Research about Alzheimer's Disease at Stony Brook

For the past twenty years, the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science at Stony Brook has conducted significant research into the nature and causes of Alzheimer’s Disease.  Today, members of the Department’s faculty remain active contributors to the international effort to find ways to prevent and cure the disease.

One of Stony Brook’s leading researchers, Professor of Psychiatry Dmitry Goldgaber, was the first scientist to clone the gene for amyloid precursor protein (APP) and map it to chromosome 21. In 1986, Dr. Goldgaber stunned the scientific community when he presented his findings at an international conference of neurobiologists. 

Wolfgang Quitschke, PhD, Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and an accomplished biochemist, has made major contributions to the study of the molecular processes that regulate genes associated with Alzheimer's Disease.  He is currently investigating the possible role of naturally occurring substances in the prevention of amyloid plaques, with an eye toward possible prevention and cure of Alzheimer’s Disease.

Researchers at Stony Brook have been the recipients of several major grants from the National Institutes of Health, the American Health Assistance Foundation, and other sponsors of scientific research on Alzheimer’s Disease. They have published a steady stream of papers in the leading journals and they continue to make important discoveries about the biological mechanisms that underlie Alzheimer’s Disease.