David M. Holtzman, M.D., the Andrew B. and Gretchen P. Jones Professor and head of Neurology, is co-recipient of the MetLife Foundation Award for Medical Research in Alzheimer’s Disease. Holtzman is also associate director of the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center (ADRC) and a member of the Hope Center for Neurological Disorders at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.
The foundation announced the annual awards at a press conference in Washington, D.C. Holtzman received the honor for his pioneering work in the study of the early molecular biology of Alzheimer’s disease, which has helped advance the search for new treatments and for ways to identify the disorder as soon as possible.
As a winner, Holtzman received a personal prize and Washington University received an additional $200,000 to promote research in Alzheimer’s disease. Prior University recipients of the award have included John C. Morris, M.D., director of the ADRC, and Alison Goate, Ph.D., professor of genetics in psychiatry. Holtzman received the foundation’s “promising work” grant in 2002.
The co-recipient for this year’s award is Berislav V. Zlokovic, M.D., Ph.D. of the University of Rochester Medical Center in Rochester, New York, who studies the impact of blood flow in Alzheimer’s disease.
Among other accomplishments, Holtzman and colleagues have studied the effects of antibodies against amyloid beta, a key component of the plaques that appear in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients. Holtzman’s group, together with collaborators at Eli Lilly, showed the antibody could decrease amyloid plaques over months in mice. In addition, one antibody improved memory function in mice in a few days. A human form of an antibody is now being tested.
Researchers in Holtzman’s lab including John Cirrito, Ph.D., postdoctoral research scholar and Randy Bateman, M.D., assistant professor of neurology, also have developed ways to monitor the production and clearance of amyloid beta in both mice and humans. They hope the techniques will help answer lingering questions about whether the brains of Alzheimer’s patients make too much amyloid beta or fail to clear it out fast enough. The answer will help scientists working to develop new diagnostic tests and treatments. In addition, spinal fluid tests developed with colleagues including John Morris, Anne Fagan, Ph.D., research associate professor of neurology, and Mark Mintun, M.D., professor of radiology suggest that Alzheimer’s changes in the brain can be detected years before clinical symptoms develop.
Holtzman is a past recipient of the Potamkin Prize from the American Academy of Neurology, a MERIT award from the National Institute on Aging, and the Zenith Award from the Alzheimer’s Association.
The MetLife Foundation has supported Alzheimer’s disease research and outreach activities for more than 20 years. The Foundation has awarded more than $10 million in grants through its Awards for Medical Research in Alzheimer’s Disease program and has also provided support to the Alzheimer’s Association for a variety of caregiving initiatives and programs.
Washington University School of Medicine’s full-time and volunteer faculty physicians also are the medical staff of Barnes-Jewish and St. Louis Children’s hospitals. The School of Medicine is one of the leading medical research, teaching and patient care institutions in the nation, currently ranked fourth in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. Through its affiliations with Barnes-Jewish and St. Louis Children’s hospitals, the School of Medicine is linked to BJC HealthCare.