THE ZACHARY & ELIZABETH M FISHER CENTER FOR ALZHEIMER'S RESEARCH FOUNDATION

ROCKEFELLER UNIVERSITY ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE PROGRAM:FISHER AI PLATFORM FOR ALZHEIMER'S & NEURODEGENERATIVE RESEARCH. THIS INITIATIVE EQUIPS NEUROSCIENTISTS WITH CUTTING-EDGE AI TOOLS TO ACCELERATE DISCOVERIES IN ALZHEIMER'S RESEARCH.USING AI TO MAP CELL LOSS AND DECODE GENE NETWORKSWITH THE SPONSORSHIP OF THE FISHER CENTER FOR ALZHEIMER'S RESEARCH FOUNDATION, THE FISHER AI PLATFORM (LED BY DR. BARBANO) AND THE LABORATORY OF MOLECULAR BIOLOGY (LED BY DR. HEINTZ) APPLIED THEIR ADVANCED MFISH3D IMAGING TECHNIQUE TO TRACE HOW BRAIN CELLS ARE LOST OVER TIME IN ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE. THIS APPROACH ALLOWS RESEARCHERS TO SEE, IN THREE DIMENSIONS, WHICH TYPES OF BRAIN CELLS ARE MOST AFFECTED AND WHEN. IN PARALLEL, THE TEAM USED MACHINE LEARNING TO ANALYZE LARGE-SCALE GENETIC DATA, IDENTIFYING KEY NETWORKS OF GENES THAT MAY PLAY A ROLE IN BOTH ALZHEIMER'S AND HUNTINGTON'S DISEASE. THESE TOOLS PROVIDE A MORE DETAILED AND ACCURATE VIEW OF HOW THESE DISEASES PROGRESSAND WHERE TREATMENT MAY BE MOST EFFECTIVE.PREPARING FOR KISUNLA TREATMENT AT NYU LANGONEMARTIN SADOWSKI, MD, PHD, THE INAUGURAL INCUMBENT OF THE ZACHARY AND ELIZABETH M. FISHER PROFESSORSHIP IN NEURODEGENERATION AND ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE, WAS AN INVESTIGATOR ON ONE OF THE CLINICAL TRIALS OF KISUNLA (DONANEMAB), A NEW ALZHEIMER'S DRUG GRANTED FDA APPROVAL IN 2024. HE HAS SINCE DEVELOPED A TREATMENT PROTOCOL TO BE IMPLEMENTED ACROSS NYU LANGONE HEALTH. THE PROTOCOL OUTLINES HOW ELIGIBLE PATIENTS WITH EARLY-STAGE ALZHEIMER'S CAN ACCESS KINSUNLA AND BE MONITORED WHILE RECEIVING IT IN THERAPY. KISUNLA IS EXPECTED TO BE AVAILABLE TO NYU LANGONE PATIENTS BEGINNING IN JANUARY 2026.

ROCKEFELLER UNIVERSITY - FISHER CENTER LAB:NATHANIEL HEINTZ, PHD LEADS THE FISHER CENTER LAB AT THE ROCKEFELLER UNIVERSITY, HOME TO ONE OF THE LARGEST AND MOST ADVANCED ALZHEIMER'S RESEARCH FACILITIES IN THE WORLD. HIS TEAM STUDIES THE EARLIEST MOLECULAR EVENTS OF ALZHEIMER'SBEFORE AMYLOID-BETA (A) PLAQUES AND TAU TANGLES FORM. THEIR RESEARCH ON SELECTIVE CELLULAR VULNERABILITY AIMS TO UNCOVER WHY CERTAIN BRAIN CELLS DIE EARLIER THAN OTHERS, WHICH COULD BE KEY TO DEVELOPING TREATMENTS.AT THE FISHER CENTER LAB AT THE ROCKEFELLER UNIVERSITY, RESEARCHERS UNDER THE DIRECTION OF NATHANIEL HEINTZ, PHD, CONTINUE TO UNRAVEL THE EARLIEST MOLECULAR CHANGES IN ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE, AIMING TO UNDERSTAND WHAT MAKES CERTAIN BRAIN CELLS MOST VULNERABLE. BY PIONEERING CUTTING-EDGE MOLECULAR PROFILING TECHNIQUES, THEY ARE MAKING GROUNDBREAKING DISCOVERIES THAT PAVE THE WAY FOR BETTER TREATMENTS.RESEARCHERS AT THE FISHER CENTER LAB HAVE REFINED ADVANCED CELLULAR ANALYSIS METHODS TO EXAMINE HOW SPECIFIC BRAIN CELL TYPES ARE AFFECTED IN THE EARLIEST STAGES OF ALZHEIMER'S. THIS YEAR, THE TEAM: DEVELOPED NEW PROTOCOLS FOR ANALYZING HUMAN HIPPOCAMPUS AND ENTORHINAL CORTEX CELLS. IDENTIFIED EARLY-STAGE NEURON LOSS IN VULNERABLE BRAIN LAYERS, OFFERING INSIGHTS INTO DISEASE PROGRESSION. PROFILED 204 UNIQUE SAMPLES ACROSS 15 DIFFERENT CELL TYPES. UNCOVERED NEW TRANSCRIPTIONAL AND EPIGENETIC MARKERS THAT HELP EXPLAIN SELECTIVE CELLULAR VULNERABILITY.DATA-DRIVEN MILESTONE: THIS YEAR'S DATA HAVE CONFIRMED KNOWN PATTERNS OF DISEASE AND UNCOVERED NEW MOLECULAR EVENTS THAT SHED LIGHT ON HOW ALZHEIMER'S PROGRESSES AT THE CELLULAR LEVEL.UNDERSTANDING DISEASE PROGRESSION WITH NEW STAGING TOOLS:ONE CHALLENGE IN ALZHEIMER'S RESEARCH IS ACCURATELY DETERMINING DISEASE STAGE IN DONOR BRAIN SAMPLES. THE FISHER CENTER LAB HAS NOW DEVELOPED AN IN-HOUSE BRAAK STAGING PLATFORM, ENSURING THAT MOLECULAR FINDINGS ARE PROPERLY CONTEXTUALIZED.RECENT DISCOVERIES: THE EARLIEST DETECTABLE CHANGE OCCURS IN LAYERS 2/3 AND 4 OF THE CORTEX, REINFORCING THEIR SUSCEPTIBILITY. NO SIGNIFICANT LOSS WAS OBSERVED IN LAYER 5A PYRAMIDAL CELLS, A KEY DISTINCTION BETWEEN ALZHEIMER'S AND OTHER NEURODEGENERATIVE DISEASES. COMPUTATIONAL AND BIOINFORMATICS TOOLS ARE BEING APPLIED TO COMPARE MOLECULAR CHANGES IN VULNERABLE VS. RESISTANT NEURONS.