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Mission
The mission of the Center for Neurodegenerative Disease Research (CNDR) is to promote and conduct multidisciplinary clinical and basic research to increase the understanding of the causes and mechanisms leading to brain dysfunction and degeneration in neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD), Parkinson’s disease (PD), Lewy body dementia (LBD), Frontotemporal degeneration (FTD), Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Primary lateral sclerosis (PLS), Motor neuron disease (MND), and related disorders that occur increasingly with advancing age. Implicit in the mission of the CNDR are two overarching goals: 1.) Find better ways to cure and treat these disorders, 2. Provide training to the next generation of scientists.
“My vision for CNDR is to create a world with effective interventions to prevent and cure aging-related neurodegenerative diseases.” – Eddie Lee, MD, PhD, Director of CNDR
John Q. Trojanowski, MD, PhD | 1946 - 2022
In loving memory of John Q. Trojanowski, MD, PhD
Latest Research
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Criterion and convergent validity of plasma biomarkers in early-onset Alzheimer's disease: Initial findings from LEADS
Wednesday, May 6, 2026
INTRODUCTION: Despite expanding use of plasma biomarkers for Alzheimer's disease (AD), minimal examination has been undertaken in early-onset AD (EOAD). Prior analyses assessed criterion and convergent validity of common plasma biomarkers in a well-characterized sample with sporadic EOAD. METHODS: Plasma amyloid beta (Aβ) 42/40, tau phosphorylated at threonine 231 (p-tau231), glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), and neurofilament light change (NfL) levels were obtained for 189 EOAD, 52...
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From Parkinson's Progression Markers Initiative to Parkinson's Precision Medicine Initiative: Still PPMI
Tuesday, May 5, 2026
The Parkinson's Progression Marker Initiative (PPMI), sponsored by The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research, is designed to develop disease biomarkers to accelerate Parkinson's disease (PD) therapeutics. During the past 15 years PPMI has acquired comprehensive clinical, imaging, biomarker and genetic data on thousands of participants that has guided clinical therapeutic studies for PD and related synucleinopathies. The study has established standardized strategies for acquisition...
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Early-life adversity shapes the relationship between growth and reproduction in free-ranging female rhesus macaques
Tuesday, May 5, 2026
Life history theory predicts that organisms allocate resources across physiological processes to maximize fitness. Under this framework, early-life adversity (ELA) which limits energetic capital could shape investment in growth and reproduction, ultimately contributing to evolutionary fitness. Integrating 64 y of long-term demographic information with cross-sectional behavioral and physiological data from female rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta; n = 163 to 2,105 females depending on the...