Dr. Giulio Maria Pasinetti

The article Researchers get closer to preventing Alzheimer’s disease began with

A recent study directed by Mount Sinai School of Medicine identifies a faulty molecule in the brain found in cases of mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Researchers say this faulty molecule may be responsible for the progression of MCI to mild Alzheimer’s disease (AD) dementia. The study, which appeared June 10th online in the journal Neurobiology of Aging, may lead to preventative treatments for AD.
 
An estimated 4.5 million Americans have Alzheimer’s disease and presently there are no known cures or effective preventive strategies.
 
“Alzheimer’s Disease is a growing health concern that affects millions of people”, says Giulio Maria Pasinetti, M.D., Ph.D., Professor of Psychiatry and Neuroscience, Director of the Neuroinflammation Research Center at Mount Sinai School of Medicine and lead author of the study. “We hope our research provides direction for preventative treatments to delay the onset of AD dementia by eliminating amyloid plaque-causing peptides in the brain.”

Giulio Maria Pasinetti, M.D., Ph.D. is Professor of Psychiatry and Professor of Neuroscience at Mount Sinai School of Medicine (MSSM) and Professor of Geriatrics and Adult Development at The Brookdale Department of Geriatrics and Adult Development. He is on the U.S. Army Advisory Board, Neurotoxin Research program. He is Director of Basic and Biomedical Research and Training, Geriatric Research, Education and Clinical Center, Bronx Veterans Affairs Medical Center and Director of Translational Neuroscience Laboratories, Bronx Veterans Affairs Medical Center. He has completed research for the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research.
 
The primary research goal in his lab is to investigate the biological processes which occur when, during aging, subjects with normal cognitive functions convert into the very earliest stages of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and then to frank dementia. His long-term goal is to improve the diagnosis of patients who are in the very earliest stages of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), and to identify early molecular neurobiological abnormalities so that effective pharmacological treatments to slow or halt disease progression can be developed. Toward this goal, he has initiated a series of studies to characterize gene activities in the brain of early AD cases and animal model system of AD neuropathology, using high throughput cDNA and microarray genomic studies. His recent studies have found that the expression of genes involved in synaptic functions, cell cycle, transcription/translation control and cytoskeleton/cell adhesion, may play an important role in the onset and possibly the clinical progression of Alzheimer’s disease dementia. He is presently characterizing the functional role of these abnormal expressed genes in the brain using experimental gene therapy and transgenic mouse models of AD type neuropathology.
 
Giulio is a member of the Career Development Committee at the Department of Veterans Affairs, the NDNG Study Section Committee at NIH, the NCCAM Study Section Committee at NIH, the ZAT1 DB16 Study Section Committee at NIH, the National Scientific Board at the Alzheimer’s Association, the National Scientific Advisory Council at AFAR, the Scientific Advisory Board at Medical Marketing Research International, UK, the Australia Advisory Board at the National Health and Medical Research Council, Alzheimer Forschung Initiative e.V. Advisory Board, and Alzheimer’s Society of Canada National Scientific Advisory Board. He is winner of the 2002 Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives Award, the 2000 Zenith Award from the Alzheimer’s Association, and the 1999 Temple Foundation Discovery Award from the Alzheimer’s Association.
 
He coauthored A ketogenic diet as a potential novel therapeutic intervention in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Transgenic neuronal expression of proopiomelanocortin attenuates hyperphagic response to fasting and reverses metabolic impairments in leptin-deficient obese mice, Caspase Gene Expression in the Brain as a Function of the Clinical Progression of Alzheimer Disease, and High-throughput proteomics and protein biomarker discovery in an experimental model of inflammatory hyperalgesia: effects of nimesulide. Read his full list of publications!
 
Giulio earned a M.D. in 1982 from the University of Milan Medical School, Milan, Italy and a Ph.D. in Pharmacology in 1988 from the University of Milan, Milan, Italy. He is on the Editorial Boards of Drugs of Today, CNS & Neurological Disorders – Drug Targets, Gene Expression, and Neurobiology of Aging. He holds U.S. Patent #5,985,930 Treatment of Neurodegenerative Conditions with Nimesulide and has provisional U.S. Patents for “Treatment of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) with Nimesulide” (2002), “Inhibiting Progressive Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI)” (2002) and “COX2 transgenics and Alzheimer’s disease” (2003).