“Understanding Alzheimer’s” is Café Scientifique topic on March 12
The Café Scientifique on March 12 features Dr. Joseph Rogers, Phd, talking about “Understanding Alzheirmer’s: Basic Facts and Current Research” beginning at 6:00 pm at SRI in Menlo Park (Middlefield Road at Ringwood Ave.).
He will start with basic facts about Alzheimer’s disease, many of which are often misunderstood even by the most experienced caregivers. He will then cover what’s being done at SRI and other research organizations around the world to treat this terrible disorder. Although there have been recent disappointments, there is still hope.
Dr. Rogers has been studying Alzheimer’s disease for nearly four decades, starting at the University of California, San Diego, where he received his Ph.D., and continuing at the Salk Institute, where he was a staff scientist. He then moved to the Department of Neurology at the University of Massachusetts Medical School as an Assistant Professor. While there, he made a major discovery: he showed that inflammation could be an important player in causing the damage that’s done to the brain by Alzheimer’s. At first this finding was considered heretical, but it is now a mainstream area of investigation.
In 1986, Dr. Rogers founded Sun Health Research Institute in Sun City, Arizona. Although there was no staff, no facilities, no equipment, and virtually no seed money, he built his institute into an internationally-recognized center for Alzheimer’s research over the next 25 years. Sun Health Research Institute is now, in fact, one of the 29 national Alzheimer’s centers that the NIH sponsors.
In 2003, the Alzheimer’s Association awarded Dr. Rogers a Lifetime Achievement Award for his work.
Last May, Dr. Rogers moved to SRI International in Menlo Park, where he is Executive Director of the Health Sciences Section, Biosciences Division. In addition to his administrative duties, he continues to maintain an active laboratory devoted to Alzheimer’s research.
