Alzheimer's Disease

In recent years, a tremendous amount of effort has been focused on better understanding the fundamentals of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) to facilitate early and accurate diagnosis and appropriately targeted therapeutic treatments. Alzheimer’s Disease: Targets for New Clinical, Diagnostic, and Therapeutic Strategies provides a detailed synopsis of the current state of the art of diagnostics and therapeutics and identifies emerging technologies and molecules that show promise in the management and treatment of AD.

With contributions from experts drawn from academia, clinical practice, and the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries, the book explores:



The basis of AD and the role of Aß oligomers in development of disease
Existing and emerging in vitro biomarker-based methodologies for the diagnosis of AD, focusing on genetic, biochemical, and conformational strategies
In vivo imaging diagnostic approaches
Evolving diagnostic criteria, health regulatory guidelines, biomarkers in clinical trials, and available and emerging therapies
Recent progress in small-molecule disease-modifier drug discovery efforts for AD, specifically in the areas of Aß, tau, and emerging neuroprotective/neurorepair approaches
How a case study of AD raises issues regarding clinical and pathologic criteria, risk factors, and the amyloid hypothesis
The molecular conformational factors that govern the pathogenicity of aggregating proteins, and how these factors could represent new targets for disease-modifying therapies
The latest epidemiological, pathological, biochemical, and behavioral studies that may shed some light on the risk of developing AD and similar dementias after traumatic brain injury


Examining current hypotheses and suggesting possible new approaches to therapeutic clinical applications, this volume paves the way for a robust pipeline of therapeutics to combat not only AD, but a whole host of other neurodegenerative diseases.

Renee D. Wegrzyn obtained her PhD in applied biology from the Georgia Institute of Technology where she studied the propagation of prion proteins in model systems. Dr. Wegrzyn was awarded an Alexander von Humboldt Research Fellowship for her postdoctoral studies to investigate de novo protein folding at the ribosome. She applied her expertise in protein folding to the challenge of developing in vitro diagnostics for neurodegenerative diseases—including Alzheimer’s and prion diseases—as a group leader at Adlyfe, Inc. She is currently a scientific and technical consultant for the Department of Defense.

Alan S. Rudolph is currently a member of the senior executive service and director of Biological and Chemical Technologies for the Defense Threat Reduction Agency. He was previously chief executive officer at Adlyfe Inc., an amyloid diagnostic and biomarker company, chief of Biological Sciences at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, and director of Research at the Naval Research Laboratory. He has over 90 publications in diverse areas in biophysics of cryobiology and anhydrobiosis, lipid and protein self-assembly, liposome science and technology, and tissue and cellular engineering. He has a PhD in zoology from the University of California at Davis and an MBA from the George Washington University.

The Amyloid β-Protein and Alzheimer’s Disease; David B. Teplow, Mingfeng Yang, Robin Roychaudhuri, Eric Pang, Tien-Phat Huynh, Mei-Sha Chen, and Shiela BeroukhimEmerging Principles and Biomarkers in In Vitro Diagnostics for Alzheimer’s Disease; Renee D. Wegrzyn and Alan S. RudolphImaging Biomarkers for Diagnosis, Prognosis, and Treatment of Alzheimer’s Disease; Daniel M. Skovronsky and Giora Z. FeuersteinThe Current Status of Alzheimer’s Disease Treatment: Why We Need Better Therapies and How We Will Develop Them; Krista L. Lanctôt, Ida Kircanski, Sarah A. Chau, and Nathan HerrmannNew Small Molecule Drug Discovery for Alzheimer’s Disease; Kangning Liu, Minhua Zhang, and Guhan NagappanAlzheimer’s Disease: Clinical Aspects; R. Scott TurnerPathogenic Protein Strains as Diagnostic and Therapeutic Targets in Alzheimer’s Disease; Lary C. Walker, Rebecca F. Rosen, and Harry LeVine IIITraumatic Brain Injury in the Development of Alzheimer’s Disease: Risk Factors, Diagnosis, and Treatment Strategies; Mark P. Burns