Panelist Bios
Friday, February 3, 2017
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Laurie Ryan -- NIA Dementias of Aging Branch
Dr. Laurie Ryan is Chief of the Dementias of Aging Branch in the Division of Neuroscience at the National Institute on Aging, part of the NIH. She oversees the development, coordination, and implementation of NIA's translational and clinical Alzheimer's disease research program. Dr. Ryan also directs the Alzheimer's disease clinical trials research portfolio. She is instrumental in planning and implementing the NIH research milestones aimed finding effective therapies for Alzheimer's and related dementias by year 2025.
Dr. Ryan received her PhD in clinical psychology at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge and completed a neuropsychology fellowship at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia. Following her fellowship, Dr. Ryan joined the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, DC where she was responsible for overseeing clinical research development and implementation. In September 2005, Dr. Ryan joined the NIA as the Program Director for Alzheimer's clinical trials. In December 2013, she was promoted to her current position.
Rachel Nosheny, Ph.D. -- University of California, San Francisco
Dr. Nosheny is an Associate Professional Researcher in the UCSF Department of Radiology & Biomedical Imaging, and a Co-Investigator on the UCSF Brain Health Registry, a public registry with over 52,000 participants with the overall goal of facilitating neuroscience clinical research. She has over 15 years of research experience in the field of Alzheimer's, spanning molecular/cellular approaches to analysis of biomarkers in clinical cohorts to Alzheimer's disease (AD) clinical trial design. She received her Ph.D. in Neuroscience from Georgetown University, and completed a post-doctoral fellowship at Stanford University. She has been involved in the Brain Health Registry project since its inception, and has played a major role in development of registry content, data analysis, and overall scientific direction. She recently lead the development and implementation of the Caregiver and Study Partner Portal within Brain Health Registry, which captures study partner-reported data online. Her current research focuses on identification of early indicators of age-related cognitive decline and AD, especially on the role of study partner report in determining cognitive and everyday function and risk for Mild Cognitive Impairment and AD. She serves on the Governance Board of the PCORNet Alzheimer's and Dementia Patient and Caregiver Powered Research Network (AD-PCPRN), a PCORI-funded initiative that aims to accelerate the development for AD and related dementias by advancing patient- and caregiver-centered research, engagement, and outreach efforts.
Jessica Langbaum, Ph.D. -- Banner Phoenix
Jessica Langbaum, Ph.D., is a principal scientist at the Banner Alzheimer's Institute and Associate Director of the Alzheimer's Prevention Initiative (API). Dr. Langbaum is director of the Alzheimer's Prevention Registry and its GeneMatch program. In addition, she is responsible for the scientific and operational oversight of the API clinical trials program. Her research interests include the preclinical detection, tracking and scientific study of Alzheimer's disease, including the design and execution of Alzheimer's disease prevention trials; development of composite cognitive test scores for use as primary endpoints in clinical trials, including the API ADAD composite cognitive test score and the API preclinical composite cognitive test score (APCC); development of recruitment registries to accelerate enrollment into studies; and assessing the impact of genetic testing and disclosure in the era of Alzheimer's prevention research. She currently serves as co-chair of the Alzheimer's & Dementia Patient/Caregiver-Powered Research Network (AD-PCPRN) Advisory Council for Registries/Clinical Trials, a member of the Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD) Disorders Registry's Scientific Advisory Board, and member of the governance committee of AARP's Global Council on Brain Health. Dr. Langbaum earned a bachelor's degree in neuroscience and psychology with high honors from Oberlin College, a Ph.D. in psychiatric epidemiology from the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, and completed her postdoctoral fellowship in brain imaging and clinical trials at Banner Alzheimer's Institute.
George Vradenburg -- UsAgainstAlzheimer's
George Vradenburg is the chairman and co-founder of UsAgainstAlzheimer's (UsA2), a disruptive and catalytic force committed to stopping Alzheimer's by 2020. The UsA2 platform seeks to escalate the fight against Alzheimer's through a broad range of powerful voices from various walks of life. UsA2 serves as the convener of the only industry coalition dedicated to stopping Alzheimer's -- the Global CEO Initiative (CEOI) on Alzheimer's -- as well as the co-convener of a 60+ member coalition of the Alzheimer's-serving community -- Leaders Engaged on Alzheimer's Disease. As a result of his UsA2 work, George was appointed to the World Dementia Council by the UK Secretary of State for Health in March, 2014.
In 2011, the United States Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services named George to serve on the National Alzheimer's Advisory Council on Research, Care and Services for the first-of-its-kind National Alzheimer's strategic plan. In 2013, George was appointed by Congress to the Long Term Care Commission charged with devising a comprehensive long term support and services plan for the United States. Among other efforts, George has testified twice before the U.S. Congress regarding the global Alzheimer's pandemic; conceived and supported the Alzheimer's Study Group; and, through the Vradenburg Foundation, has supported the Alzheimer's Disease International World Alzheimer's Reports and the National Institute of Health's Global Alzheimer's Research Summit.
Keith Fargo, Ph.D. -- Alzheimer's Association
As the Alzheimer's Association's Director of Scientific Programs and Outreach, Dr. Fargo is responsible for the International Society to Advance Alzheimer's Research and Treatment (ISTAART), the scientific programming for the Alzheimer's Association International Conference (AAIC), scientific content for Alzheimer's Diseases Fact and Figures, and TrialMatch -- the Association's free clinical study matching service that connects those interested in clinical research with ongoing studies in their area.
Dr. Fargo received his Ph.D. from Indiana University and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Loyola University Stritch School of Medicine. Before joining the Alzheimer's Association, Dr. Fargo was a researcher with a focus on regenerative processes in the nervous system; he held academic appointments at the Edward Hines, Jr. VA Hospital Rehabilitation Research & Development Program and the Loyola University Chicago Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Therapeutics.