The Evelyn F. McKnight Brain Institute in the School of Medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham hosted the McKnight Brain Research Foundation trustees, along with scientists from the other McKnight institutions — the University of Miami, the University of Florida and the University of Arizona — at the 10th McKnight Inter-Institutional Meeting on April 4-6. Scientists from the Institutes spent three days discussing projects, collaborations and new research possibilities at the annual event.
Highlights included keynote speaker Steve Horvath, Ph.D., professor of human genetics and biostatistics at the David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, who presented “Epigenetic Clock Analysis of Cognitive Aging.”
Madhav Thambisetty, M.D., Ph.D., an investigator in the Office of Brain Aging and Behavior Section at the National Institute on Aging, presented “Bears, Bile and the Brain: towards new cures for Alzheimer’s Disease.” Thambisetty is a member of the McKnight Brain Foundation Board of Trustees.
UAB is home to one of four McKnight Brain Institutes in the nation, which are devoted to translating discoveries from basic biomedical research into processes and products to minimize the deleterious effects of age-related decline in memory and other cognitive functions.
Under the leadership of Ronald M. Lazar, Ph.D., the UAB McKnight Brain Institute consists of 49 investigators in basic, translational and clinical research engaged in better understanding of memory and memory dysfunction, and developing new treatments for aging-related memory disorders.