Home
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
-
Repeated Administration of Social and Structural Determinants of Health (SSDOH) Questions in an Alzheimer's Disease Research Center: The Aging Brain Study (ABC) Life Experience Survey
Friday, April 3, 2026
Social and structural determinants of health (SSDOH) must be measured longitudinally to understand how lived experiences shape trajectories of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD). This study evaluated the feasibility of administering an SSDOH survey to cognitively unimpaired older adults, examining response consistency, changes over time, and missing data patterns. A follow-up survey was conducted with participants in the UPenn Alzheimer's Disease Research Center clinical cohort an...
-
Defining diagnostic disclosure in the acute care setting: A concept analysis
Friday, April 3, 2026
CONCLUSIONS: The definitions provided advance our understanding of diagnostic disclosure with implications for practice and future research. A clearly defined concept sets the foundation to measure, predict, and investigate diagnostic disclosure further. This analysis identifies diagnostic disclosure as critical to patient-centered care, with potential to improve communication, enhance self-care, and prevent rehospitalization. Future efforts should focus on testing the operational definition,...
-
Sleep architecture and self-reported sleep quality are associated with Alzheimer's disease biomarkers in older adults without dementia
Thursday, April 2, 2026
CONCLUSIONS: Greater REM sleep was associated with a more favorable plasma amyloid profile, whereas associations between subjective sleep quality and plasma biomarkers were nominal and require confirmation in larger studies. These findings suggest that REM sleep architecture measured using ambulatory EEG may be particularly sensitive to amyloid-related changes prior to dementia.