News and Events | Page 7 | Helen & Robert Appel Alzheimer’s Disease Research Institute

Astrocytic TDP-43 dysregulation impairs memory by modulating antiviral pathways and interferon-inducible chemokines

A new study by the Orr lab, published in Science Advances, reveals that dementia-linked buildup of TDP-43 protein within astrocytes disrupts antiviral pathways and impairs aspects of cognitive function.

In collaboration with the Schwartz lab at Weill Cornell Medicine and the Froemke lab at New York University, the authors report that people with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) or frontotemporal dementia (FTD) had aberrant accumulation of TDP...

The Orr lab celebrates its first graduate student doctoral dissertation!

The Appel Institute community warmly congratulates Dr. Samantha Meadows-Ortiz on her successful dissertation defense!

Dr. Meadows-Ortiz’s research “Astrocytes Regulate Spatial Memory in a Sex-Specific Manner” was completed in Dr. Anna Orr’s laboratory. Dr. Anjali Rajadhyaksha, Chair, Dr. Olga Boudker, and Dr. Kristen Pleil served as members of her examining committee in addition to Dr. Orr. She is the first of many graduate students to come to complete their doctoral degree in Dr. Orr’...

Welcome Dr. Zhuhao Wu to Appel!

After extensive national searches since 2020 and reviews of hundreds of candidates, Appel Institute successfully recruited Dr. Zhuhao Wu, a highly accomplished neuroscientist. He and his team expand Appel Institute’s imaging capabilities of mouse and human brains to accelerate Alzheimer's disease therapies from bench to bedside.

Dr. Wu received his PhD in Neuroscience at Johns Hopkins University, working on how our brains are properly built to sense the environment using Drosophila...

Burré lab enjoys double dose of graduate student doctoral dissertations!

The Appel Institute congratulates Drs. Noah Guiberson and Kathryn E. Carnazza on their dissertation defenses!

Dr. Guiberson's research focused on molecular mechanisms and strategies for STXBP1/Munc18-1 encephalopathies, conducted under Dr. Jaqueline Burré's guidance. His committee included Drs. Jeremy Dittman (Chair), David Eliezar, and Manu Sharma.

Dr. Carnazza's research examined membrane binding of synucleins in...

eft to right: Stephanie Jackvony (Anna Orr Lab), Lauren Komer (Jacqueline Burré Lab) and Gillian Carling (Li Gan Lab)

Congratulations! Graduate Students at Appel Institute are Awarded F31 Fellowships!

Graduate students within the Appel Institute, Stephanie Jackvony, Lauren Komer, and Gillian Carling have been awarded F31 predoctoral fellowships from the NIH. Stephanie Jackvony's research focuses on TDP-43 pathology effects on innate antiviral mechanisms in neurodegenerative disease. Lauren Komer is studying beta-synuclein's role in synaptic vesicle release. Gillian Carling's work examines the Trem2-APOE pathway in Alzheimer's Disease, specifically R47H effects on APOE3 and APOE4 in...