Leonard Berg, M.D., was a pioneer in the assessment and detection of Alzheimer’s disease, the founder and former director of the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center and professor emeritus of neurology.
In honor of his distinguished careers both as a clinician and researcher, a memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. March 31 in the Connor Auditorium of the Farrell Learning and Teaching Center. A reception will follow.
Berg died Monday, January 15, 2007, at age 79 following a stroke.
A life in medicine: Leonard Berg, MD, fresh out of medical school, and later in life as he looked back on a long and distinguished career
Leonard Berg, M.D., a preeminent Alzheimer’s disease researcher and founder of one of the world’s leading research centers at Washington University, died Monday, January 15, 2007, after a stroke. He was 79 and was a resident of Clayton.
Dr. Berg’s work as a clinical neurologist led him to develop a test that distinguishes early symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease from normal aging.
That test, the Clinical Dementia Rating, is now the worldwide standard for diagnosing the presence and severity of the disease, says John C. Morris, M.D., director of the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center (ADRC) at Washington University.
Dr. Berg’s early work led to the Memory and Aging Project, a long-term study that has tracked more than 3,000 volunteers over 30 years. That study led researchers to recognize that Alzheimer’s disease begins to attack the brain decades before people show symptoms.
In establishing the research center, Dr. Berg pulled together scientists from many disciplines to study the disease. That type of collaborative research was nearly unheard of at the time, Morris says.
Dr. Berg’s engaging personality helped cement ties among 10 Alzheimer’s disease research centers established by the National Institute on Aging, he says.
“People were just drawn to him. He’s the reason this is a community of Alzheimer’s researchers rather than isolated pockets competing for money,” Morris says.
Dr. Berg was born in St. Louis on July 17, 1927. He graduated from high school at age 15 and had completed both college and medical school at Washington University before he was 22. He worked his way through college and medical school playing the clarinet and saxophone.
Dr. Berg was regarded as the best clinical neurologist in the nation for many years, says David M. Holtzman, M.D., head of the Department of Neurology at Washington University School of Medicine.
Dr. Berg continued to work full time as a physician even after starting the Alzheimer’s disease research project. He was one of the first to use laboratory discoveries to aid in the treatment of patients, a style of science now called translational research.
“He did then what a lot of people are talking about now — translational research,” Holtzman says.
Holtzman says the Yiddish word “mensch,” meaning “great person,” best described Dr. Berg.
“He was sort of a legend to me,” Holtzman says. “He will live on here forever. The work we’re doing now is a reflection of what he started.”
Dr. Berg was a member of the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Neurology, the American Neurological Association, the Society for Neuroscience and the Society for Experimental Pathology.
Dr. Berg’s many leadership positions included terms as president of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, chairman of the Missouri State Advisory Board on Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders, and chairman of the national Alzheimer’s Association’s Medical and Scientific Advisory Council. He was a member of the National Scientific Advisory Council of the American Federation for Aging Research for more than a decade and served on a Congressional Advisory Panel on Alzheimer’s Disease.
With a career as a doctor and a career as a scientist, Dr. Berg also was devoted to his family, Morris says.
Survivors include his wife of nearly 59 years, Gerry Berg; two daughters, Kathy Berg and Nancy Berg, both of St. Louis; a son, John Berg of St. Louis; and one grandchild.