Alzheimer's Disease
Ana Maria Cuervo
<p>Dr. Cuervo is co-director of the Einstein Institute for Aging Research, and a member of the Einstein Liver Research Center and Cancer Center. In October 2001 she started her laboratory at Einstein, where she studies the role of protein-degradation in aging and age-related disorders, with emphasis in neurodegeneration and metabolic disorders.</p>
<p>Dr. Cuervo’s group is interested in understanding how altered proteins can be eliminated from the cells and their components recycled. Her group has linked alterations in lysosomal protein degradation (autophagy) with different neurodegenerative diseases including Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and Huntington’s disease. They have also proven that restoration of normal lysosomal function prevents accumulation of damaged proteins with age, demonstrating this way that removal of these toxic products is possible. Her lab has also pionered studies demonstrating a tight link between autophagy and cellular metabolism. They described how autophagy coordinates glucose and lipid metabolism and how failure of different autophagic pathways with age contribute to important metabolic disorders such as diabetes or obesity.</p>
<p>Dr. Cuervo is considered a leader in the field of protein degradation in relation to biology of aging and has been invited to present her work in numerous national and international institutions, including name lectures as the Robert R. Konh Memorial Lecture, the NIH Director’s, the Roy Walford, the Feodor Lynen, the Margaret Pittman, the IUBMB Award, the David H. Murdoxk, the Gerry Aurbach, the SEBBM L’Oreal-UNESCO for Women in Science, the C. Ronald Kahn Distinguished Lecture and the Harvey Society Lecture. She has organized and chaired international conferences on protein degradation and on aging, belongs to the editorial board of scientific journals in this topic, and is currently co-editor-in-chief of Aging Cell.</p>
<p>Dr. Cuervo has served in NIH advisory panels, special emphasis panels, and study sections, the NIA Scientific Council and the NIH Council of Councils and has been recently elected member of the NIA Board of Scientific Counselors and member of the of the Advisory Committee to the NIH Deputy Director.. She has received numerous awards for the pioneerign work of her team such as the 2005 P. Benson Award in Cell Biology, the 2005/8 Keith Porter Fellow in Cell Biology, the 2006 Nathan Shock Memorial Lecture Award, the 2008 Vincent Cristofalo Rising Start in Aging Award, the 2010 Bennett J. Cohen Award in Aging Biology, the 2012 Marshall S. Horwitz, MD Faculty Prize for Research Excellence and the 2015 Saul Korey Prize in Translational Medicine Science. She has also received twice the LaDonne Schulman Teaching Award. In 2015 she was elected International Academic of the Royal Academy of Medicine of the Valencia Community and in 2017, she was elected member of the Real Academia de Ciencias Exactas, Fisicas y Naturales. She was elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2018 and member of the National Academy of Science in 2019.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.6pt;">Dr. Cuervo is considered a leader in the field of autophagy— the process by which cells remove and recycle their waste. The Barcelona, Spain native is also an expert on the cellular biology of aging. Dr. Cuervo has been quoted in numerous publications, including <em>The New York Times</em>, <em>Nature, Science</em>, <em>Scientific American</em>, and <em>The Scientist</em>. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.6pt;">Dr. Cuervo is co-editor-in-chief of <em>Aging Cell</em> and has served on various National Institutes of Health (NIH) advisory panels and study sections, the National Institute on Aging’s Council, and the NIH Council of Councils. She is currently a member of the Advisory Committee to the NIH deputy director, and chair of the NIA Board of Scientific Counselors. She is an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences and of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.6pt;">Dr. Cuervo’s work focuses on the causes of age-related diseases including degenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease, metabolic conditions such as diabetes, and cardiovascular disorders. Her goal is to develop therapies that will restore normal cellular housekeeping and thus prevent the accumulation of toxic protein byproducts and the death of affected cells in age-related disorders. Dr. Cuervo was named to the Highly Cited Researchers List (ranking of top 1% cited researchers) since 2018.</p>
<p>(selected from >200 per review publications)</p>
<ol>
<li>Cuervo, A.M.*; Stephanis, L.; Freundberg, R.; Lansbury, P.; Sulzer, D. Impaired degradation of mutant alpha-synuclein by chaperone-mediated autophagy. <em><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Science</span></em>305, 1292-1295, 2004</li>
<li>Kaushik, S.; Massey, A.C.; Kiffin, R., Cuervo, A.M*. Role of lysosomal lipid microdomains in the regulation of chaperone-mediated autophagy. <em><span style="text-decoration: underline;">EMBO J.</span> </em>25, 3921-33, 2006</li>
<li>Zhang, C., Cuervo, AM*. Restoration of chaperone-mediated autophagy in aging improves cellular maintenance and organ function. <em><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Nat. Med.</span> </em>14: 959-65, 2008</li>
<li>Singh, R.; Kaushik, S.; Wang, Y.; Xiang, Y.; Novak, I; Komatsu, M.; Tanaka, K.; Cuervo, A.M*.; Czaja, M.J*. Autophagy regulates lipid metabolism. <em><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Nature</span></em> 458:1131-5, 2009</li>
<li>Martinez-Vicente M, Talloczy Z, Wong E, Tang G, Koga H, de Vries R, Kaushik S, Arias E, Harris S, Sulzer D, Cuervo AM* Cargo recognition failure is responsible for inefficient autophagy in Huntington’s Disease. <em><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Nat. Neurosci.</span> </em>13:567-76, 2010</li>
<li>Bandyopadhyay U, Shridar S, Kaushik S, Kiffin R, Cuervo AM*, Identification of regulators of chaperone-mediated autophagy. <em><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Mol Cell</span> </em>39: 535-47, 2010.</li>
<li>Koga H., Kaushik S., Macian F. Verkushka, V. Cuervo AM* A photoconvertible fluorescent reporter to track chaperone-mediated autophagy. <em><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Nat Comm</span></em> 2: 386, 2011</li>
<li>Kon, M, Koga, Hl, Kiffin, R., Chapochnick, J. Macian, F, Vartikovski L., Cuervo AM*. Chaperone-mediated autophagy is required for turmor growth. <em><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Science TM</span> </em>3:109ra117, 2011</li>
<li>Wong E, Bejarano E, Hanson HH, Zaarur N, Phillips GR, Sherman MY, Cuervo AM*. Molecular determinants of selective clearance of protein inclusions by autophagy. <em><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Nat Comm</span> </em>3:1240, 2012</li>
<li>Orenstein SJ, Kuo SH, Tasset-Cuevas I, Arias E, Koga H, Fernandez-Carasa I, Cortes, E., Honig, L.S., Dauer, W., Consiglio A, Raya A, Sulzer, D, Cuervo AM. Interplay of LRRK2 with chaperone-mediated autophagy. <em><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Nat. Neurosci.</span> </em>16:394-406, 2013</li>
<li>Anguiano J, Gaerner T, Daas B, Gavathiotis E, Cuervo AM. Chemical modulation of Chaperone-mediated autophagy by novel retinoic acid derivatives. <em><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Nat. Chem. Biol.</span> 9:374-82</em>, 2013</li>
<li>Pampliega O, Orhon I, Patel B, Sridhar S, Diaz-Carretero A, Beau I, Codogno P, Satir B, Satir P, Cuervo AM Functional interaction between autophagy and ciliogenesis. <em><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Nature</span> 502:194-200, 2013 </em></li>
<li>Bejarano, E, Yuste, A, Patel B, Stout, RJ, Spary, D Cuervo AM. <em>Connexins modulate autophagosome biogenesis. <em><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Nat. Cell. Biol.</span></em> 16:401-14, 2014</em></li>
<li>Schneider JL, Suh Y, Cuervo AM*. Deficient chaperone-mediated autophagy in liver leads to metabolic disregulation. <em><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Cell Metab</span>.</em> 20:417-432, 2014</li>
<li>Schneider S, Villarroya J, Diaz A, Patel B, Urbanska AM, Thi MM, Villarroya F, Santambrogio L, Cuervo AM*. Loss of hepatic chaperone-mediated autophagy accelerates proteostasis failure in aging. <em><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Aging Cell,</span></em> 14:249-64, 2015</li>
<li>Rui Y-N, Xu Z, Patel B, Chen Z, Chen D, Tito A, David G, Sun Y, Stimming ER, Bellen H, Cuervo AM*, Zhang S*. Huntingtin functions as a scaffold for selective macroautophagy. <em><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Nat. Cell. Biol.</span></em> 17: 262-75, 2015</li>
<li>Park C, Shu Y, Cuervo AM*.Regulated degradation of Chk1 by chaperone-mediated autophagy in response to DNA damage. <em><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Nat. Commun.</span> </em>6:6823 doi: 10.1038/ncomms7823, 2015</li>
<li>Kaushik, S. Cuervo AM*. Degradation of lipid droplet-associated proteins by chaperone-mediated autophagy facilitates lipolysis. <em><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Nat. Cell. Biol. </span></em>17: 759-70, 2015</li>
<li>Arias E., Koga H, Diaz A, Mocholi E, Patel B, Cuervo AM*. Lysosomal mTORC2/PHLPP1/Akt regulate chaperone-mediated autophagy. <em><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Mol. Cell</span> </em>59, 270-84, 2015</li>
<li>Kaushik, S. Cuervo AM*. AMPK-dependent phosphorylation of lipid droplet protein PLIN2 triggers its degradation by CMA. <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em>Autophagy.</em> </span>12(2):432-438, 2016</li>
<li>Maus M, Cuk M, Patel B, Lian J, Qimet M, Kaufmann U, Yang J, Horvath R, Hornig-Do H-T, Chrzanowska-Lightowlers ZM, Moore KJ, Cuervo AM, Feske S. Store-Operated Ca2+ Entry Controls Induction of Lipolysis and the Transcriptional Reprogramming to Lipid Metabolism.<span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em>Cell Metab</em></span> 25: 698-712, 2017</li>
<li>Beckerman P, Karchin JB, Park ASD , Dummer P, Soomro I, Boustany-Kari C, Pullen S Qiu C, Miner JH, Hu C-A, Rohacs T, Inoue K, Shuta I, Saleem M, Palmer M, Cuervo AM, Kopp J, Susztak K. Transgenic Expression of Human APOL1 Risk Variants in Podocytes Induces Kidney Disease in Mice. <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em>Nat Med</em></span> 23: 429-438, 2017</li>
<li> Gomes LR, Menck, CFM, Cuervo AM*, Chaperone-mediated autophagy prevents cellular transformation by regulating MYC proteasomal degradation. <em><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Autophagy</span></em> 13: 928-940, 2017</li>
<li>Caballero B, Wang Y, Diaz A, Tasset I, Juste YR, Mandelkow E-, Mandelkow E, Cuervo AM*. Interplay of pathogenic forms of human tau with different autophagic pathways. <em><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Aging Cell</span> </em>17(1): doi: 10.2222/acel.12692, 2017 PMID: 29024336</li>
<li>Gong Z, Tasset I, Diaz A, Anguiano J, Tas E, Cui L, Kuliawat R, Liu H, Kuhn B, Cuervo AM*, Muzumdar R. Humanin is an endogenous activators of chaperone-mediated autophagy. <em><span style="text-decoration: underline;">J Cell Biol</span> </em> 217:635-647, 2018 PMID:2918752</li>
<li>Pajares M, Rojo AI, Arias E, Diaz-Carretero A, Cuervo AM, Cuadrado A. Transcription factor NFE2L2/NRF2 modulates chaperone-mediated autophagy through the regulation of LAMP2A. <em><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Autophagy</span> </em>doi: 10.1080/15548627.2018.1474992, 2018</li>
<li>Bejarano E, Murray J, Wang X, Pampliega, O, Yin D, Patel B, Yuste A, Wolkoff A, Cuervo AM. Defective recruitment of motor proteins to autophagic compartments contributes to autophagic failure in aging. <em><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Aging Cell</span> </em> doi: 10.1111/acel.12777, 2018</li>
<li>Hernandez I, Luna G, Rauch JN, Reis S, Giroux M, Karch CM, Boctor D, Sibih Y, Storm NJ, Diaz A, Kaushik S, Zekanowski C, Kang AA, Hinman G, Cerovac V, Guzman E, Zhou H, Haggarty SJ, Goate A, Fisher SK, Cuervo AM, Kosik KS Farnesyl Transferase Inhibition for the Treatment of Tauopathies.<em><span style="text-decoration: underline;"> Science TM. </span></em>2019 Mar 27;11(485). pii: eaat3005. doi: 10.1126/scitranslmed. aat3005.</li>
<li>Kirchner P, Bourdenx M, Madrigal-Matute J, Tiano S, Diaz A, Barholdy BA, Will B, Cuervo A. Proteome-wide analysis of chaperone-mediated autophagy targeting motifs. <em><span style="text-decoration: underline;">PLOs Biology</span></em>, 17(5):e3000301. doi: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3000301, 2019</li>
<li>Dong S, Aguirre-Hernandez C, Scrivo A, Eliscovich C, Arias E, Bravo-Cordero JJ, Cuervo AM. Monitoring spatiotemporal changes in chaperone-mediated autophagy in vivo. <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em>Nature Comm.</em></span> 11(1):645. doi: 10.1038/s41467-019-14164-4, 2020</li>
<li>Dong S, Wang Q, Kao YR, Diaz A, Tasset I, Kaushik S, Thiruthuvanathan V, Zintiridou A, Nieves E, Dzieciatkowska M, Reisz JA, Gavathiotis E, D’Alessandro A, Will B, Cuervo AM. Chaperone-mediated autophagy sustains hematopoietic stems cell function. <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em>Nature</em> </span>591:117-123, 2021 </li>
<li>Caballero B, Bourdenx M, Luengo Martin E, Diaz A, Sohn PD, Chen X, Wang C, Juste YR, Wegman S, Patel B, Young ZT, Kuo SY, Rodriguez-Navarro JA, Shao H, Lopez MG, Karch CM, Goate A, Gestwicki JE, Hyman BT, Gan L, Cuervo AM. Inhibition of chaperone-mediated autophagy by acetylated tau promotes disease propagation. <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em>Nat. Comm.</em></span> 12(1):2238 doi: 10.1038/s41467-021-22501-9, 2021</li>
<li>Bourdenx M, Martin-Segura A, Scrivo A, Rodriguez-Navarro J, Kaushik S, Tasset I, Diaz A, Strom NJ, Xin Q, Juste YR, Stevenson E, Luengo E, Clement C, Choi SJ, Krogan NJ, Mosharov EV, Santambrogio L, Grueninger F, Collin L, Swaney DL, Sulzer D, Gavathiotis E, Cuervo AM. Chaperone-mediated autophagy prevents collapse of the neuronal metastable proteome. <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em>Cell</em> </span>184: 1-19 doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2021.03.048, 2021</li>
<li>Juste YR, Kaushik S, Bourdenx M, Aflakpui R, Bandyopadhyay S, Garcia F, Diaz A, Lindenau K, Tu Vincent, Krause GJ, Jafari M, Singh R, Muñ<span lang="EN-GB" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: -27pt; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">oz J, Macian F, Cuervo AM. Reciprocal regulation of chaperone-mediated </span><span style="text-align: justify; text-indent: -27pt; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">autophagy and the circadian clock. <em><u>Nat. Cell Biol.</u> 23(12):1255-1270 10.1038/s41556-021-00800-z. 2021, 2022</em></span></li>
<li>Madrigal-Matute J, de Bruijn J, van Kuijk K, Riascos-Bernald DF, Diaz A, Tasset I, Martín-Segura A, Gijbel MJJ, Sander B, Kaushik S, Biessen EAL, Tiano S, Bourdenx M, Krause GJ, McCracken I, Baker A, Jin H, Sibinga N, Bravo-Cordero JJ, Macian F, Singh R, Rensen PCN, Berbée JFP, Pasterkamp G, Sluimerc JC, Cuervo AM<span style="font-size: 11pt; text-indent: -27pt; font-style: italic; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; text-align: justify;">.</span> <span style="font-size: 11pt; text-indent: -27pt; font-style: italic; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; text-align: justify;"> </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; text-indent: -27pt; font-style: italic; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; text-align: justify;">Protective role of chaperone-mediated autophagy against atherosclerosis. </span><em style="font-size: 11pt; text-indent: -27pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><u>Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci.</u></em><span style="font-size: 11pt; text-indent: -27pt; font-style: italic; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; text-align: justify;"> Inaugural Paper, 2022</span> <span style="font-size: 11pt; text-indent: -27pt; font-style: italic; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; text-align: justify;">119(14):e2121133119. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2121133119, 2022</span></li>
<li>Barbaro JM, Sidoli S, Cuervo AM, Berman JW. <span style="font-style: italic; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: -27pt; line-height: 115%;">Methamphetamine Dysregulates Macrophage Functions and Autophagy to Mediate HIV Neuropathogenesis.</span> <em style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: -27pt;"><u>B</u></em><em style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: -27pt;"><u><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">iomedicines</span></u></em><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: -27pt; line-height: 115%;">. 10(6):1257., 2022</span></li>
<li>Krause GJ, Diaz A, Jafari M, Khawaja RR, Agullo-Pascual E, Santiago-Fernández O, Richards AL, Chen KH, Dmitriev P, Sun Y, See SK, Abdelmohsen K, Mazan-Mamczarz K, Krogan NJ, Gorospe M, Swaney DL, Sidoli S, Bravo-Cordero JJ, Kampmann M, Cuervo AM<span style="font-size: 11pt; text-indent: -27pt; font-style: italic; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; text-align: justify;">. Reduced endosomal microautophagy activity in aging associates with enhanced exocyst-mediated protein secretion. </span><em style="font-size: 11pt; text-indent: -27pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><u>Aging Cell.</u> </em><span style="font-size: 11pt; text-indent: -27pt; font-style: italic; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; text-align: justify;">e13713. doi: 10.1111/acel.13713, 2022</span></li>
<li>Rovira M, Sereda R, Pladevall-Morera D, Ramponi V, Marin I, Maus M, Madrigal-Matute J, Díaz A, García F, Muñoz J, Cuervo AM, Serrano M. The lysosomal proteome of senescent cells contributes to the senescence secretome. <em><u>Aging Cell.</u></em><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"> e13707. doi: 10.1111/acel.13707, 2022</span></li>
<li>Gomez-Sintes R Xin Q, Diaz A, Garner TP, Cotto-Rios XM, Wu Y, McCabe M, Dong S, Reynolds CA, Patel B de la Villa P, Macian F, Boya P, Gavathiotis E, <span style="font-size: 11pt; text-indent: -27pt; font-style: italic; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; text-align: justify;">Cuervo</span> <span style="font-size: 11pt; text-indent: -27pt; font-style: italic; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; text-align: justify;">AM</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; text-indent: -27pt; font-style: italic; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; text-align: justify;">. Targeting NCoR-RAR interaction activates chaperone-mediated autophagy and protects against retinal degeneration. </span><em style="font-size: 11pt; text-indent: -27pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><u>Nat. Comm</u></em><span style="font-size: 11pt; text-indent: -27pt; font-style: italic; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; text-align: justify;">. 13(1): 4220, doi: 10.1038/s41467-022-31869-1, 2022</span></li>
<li>Kaushik S, Juste YR, Lindenau K, Dong S, Macho-Gonzales A, Santiago-Fernandez O, McCabe M, Singh R, Gavathiotis E, <span style="font-size: 11pt; text-indent: -27pt; font-style: italic; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; text-align: justify;">Cuervo AM</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; text-indent: -27pt; font-style: italic; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; text-align: justify;">. Chaperone-mediated autophagy regulates adipocyte differentiation. </span><em style="font-size: 11pt; text-indent: -27pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><u>Sci. Adv.</u></em><span style="font-size: 11pt; text-indent: -27pt; font-style: italic; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; text-align: justify;"> 8 (46) DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abq2733 , 2022</span></li>
</ol>
<p><em>RECENT REVIEWS</em></p>
<ol>
<li>Kaushik S, Cuervo AM. Proteostasis and aging. <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em>Nat Med.</em></span> 21:1406-15, 2015</li>
<li>Tekirdag KA, Cuervo AM. Chaperone-mediated autophagy and endosomal microautophagy: joint by a chaperone. <em><span style="text-decoration: underline;">J. Biol. Chem</span>. </em> 293:5414-5424, 2018</li>
<li>Kaushik K, Cuervo AM. The coming of age of Chaperone-mediated autophagy. <em><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Nat. Rev. Cell. Mol. Biol.</span></em> Doi: doi.org/10.1038/s41580-018-0001-6, 2018</li>
<li>Scrivo A, Bourdenx M, Pampliega O, Cuervo AM. Selective autophagy as a potential therapeutic target for neurodegenerative disorders. <em><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Lancet Neuro</span></em><span style="text-decoration: underline;">l</span> 17(9):802-815, 2018</li>
<li>Arias E, Cuervo AM. Pros and cons of chaperone-mediated autophagy in cancer. <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em>Trends. Endocrinol Metab</em></span>. S1043-2760(19)30208-5. doi: 10.1016/j.tem.2019.09.007, 2019</li>
<li>Krause GJ, Cuervo AM. Assessment of mammalian endosomal microautophagy. <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em>Methods Cell Bio</em></span><em>l</em> 164:167-185, 2021</li>
<li><span style="font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> </span><span style="text-align: justify; text-indent: -22.5pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Kaushik S, Tasset I, Arias E, Pampliega O, Wong E, Martinez-Vicente M, Cuervo AM. Autophagy and the Hallmarks of Aging. <em><u>Ageing Res Rev.</u></em></span> <span style="text-align: justify; text-indent: -22.5pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> doi: 10.1016/j.arr.2021.101468, 2022</span></li>
<li>Jafari, M., McCabe, M, <strong>Cuervo AM</strong>. <span style="text-align: justify; text-indent: -22.5pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Chaperone-mediated autophagy: mechanisms and physiological relevance <em><u>Current. Opin. Physiol</u>. </em>Available online 26 September 2022. doi: doi.org/10.1016/j.cophys.2022.100597</span></li>
</ol>
Charles B. Hall
<p>Dr. Charles Hall has been a senior biostatistician for the Einstein Aging Study (EAS) since 2001. The EAS, a longitudinal research study that focuses on the aging brain, is one of the longest running of its kind in the United States. A biostatistician by training, Dr. Hall investigates the connection between cognitive activities and the onset of age-related diseases such as Alzheimer’s and dementia. His long-term observational research have shown that brain-stimulating activities have a positive correlation with delayed dementia onset and progression. Such findings support the hypothesis that education along with brain exercise—through endeavors such as reading, writing, group discussions and crossword puzzles—can help the brain build up extra defenses to fight off neuronal damage caused by age-related diseases.</p>
<p>In recent years Dr. Hall's main work has been as lead statistician for the World Trade Center (WTC) Health Program at the Fire Department of the City of New York. Dr. Hall has been Principal Investigator on four Cooperative Agreements funded by the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health that examine respiratory disease, cancer, and mortality in WTC rescue/recovery workers and has contributed to other research on the health effects of the exposure. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.6pt;"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt;">Dr. Hall is a biostatistician recognized for leading important long-term studies of aging and dementia. His research has shown, for example, that brain-stimulating activities delay the onset of dementia. He is the longtime director of the statistical core of the Einstein Aging Study, one of the longest-running prospective studies of aging in the country. He is also the lead statistician for the data coordinating center of the federally funded World Trade Center (WTC) Medical Monitoring & Treatment Program, which provides free health monitoring and treatment for workers and volunteers involved in the rescue, recovery and clean-up activities at the WTC site in New York City.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.6pt;"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt;">In his aging studies, Dr. Hall has pioneered the use of change-point models – powerful statistical tools for detecting subtle but meaningful changes in data. He has used these models to show that having more years of formal education or engaging in cognitively stimulating leisure activities appear to protect against developing clinical dementia symptoms.</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p>A complete list of publications can be found at <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/myncbi/collections/mybibliography/">NCBI</a… /><br /></p>
Oscar M. Valderrama Torres
<p>Oscar M. Valderrama Torres, MD, is an attending physician at Montefiore Einstein and Assistant Professor, Medicine at our Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Dr. Valderrama provides geriatric and palliative care for home-bound older adults, leading a Geriatric Home Visit program. He focuses on outpatient preoperative assessment for patients admitted to the joint replacement center at Montefiore Wakefield. As a member of the Montefiore Einstein Center for the Aging Brain, Dr. Valderrama conducts comprehensive geriatric assessments for patients with cognitive complaints.</p><p>After earning his Doctor of Medicine at Cayetano Heredia University in Lima, Peru in 2008, Dr. Valderrama moved to the United States to continue his medical training. He completed a research fellowship at Moffitt Cancer Center's Genitourinary Oncology Program in 2014. He later completed his internal medicine residency at New York University Langone Health in 2021, followed by a geriatric fellowship at Montefiore Einstein in 2022.</p><p>Dr. Valderrama’s research focuses on home-bound older adults. His work has been published in peer-reviewed journal articles, abstracts and book chapters. He has also shared his work through national and international poster presentations.</p><p>Dr. Valderrama is board certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine and the American Board of Geriatric Medicine. He is a member of the American Geriatrics Society and the American Academy of Home Care Medicine. He is fluent in Spanish.</p>
Jessica L. Zwerling
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<p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;">Jessica Zwerling, MD, MS, has a clinical focus on identifying risk factors for cognitive decline and dementia, as well as factors that promote successful aging. Zwerling’s research focuses on optimizing healthcare delivery systems. Her work has been published in many peer-reviewed journals and has been shared at national and international invited conferences. She has developed the clinical and didactic programs used to enhance health professionals’ capacity to screen, diagnose, and develop personalized plans of care for patients with Alzheimer disease and related dementias for the Montefiore Health System. She also is a nationally recognized expert in aging/ dementia and serves as an adviser on multiple panels related to recruitment in neurodegenerative disease clinical trials. In addition, she has pioneered the age-friendly initiatives at her health system and certified her Center of Excellence with the highest age-friendly recognition. Zwerling is board certified in neurology as well as the subspecialty of neuromuscular medicine by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. She is a member of the American Geriatrics Society and the American Academy of Neurology. Additionally, she has been named “2020 Health Care Hero” by the Westchester magazine, and was named one of the New York Super Doctors in The New York Times from 2016 to 2023. She has also been appointed and completed the Physician Leaders Program at Montefiore Health System.</span></p>
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<li><strong>B.S. with Special Certification in Gerontology:</strong> Cornell University </li>
<li><strong>M.S.:</strong> Natural Science, University at Buffalo Medical School /Roswell Park Cancer Institute</li>
<li><strong>M.D. with Thesis Honors and Research Honors:</strong> University at Buffalo Medical School </li>
<li><strong> Internship</strong>: Albert Einstein/Beth Israel Medical CenterResidency</li>
<li><strong>Chief Residency</strong>: Albert Einstein/Montefiore Medical Center </li>
<li><strong>Fellowship:</strong> Neuromuscular disease/Neurophysiology</li>
<li><strong>Fellowship:</strong> Geriatric Neurology (3 years) Albert Einstein/Montefiore Medical Center; NIH recipient of T32</li>
<li><strong> Board Certification:</strong> American Board of Neurology and Psychiatry (Neurology)</li>
<li><strong> Neuromuscular Board Certified</strong>: American Academy of Neurology</li>
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<p>To meet the needs clinically of our patients/caregivers, I developed and published a new model of care for the community. This model is called the Coordinated Care At Risk/Remote Elderly Program (CCARRE) and focuses on the patient/caregiver dyad. Additional funding supported the expansion of a telehealth depression treatment program for older adults which supported recruitment in our diverse, frail population. Foundation support has provided the ability to provide culturally and language competent assessments/evaluations and management of neurodegenerative diseases and cognitive impairment. Other grant funding supports the implementation of the 5cs program (Comprehensive Culturally relevant Care for Cognitively impaired and their Caregivers – a pathway to equity in health care and model for systems transformation. Current funding for BRAID in conjunction will bridge our research aims and This grant uses the MHS-pioneered BRAID model (Bridging Research, Accurate Information, and Dialogue) where researchers/providers gain a deep understanding of the needs of our diverse and vulnerable population. To aid in clinical trial enrollment/retention, this work focuses on the Age Friendly 4Ms--What Matters, Medication, Mentation, and Mobility and strengthens the collaboration between the health system and the surrounding community.
</p></p>Educational models through research: Additional national funding supported the building of a network of skilled nursing facilities and expanded my role as a leader of a Covid Action Network through Project ECHO. I developed the curriculum for interprofessional and brought the community of 99 skilled nursing facilities together with our Montefiore Health System experts to provide evidence-based Covid 19 care. In addition - I obtained funding to implement the MOLST or eMOLST into our collaborative of skilled nursing facilities to assure safe care transitions and encourage the end-of-life directives to be completed electronically.</p>
My overall clinical research focuses on how to address the neurodegenerative disease. The pandemic has forced a reevaluation of resources and additional funding to support a robust educational network that provides interdisciplinary CME, as well as telehealth for the older adult, which was crucial. Building a patient-caregiver evaluation center through foundation and state/national funding is crucial and has created a niche as an expert in neurodegenerative disease with a focus on under resourced, frail populations. This group is crucial to identify and recruit for future trials and our site has been identified as a patient-centered outcome center.
<p>Jessica Zwerling, MD, MS, is Director, Montefiore Hudson Valley Center of Excellence for Alzheimer’s Disease; Program Director, UCNS Geriatric Neurology Fellowship; Director, Memory Disorders Center; and Associate Director, Center for the Aging Brain at Montefiore. She is also Associate Professor of Neurology, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics and Clinical Director of the Einstein Aging Study at our Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Her clinical focus is on identifying risk factors for cognitive decline and dementia, as well as factors that promote successful aging.</p><p>In 1996, Dr. Zwerling received her Bachelor of Science in human development and family studies at Cornell University, as well as earned a concentration in Gerontology. She continued her education at Roswell Park Cancer Institute/University at Buffalo, focusing on the validation of dementia rating scales, receiving her Master of Science in 2000 and her Doctor of Medicine in 2001, She earned her Doctor of Medicine with both thesis and research honors. Her postgraduate training began with an internship at Beth Israel Medical Center, followed by a residency/chief residency at Montefiore Medical Center. In 2006, she completed a fellowship in neuromuscular disease, electromyography and neurophysiology at Montefiore. In 2012, she completed a three-year NIH research fellowship in aging at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine.</p><p>Dr. Zwerling’s research focuses on optimizing healthcare delivery systems and coined the term “culturally competent collaborative care of the cognitively impaired older adult”. Her work has been published in many peer-reviewed journals and has been shared at a number of national invited lectures. She has developed the clinical and didactic programs used to enhance health professionals’ capacity to screen, diagnose and develop personalized plans of care for patients with Alzheimer’s and related dementias for the Montefiore Health System.</p><p>Dr. Zwerling has received multiple grants from the Leslie R. Samuels and Fan Fox Foundation for work in memory and gait. This has created postdoctoral programs for trainees in the field of neuropsychology, social work, as well as geriatric neurology. In 2017 and 2019, Dr. Zwerling received the Research Recognition Award in Alzheimer’s Disease at the CaringKind Forget-Me-Not Gala. She was also named one of the New York Super Doctors in The New York Times from 2016 to 2020. Dr. Zwerling is board certified in neurology as well as the subspecialty of neuromuscular medicine by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. She is a member of the American Geriatrics Society and the American Academy of Neurology. Additionally, she has been named “2020 Health Care Hero” by the Westchester magazine.</p>
Beth R. Zell
Shiu M. Young
Lucia R. Wolgast
Hematology and Coagulation<quillbot-extension-portal></quillbot-extension-portal>
Antiphospholipid Syndrome<quillbot-extension-portal></quillbot-extension-portal>
Samson Wiseman
Erica F. Weiss
<p>Dr. Erica Weiss is a clinical neuropsychologist who completed her doctorate in Clinical Psychology with a <span class="highlight">Health</span> emphasis at the Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology at Yeshiva University. She completed her clinical internship and post-doctoral fellowship training in Clinical Neuropsychology within the division of Neuropsychology at Montefiore. Dr. Weiss is now director of that fellowship program and assistant professor of Neurology at Albert Einstein College of Medicine. She is Associate Director of Neuropsychology at the Montefiore Center for the Aging Brain, Director of Neuropsychology for the Hudson Valley Center of Excellence in Alzheimer’s Disease and Director of Neuropsychology at the Montefiore Memory Disorders Clinic. </p>
<p>Dr Weiss’ clinical work includes the cognitive evaluation of children and adults with a variety of neurological disorders including epilepsy and dementia. She spearheaded the expansion of clinical neuropsychology services through the creation of a bilingual internship and fellowship program in Clinical Neuropsychology. </p>
Dr. Weiss’ clinical work includes the cognitive evaluation of children and adults with a variety of neurological disorders including but no limited to multiple sclerosis/neuroimmunological disorders, epilepsy, and dementia.<quillbot-extension-portal></quillbot-extension-portal>
Research foci include cognition in healthy aging and exceptional longevity, briefer neurocognitive evaluations and their usefulness in clinical/ research settings, and cognitive correlates of childhood epilepsies and Febrile Status Epilepticus. Particular interest in improving how various providers assess cognition.<quillbot-extension-portal></quillbot-extension-portal>