UCI MIND

🎥 Miss the 36th Annual SoCal Alzheimer's Disease Research Conference? You can still watch it — for FREE!

Last October, some of the brightest minds in Alzheimer's research gathered to explore the theme "Nature, Nurture & Neurodegeneration" — and now the full recording is available for everyone to watch!

🔬 This incredible lineup of experts covered it all:

🔹 Kenneth Kosik, MD (UCSB) – The Big Picture of Alzheimer's Research 🔹 Sudha Seshadri, MD (UT San Antonio) – Medical Conditions & ADRD 🔹 Jennifer Yokoyama, PhD (UCSF) – The Genetics of Alzheimer's 🔹 Jennifer Weuve, PhD (Boston University) – Pollution & Brain Health 🔹 Vivek Swarup, PhD (UC Irvine) – Epigenetics & Neurodegeneration 🔹 Yakeel Quiroz, PhD (Boston University) – Autosomal Dominant Alzheimer's 🔹 Jennifer Gatchel, MD, PhD (MGH/Harvard) – Psychiatric Symptoms in ADRD

Whether you're a researcher, caregiver, clinician, or simply someone passionate about brain health — this is a must-watch! 🧠

▶️ Watch the full recording here, completely free: 👉 https://youtu.be/ThRCRGGDoOI

📅 Recorded: October 24, 2025

🧠 Mark your calendars! The 37th Annual Southern California Alzheimer's Disease Research Conference is coming!

Join us on September 25, 2026, at the Irvine Marriott for a full day of cutting-edge research, expert speakers, and community connection.

This year's theme: "The Energy Behind Metabolism in ADRD in Research"

From FDG PET imaging to diet, exercise, gut health, GLP-1 drugs, and more — this conference brings together leading researchers from across the country to share the latest in Alzheimer's and dementia-related disease (ADRD) research.

📍 Irvine Marriott | 📅 September 25, 2026

Stay tuned for speaker spotlights and more details coming soon!

🧠 Mark your calendars! The 37th Annual Southern California Alzheimer's Disease Research Conference is coming!

Join us on September 25, 2026, at the Irvine Marriott for a full day of cutting-edge research, expert speakers, and community connection.

This year's theme: "The Energy Behind Metabolism in ADRD in Research"

From FDG PET imaging to diet, exercise, gut health, GLP-1 drugs, and more — this conference brings together leading researchers from across the country to share the latest in Alzheimer's and dementia-related disease (ADRD) research.

📍 Irvine Marriott | 📅 September 25, 2026

Visit our website to register: https://conference.mind.uci.edu

Stay tuned for speaker spotlights and more details coming soon!

On May 21st, at 1pm PT the Alzheimer's Association, The CARE Registry and the Philippine Nurses Association of America will host a virtual event, "HEALTHY MINDS, STRONG VOICES: BRAIN HEALTH IN THE ASIAN AMERICAN PACIFIC ISLANDER COMMUNITY". Director of Asian American Outreach, Dr. Hye-Won Shin, will speak as part of the program. To register, visit: bit.ly/4tNGiJ7

This month we are recognizing Asian American, Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander Heritage Month.

🌠🏆🧠🏋🏿‍♀️Associate Professor of Neurology and UCI MIND faculty member, Dr. Crystal Glover has been honored with the 2026 Rising Star Award by the UCI School of Medicine. Dr. Glover also leads the Outreach, Recruitment and Engagement Core for the UCI ADRC. The award recognizes junior faculty whose work embodies the school's mission to discover, teach, and heal.
https://medschool.uci.edu/about-rising-stars-program

🧠🔬Research from Dr. Elizabeth Head and Dr. Vivek Swarup is shedding light on how brain cells change across the lifespan and their connection to neurodegeneration 🧠🔬

A study co-led by Dr. Head at alongside colleagues at MIT and Rutgers University found that in adults with Down’s syndrome (DS) and Alzheimer's disease (AD), astrocytes, which support regulation and support in the brain, were fewer and appeared to have "shut down”. This astrocytic exhaustion may provide insight into the onset of AD in adulthood.

This builds on previous work by Dr. Swarup. Dr. Swarup’s study using spatial and single-cell transcriptomics on brain samples identified similarities between people with Down's syndrome-associated AD and sporadic AD, revealing shared neuroinflammatory and neurotoxic pathways, though effects were stronger in people with Down's syndrome-associated AD, who carried a larger burden of plaques and tangles.

👉Read the Alzforum article here: https://www.alzforum.org/news/research-news/astrocytes-downs-reactive-early-life-exhausted-near-end

🧠FDA approves a second drug for agitation associated with Alzheimer’s disease – and it’s not an antipsychotic medication

On April 30, the FDA granted approval for Auvelity, a medication from Axsome Therapeutics previously approved for major depression and is a unique combination of two drugs—burproprion and dextromethorphan. This unique two-drug combination works differently than antipsychotics by targeting NMDA and sigma-1 receptors in the brain rather than dopamine receptors.

Why does this matter?

✅ A second approved treatment and an alternative to antipsychotic drugs to treat agitation
✅ Auvelity does not hold the same black box warning indicating an increased risk of mortality for those with dementia-related psychosis other antipsychotics retain.
✅Approval for agitation was based on two randomized trials of the medication
✅Over a 6-month follow-up period, 8% of those who stayed on active drug experienced a relapse in agitation, compared to 29% of those who were switched to placebo .

While longer-term data and head-to-head comparisons are still needed, having a non-antipsychotic option to aid treatment is a good first step.

Read the full blog post by David Sultzer, MD and Lydia Ann. MD here :

https://mind.uci.edu/fda-approves-a-second-drug-for-agitation-associated-with-alzheimers-disease-and-its-not-an-antipsychotic-medication/

🧠🔬Dopamine Deficiency Found to Cause Memory Impairment in Alzheimer’s Disease🧠🔬

In a study published in Nature Neuroscience, Dr. Kei Igarashi and his team found that boosting dopamine levels in the entorhinal cortex of Alzheimer’s model mice using existing drugs like LEVODOPA improved memory performance. 💡

This could be a major step toward developing dopamine-based therapies for Alzheimer's. 💙

Read a summary of the article from Dr. Igarashi on our blog linked in our bio:

https://mind.uci.edu/dopamine-deficiency-found-to-cause-memory-impairment-in-alzheimers-disease/

Read the full published article here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41593-026-02260-w

Did you catch Dr. Hayley B. Kristinsson in U.S. News?

Board-certified neuropsychologist Dr. Hayley B. Kristinsson, affiliated faculty with UCI Health and UCI MIND, was recently featured in U.S. News. Dr. Kristinsson shared crucial guidance for caregivers of people living with dementia, covering topics such as navigating demntia delusions, utilizing the validation method, and identifying phrases to avoid.

Check out the full article here: https://health.usnews.com/senior-care/articles/how-to-talk-to-someone-with-dementia-expert-tips-and-phrases