Alzheimer’s Association honors researchers for notable contributions in AD, dementia

Seven researchers were honored at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference for their expertise, contributions and achievements in advancing the field of Alzheimer’s and dementia science, according to an association release.

“We know so much more about Alzheimer’s and other dementia because of the important work of these seven outstanding researchers and their collaborators,” Maria C. Carrillo, PhD, the association’s chief science officer, said in the release. “We thank them for their contributions to science and acknowledge their positive impact toward ending Alzheimer’s disease for all people in all communities and all locations.”

The association recognized the following individuals:

Xiaoying Chen, PhD, received the Blas Frangione Early Career Achievement Award. Chen is a faculty member in the department of neurology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis whose work focuses on tau-mediated neurodegeneration.

Anne Fagan, PhD, received the Khalid Iqbal Lifetime Achievement Award. Fagan is professor of neurology and fluid biomarker core leader at Washington University and has pioneered studies of cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers for detection of Alzheimer’s pathology and their role in predicting future cognitive decline.

Khalid Iqbal, PhD, received the Zaven Khachaturian Award. Iqbal founded and chaired the precursor to AAIC, the biennial International Conference on Alzheimer’s Disease, from 1988 to 2008 and now serves as chairman emeritus and professor of neuroscience at the New York State Institute for Basic Research in Developmental Disabilities and chief scientific officer at Phanes Biotech Inc.

Cristian Lasagna-Reeves, PhD, received the Inge Grundke-Iqbal Award for Alzheimer’s Research for his paper, “Bassoon Contributes to Tau-Seed Propagation and Neurotoxicity,” published in Nature Neuroscience in November 2022. Lasagna-Reeves is associate professor and director of the neurodegenerative disorders research group at Stark Neurosciences Research Institute at Indiana University School of Medicine.

Bruce Miller, MD, received the Henry Wisniewski Lifetime Achievement Award. Miller holds the A.W. and Mary Margaret Clausen Distinguished Professorship in Neurology at the University of California, San Francisco, directs the UCSF Memory and Aging Center and is founding director of the university’s Global Brain Health Institute.

Philip Scheltens, MD, PhD, received the Bengt Winblad Lifetime Achievement Award. Scheltens is professor emeritus of neurology and founder and former director of the Alzheimer Center Amsterdam. Scheltens in 2016 was awarded the European Grand Prix for Alzheimer’s research and recently was knighted in the Order of the Netherlands Lion for his work in the field of dementia.

Jonathan Schott, MD, FRCP, received the Bill Thies Award for Distinguished Service to the Alzheimer’s Association International Society to Advance Alzheimer’s Research and Treatment (ISTAART). Schott is professor of neurology and honorary consultant neurologist at the Dementia Research Center at University College London Queen Square Institute of Neurology.