Building on decades of experience, world-leading scientists and physicians at the Center for Alzheimer’s and Neurodegenerative Diseases (CAND) at Baylor College of Medicine are developing a new understanding and approach to tackling neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and Lou Gehrig’s disease (also known as Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or ALS).
Dr. Joshua Shulman, Director of the CAND, is working tirelessly to unlock answers to this family of incurable conditions characterized by the progressive deterioration of neurons. These cells in the brain and nervous system are vital for cognitive, motor and other bodily functions.
Rather than treating Alzheimer’s as a single disorder, the CAND attacks the disease as a collection of hundreds of distinct conditions. Dr. Shulman and his research team seek to understand the unique interactions among genes, lifestyle and other factors that can trigger Alzheimer’s disease in each person. These insights promise groundbreaking improvements for Alzheimer’s risk prediction and for therapies targeted to an individual patient’s disease.
“No two Alzheimer’s disease patients are alike,” says Dr. Shulman. “What is critically needed today is a more personalized and targeted approach.”
The goal of the CAND is to understand the unique interactions between genes, lifestyle and other factors that trigger disease in each person. Together, we will pave the way toward the development of highly personalized approaches for the diagnosis, risk prediction and, ultimately, treatment and prevention of Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative diseases.
