmtaylor4@ufl.edu